Merck Organic Chemistry Symposium (MOCS 2019)

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, it is my great pleasure to invite you to attend the Merck Organic Chemistry Symposium (MOCS 2019) that will take place on Thursday December 5 and Friday December 6, 2019 at Corsendonk Duinse Polders, a seaside resort in the coastal town of Blankenberge. This symposium, which will enter its 23^rd edition in 2019, is part of a longstanding series of annual meetings that brings together Belgian organic chemists from both academic institutions and industry to disseminate and to discuss all the various aspects of their discipline in a lively, relaxed, and stimulating environment.

The full program and the abstracts of the symposium will be available at the end of November 2019. The registration desk will be open from 8:45 and the meeting will begin around 10:00 on Thursday December 5. The symposium will end around 16:00 on Friday December 6.

The scientific program will include invited lectures, a series of oral communications presented by experienced Ph.D. students or postdoctoral fellows, and a poster session. Confirmed invited lectures are:

• Prof. Guillaume Berionni (University of Namur, Belgium)
• Prof. Ulrich Hennecke (Free University of Brussels - VUB, Belgium)
• Prof. Burkhard König (University of Regensburg, Germany)
• Dr. Jane Murray (Merck, Belgium)
• Dr. Jan-Willem Thuring (J&J, Belgium)

To stimulate interactions between academic and industrial chemists, and to allow Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows to inquire about job opportunities, a session of flash interviews will be organized with representatives of chemical and pharmaceutical companies on Thursday afternoon.

On Thursday evening, Dr. Gert Van Bortel (BASF, Germany) will give a special lecture entitled “Chemistry and Safety versus Water and Fire”. It will be followed by a dinner and a party on the theme of “Disney”. All the participants are invited to dress up for the occasion. A prize for the most original/creative/funny outfit will be awarded at the end of the symposium by Merck!

There are also several prizes associated to the meeting. We will have a best poster award sponsored by Merck and a best lecture award sponsored by Omnichem. In addition the winner of the UGhent Katritzky Prize for organic synthesis 2019 for the best PhD thesis on organic synthesis awarded by a Belgian university in the period 2017-2019 will be announced.

I look forward to welcoming you in Blankenberge on December 5 and 6, 2019!

For the organizing committee,

Bert Maes (University of Antwerp)