Phytochemical Society of Europe
Annual report 2024-25
Charity number: 264348
Address:
James Parsons Building Byrom Street Liverpool Merseyside L3 3AF
Structure
Small Committee
President
Vice-President (outgoing)
Vice-President (incoming)
Treasurer General Secretary
Meetings Secretary Membership Secretary
Web Editor
Prof. Maria Jose Umbelino Ferreira (Lisbon) Prof. Francisco Macias (Cadiz) Prof. Krystyna SkalickaWozniak (Lublin) Prof. Lutfun Nahar (Liverpool) Dr. Simon Vlad Luca (Munich) Prof. Celine Riviere (Lille) Dr. Evelyn Wolfram (Wadensil) Prof. Randolph Arroo (Leicester)
Regional Representatives
Iberia Dr. Francisco Mejias (Cadiz) France Dr. Simon Remy (Reims) Eastern Europe Prof. Lucie Cahlikova (Hradec Kralove) Middle Europe Prof. Thomas Efferth (Mainz) Scandinavia Prof. Soren Bak (Kopenhagen) SE Europe & Turkey Dr. Stefanos Kikionis (Athens) Italy Prof. Antonio Fiorentino (Caserta) Romania, Bulgaria & Moldova Prof Anca Miron (Iasi) Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Vacant Ukraine
The charity is managed through regular committee meetings and an annual general meeting.
Trustees are recruited by members of the committee proposing potential trustees to the committee meetings and the annual general meeting. All members of the small committee may be trustees.
Objectives of the charity
Phytochemical Society of Europe (PSE) is a vibrant community dedicated to advancing the study of plant-derived compounds and their impacts on health, agriculture, and the environment. PSE brings together researchers, educators, and industry professionals from across Europe and beyond, fostering
collaboration and knowledge exchange in the field of phytochemistry. PSE exists to serve all those interested in plant chemistry and biochemistry, notably metabolomic approaches, genetics, functional genomics, and biotechnology. Topics of discussion include: natural products discovery, isolation, and synthesis, natural products metabolism, microbial endophytes, health and diseases of humans, animals, and plants, sustainability in ecosystems, formulations, and cosmetics.
Names of Trustees
Prof Miroslav Strnad, Prof. Krystyna Skalicka-Wozniak, Prof. Maria Jose Umbelino Ferreira, Dr. Evelyn Wolfram, Prof. Celine Riviere, Dr. Simon Vlad Luca, Dr Kenneth Ritchie, Prof Francisco Macias, Prof. Randolph Arroo, Prof Simon Gibbons.
Activities 16 Jan 2024- 15 Jan 2025
The PSE Trends in Natural Products 2024 Young Scientists' Meeting Bioactive Natural Products in Biology, Pharmacy, and Cosmetics took place between May 21[st] and 24[th] 2024, in the Moravian Metropole Brno, the Czech Republic. The meeting was organized by Karel Šmejkal from the Masaryk University on behalf of PSE. Key topics of the PSE 2024 conference included, among others, isolation and identification of natural products, synthetic approaches to the development of bioactive natural product derivatives and analogues, pharmacology and toxicology of natural products, and applied metabolomics and genomics/genetics. More than 145 researchers from 25 different countries were present. There were 24 plenary lectures, 38 oral presentations, and 70 poster presentations. During the meeting, the Dra. Mariola Macías Award 2024 was awarded to Dr. Jesus Garcia Zorrilla. Distinguished young scientists received 12 travel bursaries, the Jeffrey Harborne Award for the best oral presentation, and Springer – Phytochemistry Reviews Awards for the best oral and poster presentations. In addition, Chemistry & Biodiversity offered four awards for the best poster presentations, whereas the Faculty of Pharmacy of Masaryk University distinguished four young researchers for their poster and oral presentations.
