ISNS2008
January 15-18, 2008
Mumbai, India
http://www.barc.gov.in/symposium/isns2008

About the Symposium
The International Symposium on Neutron Scattering would cover various aspects of neutron scattering research and applications in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Material Science. These would include studies of structure, dynamics and magnetism using diffraction, small-angle scattering, reflectometry and inelastic and quasi-elastic scattering, as
also development of new instruments and techniques.

Sponsored by
Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India.

Topics
Neutron scattering research and applications in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Material Science. These would include studies of structure, dynamics and magnetism using diffraction, small- angle scattering, reflectometry and inelastic and quasi-elastic scattering, as also development of new instruments and techniques.

Contact
Dr. S. L. Chaplot
Chair, Organizing Committee ISNS2008
Solid State Physics Division
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
Mumbai 400085, India
Fax: (91) (22) 2550 5151 and
        (91) (22) 2551 9613
E-mail: isns2008@barc.gov.in
Website: http://www.barc.gov.in/symposium/isns2008

Da Hsuan Feng’s Letter

Friends and Colleagues:
I am writing this message to you, with excitement, anticipation and mixed-emotions. I am informing you that after more then three decades in the United States as an academician, a corporate officer and a university administrator, I am about to begin a new chapter.

I have just accepted the position of Senior Executive Vice President for Research Affairs, offered by Academician Michael Lai, President of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China. While
this is a tremendous honor, it also carries enormous and solemn responsibilities and challenges, foreseen and unforeseen. My term begins in the Fall of 2007.

With three quarters of a century of distinguished history, with well over 100,000 powerful alumni now dotting the globe, many have achieved supreme successes in arts, business, education, science, technology and healthcare
and are ready and willing to assist, with 20,000 academic selective students and 1,500 academic significant faculty members currently, both have healthy dosage of international flavor, with enormous regional support, and with a permeating culture of proactive intellectual growth on the world’s stage, NCKU has evolved from its engineering beginning to become a comprehensive, research and international university in Asia Pacific.

Friends, for the first time over three decades ago since I became a physics professor, I am taking on a challenge outside the United States. I would be remiss if I did not underscore that US is a country where I have resided since the mid-sixties, it provided me with a lion share of my great education and, of course, it also afforded me rich and robust opportunities
to develop a most intellectually satisfying career.

For the invaluable education and opportunities, I am eternally indebted to this great nation.

As Forrest Gump would say, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Indeed, until 1995, in my mind, it was an utter certainty that I would only be a happy cocoon and intellectually profoundly satisfying physics professor in the United States, surrounded by brilliant students and collaborators from all over the world.

Yet, in the past twelve years, my life could not have been more colorful, exciting and ever changing.

In those twelve years, my intellectual horizon, well beyond science, was enormously widened and deepened. This was coupled with an exponential explosion of the range and variety of friends and associates worldwide, many have made profound contributions to humanity far beyond me. I was able to operate in and often move into terra-incognita that
was formerly completely out-of-reach to me! These experiences and friends have generously taught me much and have provided me with new and exciting opportunities, almost on a daily basis. The only word I would characterize these past twelve years is “luck”.  Indeed, without sheer luck, I would not possess a deeper understanding of my role in the world.

For all my friends and associates who have given me so much and so selflessly in the last three decades, I am not sure how I could ever repay you that will be in commensuration with your gifts to me! My family made me profoundly happy and proud. You made me humble and eclectic!

In the four decades since I first arrived in United States as a na?ve young man from Singapore, the world was “flattened”, as Thomas Friedman would say. Asia is no longer Asia, United States is no longer United States, the World is no longer the World. Mankind today is technologically connected in an ever changing and ubiquitous manner which was never before seen in its long and often arduous history. In the 21st century, there are indeed dark and imminent challenges facing the globe and humanity, which if not mitigated, may and could spell the demise of all. In this landscape, higher education, especially research universities globally, should and must assume greater and enormous responsibilities to be lighthouses of concern
and care for humanity.

