The 7th workshop for new researchers in Glass Science and Technology was conducted from 6-10th July, 2015 in Montpellier.
Two parallel sessions were offered following last year’s successful trial of a similar format. The themes were ‘Glass Science’ and ‘Surfaces and Thin Film Technology’. 32 students from 8 countries attended, those with industrial links making up the majority for the first time. A popular new addition was small group tutorials.
The ‘Glass Science’ course has evolved with new PhD students in mind, although it also attracts attendees from industry. Academic and professional leaders in the field presented across a range of topics from chemical properties (durability in particular) to the thermodynamics of glass forming systems.
After the joint lectures on the first day, the Glass Surface and Thin Film courses separated for three days, and the concluding presentation each day demonstrated the importance of surfaces and thin film currently and potential future applications. The first day focused on tools for characterisation, the second concentrated on the glass surface and the final day was devoted to thin films on glass.
Prof Pan gave a final presentation on Thursday afternoon on the “Current Status and Prospect of Modern Glass”. His talk proved inspirational, giving the students insights into what can be achieved by hard work and determination.
Final student presentations are both informative and competitive. The competition winners were Gulin Demirok, Paul Jacquet, Marina Konon and Branislav Velev for their talk on Li Glass Ceramics for Batteries. Coming a close second were Merve Kutlug, Barbora Holubova, Matej Drobny, and Aref Cevahir who looked at: What factors affect the adhesion of organics to glass surfaces and how might they be controlled?
Both participants and lecturers came from many different countries. Numbers were down from previous years, attributed to other international glass summer schools running this year, with exceptionally high levels of funding.
However the event a great success again and further schools have been planned, one at Wuhan University of Technology in China during the winter months, and next year’s in Montpellier from 4-8th July, 2016. For further details see the ICG web site.