Another predatory conference?
Keith S. Taber
Dear Programme Manager
Thank you for your message on behalf of the scientific committee offering me the position of invited speaker at 12th Edition of Global Conference on Catalysis, Chemical Engineering & Technology.
I appreciate that your scientific committee comprises of eminent leaders in the field of catalysis, but when you write that "By going through your work in the field of Catalysis, our scientific committee would like to offer you the position of Speaker" I am at a loss to work out what
- Stanislaw Dzwigaj
- Jose C Conesa
- Anne M Gaffney
- Nikolaos C Kokkinos
- Dmitry Nikushchenko
- M A Martin Luengo
- Osman Adiguzel
- Ahmet Haxhiaj
- Eugenio Meloni
- Ramesh C Gupta
- Abdelkrim Abourriche
have found in my work that makes them feel my it would be of any particular interest to your delegates.
Perhaps you would be kind enough to ask the scientific committee to specify which of my publications they consider to be in the field of catalysis, so I have some idea what I am being invited to speak about.
I assume that as an invited speaker all relevant fees would be waived?
I am afraid that otherwise I will just have to conclude that this is yet another dishonest approach from a predatory conference where 'invited speaker' invitations are of no worth and are issued indiscriminately as a ploy to elicit money from potential speakers: without any regard at all for their suitability or relevance – as long as they can pay you the conference fees.
As you "would be glad to answer any questions [I] may have and provide necessary clarifications where needed" I look forward to your clarification so I can put my mind to rest and avoid concluding that this invitation is just another scam.
Best wishes
Keith
[Email response to the conference (copied to committee members). Clarifications awaited*]
According to the conference programme manager, this committee of experts invited me to speak after 'going through' my (non-existent) 'work in the field of Catalysis'.
Are they incompetent? (I very much doubt that.)
Did the programme manager mishear 'Benjamin List' or 'David MacMillan' as 'Keith Taber'?
Or
Is this just another lie to publicise a predatory conference?
* Update: A clarification
To be fair to 12th Edition of Global Conference on Catalysis, Chemical Engineering & Technology I have today (20th July) received a response. I have been informed that:
"We went through your books and articles regarding teachings in chemistry and concepts and thought to invite you to our event, as most of the delegates who attend our event are from academia"
That sounds reasonable enough, as long as there is a suitable place in the programme.
"As an invited speaker, there are no registration charges to be paid"
Again, that is reasonable.
It is one thing to pay to be present at a conference you are seeking to attend, but another to pay for the privileged of giving a talk when you have been invited to speak.
"But you can present on any of the topics related to scientific sessions"
Okay, so where would a talk to 'mostly academics' about 'teachings in chemistry and concepts' fit?
The conference sessions are on:
- Catalysis and Porous Materials
- Catalysis for Energy
- Chemical Engineering
- Heterogeneous Catalysis
- Catalysis in Nanotechnology
- Environmental Catalysis
- Catalytic Materials
- Fluid Mechanics
- Chemical Synthesis and Catalysts Synthesis
- Macrocyclic and Supramolecular chemistry
- Petrochemical Engineering
- Green and Sustainable Chemistry
- Catalysis for Renewable Sources
- Catalysis for Biorefineries
- Chemical Kinetics and Catalytic Activity
- Photochemistry, Photobiology and Electrochemistry
So no obvious home for a talk on teaching about chemical concepts.
The topics I was directed to in the email were
- Catalysis and Porous Materials
- Catalysis for Energy
- Photochemistry, Photobiology and Electrochemistry
- Catalysis for Renewable Sources
- Chemical Kinetics and Catalytic Activity
- Catalysis and Applications
- Homogeneous Catalysis, Molecular Catalysis
- Catalysis for Biorefineries
- Chemical Engineering
- Heterogeneous Catalysis
- Advances in Catalysis and Chemical Engineering
- Reaction Chemistry and Engineering
- Catalysis in Nanotechnology
- Industrial Catalysis and Process Engineering
- Environmental Catalysis
- Advanced synthesis, Catalytic systems and new catalyst designing
- Biocatalysis and Biotransformation
- Catalytic Materials
- Organometallics, Organocatalysis and Bioinorganic Chemistry
- Surface Chemistry: Colloid and Surface aspects
- Computational Catalysis
- Enantioselective catalysis
- Chemical Synthesis and Catalysts Synthesis
- Fluid Mechanics
- Micro-emulsion Catalysis and Catalytic Cracking
- Macrocyclic and Supramolecular chemistry
- Integrated Catalysis
- Plasma Catalysis
- Enzymes, Coenzymes and Metabolic Pathways
- Nuclear Chemistry/Radiochemistry
- Separation Processes in Chemical Technology
- Petrochemical Engineering
- Green and Sustainable Chemistry
- Analytical Methodologies
- Microbial Technology
- Mechanisms of Microbial Transcription
So, I have been invited because of my expertise relating to teaching chemical concepts (one of the very few areas where I really might be considered to have some kind of expertise), and can participate for free, as long as I submit a talk on some aspect of the science of chemical catalysis in a session about some sub-field of chemistry relating to catalysis.
This is like writing to Reece James to tell him that on the basis of his exceptional skills as a footballer, he is invited to talk at a literary festival on any any genre of fiction writing; or, on the basis of her song-writing and musical achievements, inviting Kate Bush to be give a keynote at a history conference – and allowing her to choose between speaking about Roman Britain, The Agricultural Revolution, Europe between the 'World Wars', or Sino-Japanese tensions over Korea in the nineteenth century.
So, I recognise the attempt to make good on the invitation, but hardly a total 'save'.
Addendum: A glut of catalytic conferences?
By coincidence, or otherwise, today I also received an invitation to be a speaker at the
"?3rd Global Congress on Chemistry and Catalysis?, an event hosted by Phronesis LLC and held at Dubai, UAE during November 18-19, 2022 [where] The main theme of the conference is ?Contemporary Advances and Innovations in chemistry and catalysis?"
I would apparently be a 'perfect person' to speak at one the sessions. These are on:
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Advanced Structural Materials
- Ceramics, Polymers and Composite Materials
- Advances in Biosensors, Biomaterials, Medical devices and Soft Materials
- Corrosion, Alloys, Mining and Metallurgy
- Hybrid Materials and Bioinspired Materials
- Materials in Nuclear Energy Science and Engineering
- Energy, Environment and Materials Technology
- Computational Materials Science
- 3D Printing Technology
- Materials Synthesis And Processing
- Functional materials, Metals, and Metal Casting Technology
- Emerging Smart Materials, Meta Materials and Smart Coatings
- Materials Chemistry, Sustainable Chemistry and Materials Physics
- Polymer Science and Polymeric Materials
- Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
- Optics Photonics Electronic and Magnetic Materials
- Glass Science and Technologies
- Nanotechnology in Materials Science
- Nanotechnology for Energy and the Environment
- Nanomaterials and 2D Materials
- Carbon Nanomaterials, Nanostructures and Nanocomposites
- Graphene Technologies and carbon Nanotubes
- Manufacturing Technology and Instrumentation Technology
- Materials for Energy and the Environment
- Nanotechnology in Healthcare and its Applications
Hm. Perhaps I am not quite the 'perfect person', after all?
