Senior chemists and young chemists met from 6 to 8 May 2014 for "High-tech and cutting-edge research in the heart of Germany", the motto of the 5th annual meeting of Senior Expert Chemists in Braunschweig.

Motivated by the varied technical and cultural programme and the opportunity to discuss with colleagues, more than 200 participants and guests gathered in Braunschweig's Stadthalle. A meeting that has now become a tradition was thus expanded to include a new high-calibre event. The focus of this meeting was food chemistry, to which the Braunschweig region makes a major contribution in research, control and industry.

Horst Altenburg, SEC Chairman, opened the annual meeting. Barbara Albert, Vice President of the GDCh, Johannes Wefer, Regional Spokesperson of the JCF and Heidemarie Helmsmüller, Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, gave welcoming addresses. A letter of greeting from Minister Manuela Schwesig was read out; the Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, which she heads, once again generously supported our Conference.

In keeping with the special position of food chemistry at this Conference, Thomas Henle began the first series of lectures with the Maillard reaction, a reaction that has changed the world. It is the conversion of reducing carbohydrates with amino components; it determines the odour and taste of thermally prepared foods, but also takes place in the organism, e.g. in diabetes and ageing processes. An overview of research and findings showed the far-reaching significance of this complex reaction. In a very topical lecture that appealed to all food consumers, Axel Preuß then showed how important the scientifically based assessment of food crises and scandals is in order to refute the exaggerated scaremongering of the media and to draw attention to microbiological dangers that have received too little attention. Using typical examples, he demonstrated how risk perception and actual danger often differ greatly.

During the coffee break that followed, there were lively discussions between young and old at the 18 posters. The topics ranged from chemistry at school and historical considerations of chemistry to current research work in the field of biochemistry. Back in the lecture theatre, the auditorium listened to Thomas Carell's exciting presentation. Mass spectrometric analysis and synthesis of isotope-labelled rare DNA bases, beyond Watson and Crick, as well as their possible significance in epigenetics and the development of stem cells were presented and discussed in a lively debate. "Biomineralisation" was the topic of Rüdiger Kniep's lecture. He demonstrated the fascinating observation that self-organised biominerals are formed from simple "ingredients" such as gelatine and aqueous ion solutions, for example in the structure of calcite-based otoconia of the inner ear.

Before the evening event, Braunschweig's mayor Rohse-Paul welcomed the conference participants. The renowned historian Gerd Biegel then took the auditorium on a journey through the centuries, centred on Brunswick, the city of Henry the Lion and famous citizens such as Gauss, Spohr and Lessing.

Wednesday morning began with a presentation by Ralf Thomas (VW AG), which showed the importance that a global corporation attaches to the voluntary commitment of its employees - an incentive for the SEC to continue on its path.

Sexual reproduction has the advantage over cloning organisms that the offspring can react more flexibly to external threats such as infections. As Manfred Milinski showed, the sense of smell plays a key role in mate selection. Joachim Ullrich reported on the entire spectrum of the work of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). The fact that one second can be measured with an accuracy of 10-18 was almost ticked off under "nice to know" by the audience. But if you consider the consequences of incorrect time measurement, e.g. in road traffic, metrology takes on a very practical role. Not to mention global stock exchange trading via computer networks.

The participants of the excursion to the Herzog August Library and the Lessing House demonstrated their open-mindedness for the humanities. Under expert guidance, the treasures of the library were presented and the origins and current significance of the collection were explained by the Head of the house, Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer. Participants who were more interested in technology went on an excursion to Wolfsburg to explore the Phaeno or the Autostadt.

A festive dinner afterwards was accompanied by further words of welcome (Jasmin Bauerfeind, Young Food Chemists) and an eloquent lecture by Ulrich Nöhle on the double standards in advertising and reporting, especially for food.

The next morning, Franz Effenberger showed that a technical variant of photosynthesis could be economically feasible - namely the hydrogenation of CO2 with excess hydrogen (by water electrolysis with electricity from wind and solar plants) to methane or methanol. In line with this, Christan Deusner reported on the large deposits of methane in ice (gas hydrates). Hennig Hopf spiced up his presentation on creativity in basic research with numerous quotes from famous chemists. The event concluded with a very amusing presentation by Klaus Roth on sweeteners. Shortly before 1914, for example, there was a saccharin prohibition throughout Europe; as is usual with such prohibitions, it unleashed the creativity of the most adventurous smugglers.

The high quality of the presentations and posters, the stimulating discussions and, last but not least, the good organisation, especially by Hans-Uwe von Grabowski and the GDCh: all this led conference participants to look forward to the next SEC Annual Meeting in Münster (7-9 June 2016).

Ursula Kraska, Weiterstadt
Wolfgang Gerhartz, Zwingenberg