International Congress on Natural Products Research (INCPR) took place between July 13[th] - 17[th] 2024, in Krakow, Poland. ICNPR 2024 was mainly organized by the PSE and co-sponsored by six natural products research societies representing the USA, Europe, and Asia, namely the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA), the Association Francophone pour l'Enseignement et la Recherche en Pharmacognosie (AFERP), the Italian Society of Phytochemistry and the Science of Medicinal, Food and Perfume Plants (SIF), the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP), the Japanese Society of Pharmacognosy (JSP), and the Korean Society of Pharmacognosy (KSP). The Scientific & Organizing Committee proposed a highly diverse and stimulating program that included all aspects of natural products research. In addition to the classical themes in natural product
research, symposia devoted to new technologies, modernization of traditional medicine and regulation, the effects of climate change, next-generation natural product drugs and cosmetics, as well as agricultural applications of constituents and extracts made from sources of natural origin were considered. The meeting was one of the largest gatherings of scientists involved in natural products and related fields from nearly every continent. More than 1100 researchers from 68 different countries were present. The opening lecture was delivered by Prof. Peter H. Seeberger from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Germany), while three plenary lectures were held by Prof. Ikuro Abe (University of Tokyo, Japan), Prof. Günther K. Bonn (University of Innsbruck, Austria), and Prof. Guido F. Pauli (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA). In addition, there were 28 keynote lectures, 130 oral presentations, and over 900 posters. These were delivered over 7 society sessions, 10 parallel oral sessions, and 3 poster sessions. During the PSE session, Prof. Miroslaw Strnad was awarded the Silver Medal. The meeting also included four pre-congress workshops, one workshop during the conference, and a round table discussion with the editors of the main journals in the field of natural product research. Young researchers were awarded with travel grants from PSE, GA, AFERP, and best oral and poster presentation awards from GA, Phytochemistry, Phytochemistry Reviews, Phytochemistry Letters, Journal of Natural Products, and Chemistry & Biodiversity.
The 8[th] International Symposium on Phytochemicals in Medicine and Food (8ISPMF) took place on August 2[nd] – 7[th] , 2024, in Shenyang, China. 8-ISPMF was co-organized by the International Association of Dietetic Nutrition and Safety (IADNS) and sponsored by the PSE and the Phytochemical Society of Asia (PSA). More than 500 experts and scholars from 40 countries and regions participated. The conference was conducted in the form of an online simultaneous live broadcast, with more than 100,000 people watching the live broadcast. At the conference, 54 scientists gave plenary and invited lectures and 61 young scholars gave oral presentations. More than 200 doctoral and master's students conducted in-depth discussions on important issues of phytochemicals in food science and human health. The conference strengthened the exchanges and cooperation between food and medicine experts in China and around the world, enhanced the international influence of Chinese food nutrition and safety science, and achieved a series of fruitful results:
Achievements and performance
The PSE has continued to be at the forefront of providing a mechanism by which the chemistry of plants may be discussed academically and as such has provided pubic benefit by ensuring that this important natural resource continues to be investigated for potential benefit to humanity.
Financial review
The charity remains in good financial health and has no debts. No funds are held with a custodian trustee.
Declarations
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
| Signature(s) Full name(s) Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Date |
||
|---|---|---|
| Prof. Lutfun Nahar | Prof. Randolph Arroo | |
Treasurer |
Trustee | |
| 30 September 2025 | 30 Sep. 2025 |
YEARLY STATEMENT 15 JAN 2024 -15 JAN 2025
CURRENT ACCOUNT
| BALANCE BROUGHT FORWARD ON 15 JAN 2024 | £31,938.41 |
|---|---|
| TOTAL INCOME | |
| MEMBERSHIP INCOME | £5,967.86 |
| INTEREST CLCA AND DIVIDEND CLCA | £10,969.44 |
| CONFERENCE INCOME | £26,592.45 |
| JOURNAL ROYALTY | £22,194.33 |
| INCOME BALANCE ON 15 JAN 2025 | £65,724.08 |
| TOTAL EXPENDITURE | |
| REIMBURSEMENT OF KRAKOW CONFERENCE EXPENSES | £10,885.99 |
| PAYMENT FOR CONFERENCE | £29,644.52 |
| EVERGREEN HOST & WEBSITE SECURITY PAYMENT | £5,825.40 |
| TRAVEL BURSARIES AND PRIZES | £6,300.62 |
| EXPENDITURE BALANCE ON 15 JAN 2025 | £52,656.53 |
| BALANCE BROUGHT FORWARD ON 15 JAN 2024 | £31,938.41 |
| TOTAL INCOME ON 15 JAN 2025 | £65,724.08 |
| TOTAL EXPENDITURE ON 15 JAN 2025 | £52,656.00 |
FINAL BALANCE ON 15 JAN 2025 £45,005.96 CLCA SAVING ACCOUNT BALANCE ON 15 JUN 2025 £122,500.00 CLCA INVESTMNT ACCOUNT TOTAL CHARITIES DEPOSIT FUND AS OF 31 Dec 2024 £176,551.78 CHARITIES INVESTMENT FUND* 8512.29 UNITS @19.4144P PER UNIT AS OF 31 Dec 2024
*THIS IS AN INVESTMENT IN SHARES AND THEREFORE THE VALUE FLUCTUATES WITH THE STOCK MARKET