The celebration to commemorate 2011 as the International Year of Chemistry took place at the University of Dhaka on February 14, 2011. Officials, members of the media, students and faculty participated in the launching ceremony, followed by an enthusiastic rally of young students and chemists.

“It’s a great honor, a really great honor, to be here and to be a part of this and observe this kind of a program. It’s really encouraging,” says Waziha Farha, a chemistry student at Dhaka University, whose future aspirations include organic chemistry.

The year 2011 also celebrates the centennial of Madame Marie Curie’s receipt of the Nobel Prize for chemistry, in recognition of her work in radioactivity. Madame Curie is one of the first female scientists to achieve worldwide fame, during a time in which women were discouraged from work and scholarship.