Ready to face great and rapidly changing global challenges in the 21st century and sitting in a “new” Continent where reinvention is the norm, not the exception, National Cheng Kung University wields enormous opportunity to become one of the world’s most exciting research universities in this century. Indeed,

‧ with new, practical and courageous leadership,
‧ with exciting and down-to-earth vision,
‧ with inclusive attitude and ready to be the economic and intellectual transformation agent,
‧ with profound appreciation for humanity and deep respect for ecstatic elegance,
‧ with well defined and reachable goals,
‧ with outstanding and innovative faculty and students,
‧ with dedicated administrative staff,

NCKU stands at the threshold of greatness.

I am confident that NCKU can and will be a lighthouse in a world that needs far more illumination, not less.

With Asian and Western heritages in my blood, and with three decades of eclectic experiences, I look forward to be a member of a robust NCKU team. I will do my utmost to contribute to NCKU’s successes.

With humility abound, I face my life’s new chapter!

Warmest personal regards,
Da Hsuan Feng

LCWS 2006
NIC10
July 27 - August 1, 2008
Michigan, USA
http://meetings.nscl.msu.edu/nic2008/

1st Circular
The 10th International Symposium on Nuclei in the Cosmos will be held on beautiful Mackinac Island, Michigan, USA from July 27 to August 1, 2008 at Mission Point Resort. This is the 10th edition of the most important international meeting in the field of nuclear astrophysics. It brings together nuclear experimentalists, nuclear theorists, astronomers, theoretical astrophysicists, cosmochemists and others interested in the scientific questions at the interface of nuclear physics and astrophysics. These questions concern for example the origin of the elements in the cosmos and the nuclear reactions that occur in the big bang, in stars and in stellar explosions.
    Pre-registration is open at the conference website at http://meetings.nscl.msu.edu/nic2008/. Pre-registration helps us to plan
the event and ensures you are on the NIC10 mailing list for future messages. Please pre-register by July 31, 2007 if you think it is likely that you attend.
    Please distribute this message to interested colleagues that might not be on our current mailing list. If you have any questions, please refer them to nicx@nscl.msu.edu.
    Past meetings have been held in Geneva-Switzerland (2006), Vancouver-Canada (2004), Fuji-Yoshida-Japan (2002), Aarhus-Denmark (2000), Volos-Greece (1998), Notre Dame-USA (1996), Gran Sasso-Italy (1994), Karlsruhe-Germany
(1992), Baden bei Wien-Austria (1990).




PANIC 2008
November 9-14, 2008
Eilat, Israel

You are cordially invited to the next International Conference on Particle and Nuclei (PANIC08) that will be held from 9-14 of November 2008, in Eilat, Israel. PANIC08 is the 18th in the series of triennial conferences which bring togather the Particle and Nuclear Physics communities. The series started in 1964 at CERN with a small meeting organized by Torleif Ericson and the late Victor Weisskopf and Amos de Shalit and was followed by the second PANIC meeting which was open to all
and held in Israel, at the Weizmann Institute 1967. The last PANIC conference, PANIC05, was held at Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA in 2005.
    PANIC08 will consist of plenary talks and a number of parallel sessions. The scientific program will address a broad range of topics at the interface between particle, nuclear, and astrophysics. Special emphasis will be devoted to recent discoveries and first results from new facilities expected to be available by the time of the conference.
    The conference strongly encourages the participation of students and young scients and will endeavor to provide financial support to facilitate their attendance.
    Eilat is a well known resort town located on the shores of the Gulf of Eilat which connects Israel to the Red Sea and further down to the Indian Ocean. It commands spectacular desert and mountain views, offering many touristic experiences. In recent years Eilat has been a focal site for numerous large scale international conferences held in Israel.
    PANIC08 is hosted by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
   The first circular of the conference can be found at the conference website http://www.weizmann.ac.il/conferences/panic08 where further information will regularly be updated.
   If you are interested in receiving further information please use the pre-reguistration form that can be found at the conference website. You will receive forthcoming conference information, announcements and an email notification when on-line registration will be available.