Scientific Mobility and Human Rights
Through activities of the International Activities Committee, the ACS monitors the world for threats to the scientific freedom and human rights of chemical scientists and engineers and chemistry-related professionals. The Office of International Activities (OIA) regularly monitors organizations engaged in human rights activities for evidence of abridgement of the scientific freedom and human rights of individuals in the chemical sciences. The OIA notifies the Chair of the IAC of evidence related to chemists and chemical engineers, as appropriate. If warranted by the evidence, the Chair of the IAC transmits such evidence to the Professional and Member Relations Committee (P&MR) with a recommendation that the Board issue a society statement on the matter or take action as may be appropriate. The P&MR Committee will carry out this action under delegated authority from the Board. This process was voted on at the December 2010 meeting of the ACS Board of Directors as recommended by the Committee on Professional and Member Relations.
The IAC has a structure of human rights representatives assigned to each IAC Subcommittee (Africa and the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, and Asia/Pacific Basin). These human rights representatives have agreed to monitor their regions for chemistry and allied science-based human rights cases and provide input and counsel when cases are brought to the attention of the IAC Chair.
ACS supports timely screening for visiting scientists and students. The Society is committed to assisting federal agencies with technical expertise.- Statement on Freedom of International Scientific Exchange
ACS advocates freedom of scientific exchange and stronger scientific collaboration to benefit humankind. - ACS Policy Statements
A list of Policy Statements
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