On 5 December 2019, the official closing ceremony of the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements took place in Tokyo (Japan).

The International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements was held under the supervision of UNESCO in numerous countries all over the world: Russia, France, Germany, Spain, the USA, Japan, the RSA, India, Great Britain and others. In the frames of the IYPT, exhibitions, festivals, conferences, presentations, artistic competitions, quizzes were held dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the discovery by Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev of the Periodic Law of Chemical Elements.

The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2019 the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements in honour of the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Periodic Law made by a prominent Russian scientist D. I. Mendeleev. The initiative to hold the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements was introduced by the “Mendeleev Russian Chemical Society”, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia as well as Russian and foreign scientific organizations. More than 70 national and international unions supported the idea.

The IYPT closing ceremony was attended by First Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia Grigory Trubnikov, Past President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Co-chairman of the IYPT International Committee Natalia Tarasova, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the International Year of the Periodic Table in Japan Kohei Tamao and other representatives of the international scientific community.

First Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russian Grigory Trubnikov noted in his speech at the solemn ceremony: “For a year, the whole world scientific community celebrated a prominent event dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Periodic Table. It is a special pleasure that all events of the IYPT held all over the world were connected with the name of an outstanding Russian scientist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev. I express my gratitude to UNESCO for the organization of the IYPT and its constant support of all Russian initiatives.”

Past President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Co-chairman of the IYPT International Committee Natalia Tarasova noted that “the International Year united a large number of various interested parties, including UNESCO, scientific communities in the fields of chemistry and physics, as well as scientific unions, educational and scientific and research organizations, technological platforms, non-commercial organizations and partners from the private sector in order to promote the Periodic Table and strengthen its importance in the world.”

Chairman of the Executive Committee of the International Year of the Periodic Table in Japan Kohei Tamao added: “The closing ceremony of the International Year of the Periodic Table allows us to recall all the events organized in honour of the anniversary of the Table held all over the world. These events brought glory to the efforts of scientists and engineers who made their contribution to the discovery and development of the Periodic Table, as well as work of those who continue studying new elements nowadays to make a contribution to our modern world.”

A considerable part of the IYPT closing ceremony was dedicated to the Periodic Table and the discussion of prospects for its further development. Representatives of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, world-famous scientists working on the creation of new elements made the reports. RAS President Alexander Sergeev in his report gave five pieces of advice to young researchers, only starting their scientific careers, using the example of Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev. Moreover, the laureates of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics Makoto Kobayashi and the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Akira Yoshino delivered their speeches. A world-known science populariser Sir Martyn Poliakoff, Vice-President of the Royal Society, addressed to the audience with a video message.

In the framework of the ceremony, the session “Creation of superheavy elements” was held at which leading scientists, who made a considerable contribution to the synthesis and discovery of superheavy elements, appeared on stage to celebrate the completion of the 7th row of the Periodic Table and to greet the audience. Representatives of GANIL, GSI, LBL, LLNL, ORNL, RIKEN, and JINR lined up to form a symbolic 7th row of the Periodic Table. JINR Director Academician Victor Matveev represented element 105 (dubnium), JINR Vice-Director Mikhail Itkis was rutherfordium (104), FLNR Director Sergey Dmitriev represented flerovium (114), Head of the FLNR Sector Vladimir Utyonkov represented moscovium (115) and FLNR Scientific Secretary Alexander Karpov concluded the row with the heaviest known element oganesson (118). After that, prominent scientists on stage greeted the audience and briefly introduced their institutes. Victor Matveev told participants about the history of and prospects for the synthesis of new elements at JINR. The session was concluded with a speech by Yuri Oganessian who expressed gratitude on behalf of all discoverers and noted a significant contribution of numerous scientific institutes, international organizations and states to the synthesis and acknowledgement of discoveries of new superheavy elements.

A bright milestone of the IYPT celebration all over the world was the unique interactive exhibition presented in the frames of the closing ceremony.

Following the materials of iypt2019.ru and JINR
Photos: iypt2019.ru, JINR