Frank Warren 2023 | Protea Hotel Ranch Resort | 3 - 7 December 2023

Objectives of the Conference

The Frank Warren National Organic Conference (FWC) is the flagship organic chemistry conference organized by the Organic Chemistry Division of the South African Chemical Institute (SACI-OCD).

A specialist organic chemistry conference has been hosted in South Africa every second year from 1961 until 2016 when the calendar of SACI events was revised such that the conference is now held every three (years). Since 1983 this organic chemistry conference has been named in memory of Professor Frank Louis Warren (1905-1980), who was a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the now University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN,1940-1965) and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Cape Town (UCT, 1966-1970)

The FWC is a national conference where local organic chemists from all sub-disciplines gather to share, showcase, discuss and share insights about their work. In recent years there has been greater participation by international delegates due to increasing external collaborative links of South African chemists. The extension of this networking has also resulted in dual-hosting arrangements (Bi-National Organic Chemistry Conference BOCC) with other chemical societies like the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC -2001), German Chemical Society (GDCh -2008), and the American Chemical Society (ACS -2014).

A key feature of the conference is not having any break-away sessions such that all delegates can attend and participate in the discussions of all lectures. This is particularly beneficial for the exposure postgraduate students to the current results in all fields of organic chemistry; postgraduate participants constitute approximately 75% of all conference delegates. The single venue presentations help to expand the networking and collaboration opportunities for delegates outside their narrow focus areas. This can result in spill-over effects in co-published articles and the general enhancement of research exposure and value.

We look forward to welcoming you to Polokwane, in the amazing Limpopo Province, to share in this exciting week of discussions and celebration of organic chemistry research in South Africa.

Sincerely,

Comfort Nkambule
Chairperson
(On behalf of the 2023 FWC LOC)