Inside Surrey societies: ChemSoc
Joining a society linked to your subject is a fantastic way of gaining access to a range of events, making new friends and enriching your Surrey experience. We talk to Abbie Ross, President of ChemSoc, and some current members to go inside the Society and find out what’s on offer.
With around 70 members, ChemSoc puts on a range of social events each semester including bar crawls, quiz nights, movie nights and more. The ChemSoc Review, held at the end of November, sees students and lecturers getting up on stage for comedy sketches and musical performances, while – to round off the academic year – the ChemSoc Ball is a great chance to dress up and celebrate.
President Abbie Ross says: “While most of our members are chemistry students, there are also people studying subjects like maths or biosciences. We also collaborate with other societies for some of our events, so joining ChemSoc is a really good way of making new friends not just from chemistry but across the Faculty and University.”
The ChemSoc Christmas Review is a chance to be entertained by students and staff.
While socialising is high on the agenda, ChemSoc also opens up other exciting opportunities for members. In October the Society joined a ‘Chemistry Around the World’ online forum on sustainability along with the University of Indonesia, University of Malaya, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, and University of York in Canada.
Abbie explains: “Chemistry students from each institution presented their thoughts on how we as scientists can make things more sustainable. We were able to raise the profile of chemistry at Surrey and we had a really interesting discussion with people who had different perspectives. We’re now planning to hold another forum later in the academic year.”
Society member Alaric Buckell says: “Being part of ChemSoc has allowed me to meet not just people on the same course as me who I may not interact with as much, but also the friends/flatmates of those people, enabling me to form some fun and enjoyable relationships.
“ChemSoc is less about the topic of chemistry but more to do with everyone being included. It’s a place for people – including lecturers – to get to know each other in a non-formal setting, giving a weird family feeling!”
Owen Fryer adds: "As a mature chemistry student it's been a real privilege to get to spend time with other chemistry students outside of class. ChemSoc allows you to meet with other chemistry students from first year to postgrads and it's been great to hang out with all of them. The committee are lovely and dedicated to making the society a truly welcoming and inclusive environment."
Find out more about ChemSoc on the ChemSoc website or on Twitter.
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