Fullerenes and Atomic Clusters
IWFAC'2005

Final Announcement & Call for Abstracts

The Organizers of the Biennial Workshops are Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

History of the Biennial International Workshops "Fullerenes and Atomic Clusters" (IWFAC) started in St Petersburg in October, 1993. Since that time the IWFAC has become one of the most representative world meetings in the field of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes. One of the important reasons is the participation in the IWFAC'93-03 the founders of this science and the scientists who determine main directions in this field.

The lists of invited speakers of the past Workshops included scientists well known in the fullerene world: H.Kroto (UK, Univ. of Sussex), D.R.Huffman (USA, Univ. of Arizona), W.Kraetschmer (Germany, Max-Plank-Institute), E.Osawa (Japan, Nanocarbon Research Institute), S.Iijima (Japan, NEC Corporation) and others.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation are permanent sponsors of the IWFACs. Besides the Russian Academy of Sciences, International Science and Technological Center, Frontier Carbon Corporation (Japan), Marcel Deccer, Inc (USA) sponsored the IWFAC's.

The Workshop provides an international forum for the exchange of information on the latest progress in the field of carbon clusters. The scientific program consists of both oral and poster presentations as well as lectures by invited keynote speakers who survey areas of major interest.

General topics include synthesis and technology, physical properties, chemistry of carbon clusters, main applications of carbon clusters for industry, biology and medicine, and the latest progress in the field of clusters in solid state physics.

As a rule, the number of the participants of the Workshop is about 300, including 200 from Russia and 100 from European countries, Japan, USA, and Korea.

The Proceedings of the IWFAC's were published by Gordon & Breach Science Publishers as special issues of the Journal "Molecular Materials" (v.4, No.1-3, 1994; v.7, No.1-4, v.8, No.1-2, 1996; v.10, No.1-4, v.11, No.1-2, 1998, v.13, No 1-4, 2000), Journal "Physics of the Solid State" (Vol. 44, Issue 3, pp. 399-599, Vol. 44, Issue 4, pp. 601-685, 2002), "Fullerenes, Nanotubes, and carbon Nanostructures" (vol.12, No 1&2, 2004).

In spite of its short history the Workshop has its own traditions.
The science of carbon clusters is radically interdisciplinary in nature. Physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine represent an incomplete list of fields dealing with the research of fullerenes, nanotubes and other carbon clusters. Indeed, fullerene science opens ways for constructing new materials with predetermined properties on the atomic scale and actually creates the fundamentals of material science in the XXI century.
Therefore discussions of fullerene applications is one of traditions of IWFAC. Possible fullerene applications, their results and prospects in industry, electronics, biology and medicine were the points of broad discussion at the Applications Panels in 1995 and 1999 (Chairs: D. Huffman, W. Kraetschmer and A. Vul') and in 2003 (Chairs: H. Murayama and A.Vul')

The Program Committee would like to continue a discussion of carbon cluster applications at IWFAC'2005.

The Sponsors and the Organizing Committee have been trying to help and promote young participants, and it is also one of the traditions of IWFAC. In 1997 a special award for young scientists for best presentation at the IWFAC was established and the winners were awarded at IWFAC'97-'03.

In conclusion, some words about our Social Program. St Petersburg is both a scientific and a cultural center. It is a beautiful city designed and built by Russian and Western architects. It is often called "the Venice of the North". As usual along with the Scientific Session a Social Program is planned.
The Symposium organizers will arrange for a sightseeing program to introduce the guests and accompanying persons to St Petersburg. The Symposium will be held in the period of "white" nights, when the city looks especially beautiful.