Information
The Organizers of the Biennial Workshops are
Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute of the Russian
Academy of Sciences and 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'93-05
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 nanocarbon
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),
M. Dresselhaus (USA, MIT), R.Taylor (UK, Univ.
of Sussex), Fred Wudl, (University of California,
Los Angeles, USA), Maurizio Prato (University
of Trieste, Italy) and others top level scientists.
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 Dekker, 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 other countries.
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; vol.14, N 2-3, 2006).
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 and 2005 (Chairs: H.
Murayama and A.Vul')
The Program Committee would like to continue
a discussion of carbon cluster applications at IWFAC'2007.
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-'05.
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 organizers will arrange for a sightseeing
program to introduce the guests and accompanying
persons to St Petersburg. The IWFAC will be held
in the period of "white" nights, when
the city looks especially beautiful.
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