The first ever University of California Symposium for the Chemical Sciences (UCSCS), a UC-wide Chemistry and Biochemistry conference, was held on March 21-23, 2016 at the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference center. The conference was organized by a committee of 16 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from eight UC campuses and was attended by 117 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers with 91 presentations given.

The keynote speaker for the 2016 conference was Professor Neil Garg from the University of California Los Angeles.

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A wide variety of professional and social activities were provided for attendees. Among these activities were:

• Oral Presentations: 15 minute presentation with 5 minutes for questions were organized by topical areas. By holding a conference aimed at graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, many attendees were able to present their research in front of a broad and diverse audience, which is not always possible at this early career stage.

• Poster Presentations: Posters were organized by topical areas with prizes sponsored by RSC journals for each area (e.g. organic, physical, inorganic, biochemistry, etc.). Posters from across research areas captured the diverse research interests across the UC system.

• Career Panel: Panelists from the RSC, DOW Chemical, Materia, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) answered questions concerning their own career path and how they see careers in their path transforming in the future. Panelists provided alternative career perspectives for students in the chemical sciences.

• Professional Development Panel: Panelists from the RSC and NSF gave brief presentations about how to successfully publish, garner federal funding, and communicate and promote your research accomplishments.

Logistical and financial support was provided by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), with additional financial support provided by donations from the Departments of Chemistry from UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz. In addition, divisional Deans at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Cruz provided matching funds. Finally, the Chancellor’s Office at UC San Diego, the Materials Research Laboratory and the California NanoSystems Institute at UC Santa Barbara, Strem Chemicals, Air Products, and Pfizer also provided sponsorship to the UCSCS.

These financial gifts were used to offset travel and registration fees for attendees and the conference plenary speaker, Prof. Neil Garg of UC Los Angeles. A total of $37,500 was raised to offset the total conference budget of $55,000. The remaining funds were obtained from participant registration fees. We thank these organizations and would appreciate their continued support 2017!