NSF funds will be used to support (registration and travel) the attendance of junior and early career scientists at the 2011 Gordon Research Conference on Superconductivity. This biennial conference brings together world experts and young scientists to discuss open questions in the physics of superconductors and to disseminate the latest theoretical and experimental research results in these novel materials. It represents a training ground essential to maintaining U.S. leadership in this technologically important area. The 2011 conference will mark the 100th anniversary of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes' discovery of superconductivity and will focus on key unanswered questions in high-temperature superconductors including the cuprates and the iron-based superconductors as well as topological superconductors and heavy-electron superconductivity. The discovery of new materials and novel technological applications for electronic devices and for energy transmission and storage will be emphasized. Two special sessions will be reserved for breaking discoveries in both theory and experiment, so that the latest research results may be presented. The format of the conference will include both formal presentations by experts and informal "brainstorming" sessions where free-ranging discussions will be stimulated. The conference will provide an ideal environment for advanced graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to explore the latest theoretical and experimental methods to investigate challenging questions in the physics of materials having tremendous importance to both fundamental science and technological applications. Members of underrepresented groups have been recruited as conference speakers to provide role models and potential mentors for the young scientists who will participate.
The Gordon Research Conference on SUPERCONDUCTIVITY was held at Waterville Valley Resort, Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, June 5-10, 2011. The Conference was well-attended with 121 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. Of the 121 attendees, 53 voluntarily responded to a general inquiry regarding ethnicity which appears on our registration forms. Of the 101 respondents, 27% were Minorities – 0% Hispanic, 23% Asian and 4% African American. Approximately 14% of the participants at the 2011 meeting were women. In designing the formal speakers program, emphasis was placed on current unpublished research and discussion of the future target areas in this field. There was a conscious effort to stimulate lively discussion about the key issues in the field today. Time for formal presentations was limited in the interest of group discussions. In order that more scientists could communicate their most recent results, poster presentation time was scheduled. Attached is a copy of the formal schedule and speaker program and the poster program. In addition to these formal interactions, "free time" was scheduled to allow informal discussions. Such discussions are fostering new collaborations and joint efforts in the field. Thank you for your support of this Conference. As you know, in the interest of promoting the presentation of unpublished and frontier-breaking research, Gordon Research Conferences does not permit publication of meeting proceedings.
