European Molecular Liquids Group (MLG) Annual Meeting on the Physical
Chemistry of Liquids: Novel Approaches to the Structure, Dynamics of
Liquids - Experiments, Theories, and Simulation
Rhodes, greece, 7-15 September 2002
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Preface
Scientists active in fast-developing fields find it useful to take a
break once in a while in order to look back at the progress that has
been made, to survey the state of the art, and to map out future developments.
Indubitably, scientific meetings and conferences as well as advanced
study workshops and institutes are the proper occasions for these activities.
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has as
one of its aims the promotion of such scientific activities and the
dissemination of new findings to a wider audience through its publications.
It is, therefore, our pleasure as well as our duty to report here on
the joint European Molecular Liquids Group (EMLG) and Japanese Molecular
Liquids Group (JMLG) meeting entitled Novel Approaches to the Structure
and Dynamics of Liquids: Experiments, Theories and Simulations, which
took place under IUPAC cosponsorship in Rhodes, Greece from 7 15 September
2002 and under the leadership of Associate Prof. Dr. Jannis Samios.
It is of particular importance to note here that since 1981 the EMLG
has organized a series of international research EuroConferences, which
have had, and continue to have, considerable impact on development in
the field of molecular liquids.
It is well known that separating research from teaching is highly artificial
and unproductive, and for this reason we feel that it was particularly
fortunate that this meeting was successfully organized in parallel with
a summer school (NATO Advanced Study Institute, ASI) covering the basic
aspects of the subject and aimed at graduate and postdoctoral students
and researchers entering the field or wanting to update their knowledge
on recent developments in fields related to liquid-state physics and
chemistry. The main organizer and chair of the meeting, Prof.Jannis
Samios, dealt with the organization, planning, and execution of the
meeting itself as well as the follow-up of all the sessions, assisted
by his students. At this point, we would like to thank Dr.D. Dellis
for his assistance and acknowledge the fruitful cooperation and assistance
of Prof. Philippe A. Bopp (IUPAC co-organizer, Bordeaux, France) and
Prof. Vladimir A. Durov (NATO/ASI co-organizer, Lomonosov, Moscow, Russia),
especially during the scientific part of the meeting.
The meeting was open to graduate students and active scientists in
the field of liquid-state research worldwide. The more than 130 scientists
and graduate students from 20 countries who attended the meeting enjoyed
the science, the opportunities to learn and discuss, and the wonderful
conference venue close to the Sea of Rhodes.
As stated in the title of the meeting,the organizers attempted to offer
an equally extensive coverage of three basic aspects: experiments, theoretical
investigations, and computer simulations (classical and quantum). The
scientific program consisted of 20 invited lectures, 20 plenary lectures,
and 10 short oral presentations. In addition to the plenary and invited
lectures, the participants presented 100 poster contributions during
the meeting, with results obtained from their latest research activities.
Prominent researchers and international scientific leaders in the field
of liquid-state research from various disciplines such as physical chemistry,
chemical physics, physics, biophysics, and computational chemistry,
delivered the lectures.
The meeting addressed recent developments in the broad, interdisciplinary
research on molecular liquids, ranging from pure simple liquids and
solutions to ionic systems and covering the supercritical and supercooled
region of the phase space, microemulsions, polymers, and biopolymers,
as well as liquids in confined spaces. New developments and advances
in experimental techniques such as synchrotron radiation sources, high-energy
X-ray diffraction, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), ultra-short
laser pulses, transient grating methods, dielectric, NMR, and vibrational
spectroscopy were the subjects of lectures and posters. In addition,
the refinement and extension of previously established statistical mechanical
theories as well as ab initio calculations and the development of new
computer simulation techniques (classical, semiclassical, stochastic,
and quantum) were presented and discussed.
Several of the active participants have agreed to summarize their contributions
for this issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry, stressing the aspects
of review and overview stated above. It is a great pleasure to thank
all the authors who have contributed to this issue. We hope that the
participants and the readers will find this collection of papers both
interesting and useful. They reflect the open and inter active spirit
that prevailed throughout the meeting,which was certainly helped by
the beautiful surroundings of the conference venue and the lively social
events. All of this would not have been possible without the support
of IUPAC, the University of Athens, and the Greek Ministry of evelopment
as well as the generous financial support by the Affairs Division of
NATO for the ASI. The participants, as well as the organizers, express
their gratitude to these organizations.
Jannis Samios
Philippe A.Bopp
Guest Editors
