This award will support a joint U.S.-Japan Workshop for Young Investigators in Molecular Science to be held during October, l99l in Okazaki, Japan. Professors John H. Frederick and Kent M. Ervin, Department of Chemistry, University of Nevada, Reno, are the U.S. organizers and their counterparts in Japan are Professors Yoshiyasu Matsumoto, Koichi Yamashita, and Hrvoje Petek of the Institute for Molecular Sciences (IMS) in Okazaki, Japan. The workshop will encourage and facilitate the initiation of research collaboration among early career scientists from the United States and Japan in the area of theoretical and experimental molecular spectroscopy and dynamics. Panel discussions will be featured on the following topics: i) gas-surface interactions ii) spectroscopy of clusters/solulte-solvent interactions iii) intermolecular dynamics of highly excited molecules and iv) spectroscopy of the transition state/reaction dynamics. These topics share a number of common challenges and concerns, among them the characterization and modeling of intermolecular forces, the nature of pre-and post-bond dissociation dynamics in highly excited molecular species, the role of an external bath (or solvent) in relaxation and accommodation processes, and the relationship between spectroscopic observations and the underlying molecular dynamics. The twelve participants from both countries will each deliver a seminar on their research area which will be followed by group discussion. They will also participate in guest lectures covering specific areas of molecular dynamics, discussions on future direction and challenge, and a visit to the laboratories of the Institute for Molecular Sciences. This Institute (IMS) is the ideal host for the workshop since one of its objectives is to promote international exchanges between Japan and other countries. Because the participants are drawn from early-career scientists, the collaborations formed as a result of this workshop expect to affect the future direction of research in both countries, over a long period of time, to the mutual benefit of both the U.S. and Japan.
