Royal Institute of Chemistry

The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation.

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Founded in 1877 as the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain, its role was to focus on qualifications and the professional status of chemists, and its aim was to ensure that consulting and analytical chemists were properly trained and qualified.

It received its first Royal Charter in 1885. As well as insisting on thorough professional qualifications, it also laid down strict ethical standards. Its main qualifications were Graduate (GRIC), Licentiate (LRIC), Associate (ARIC) and Fellow (FRIC) of the Royal Institute of Chemistry). Following a supplemental Charter in 1975, Members and Fellows were permitted to use the letters CChem (Chartered Chemist).

It published Royal Institute of Chemistry Reviews from 1968 to 1971, when it combined to form Chemical Society Reviews, and the Journal of the Royal Institute of Chemistry.

At the same time, the Chemical Society had concentrated on the science of chemistry, and publishing learned journals. In 1972 these two organisations, together with the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry, started the process of merger, becoming the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1980.

References

• Chemists by profession. The origins of the Royal Institute of Chemistry, C. A. Russell, with N. G. Coley and G. K. Roberts, Milton Keynes, The Open University Press, in association with the Royal Institute of Chemistry, 1977 see review.
• History of Royal Society of Chemistry and the former societies