This award provides partial support of the 2014 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Photonuclear Reactions, which will be held at the Holderness School in Holderness, NH from August 10 - 15, 2014. The Gordon Conference serves as a forum for the presentation of the newest ideas and results in the field, and plays an important role in driving forward theoretical and experimental work on electromagnetic reactions in nuclear physics. Ronald Gilman of Rutgers University, the PI of this proposal, is chair of the meeting. The money will be used to support domestic travel costs and registration fees of junior scientists. The award will also support an associated conference "Frontiers and Careers in Photonuclear Reactions," during the two days immediately prior to the GRC. This Frontiers meeting is organized by and for junior scientists and is meant to provide an introduction to the topics that will be discussed at the GRC.
The broader significance of this award is in the training of junior scientists. The participation of junior scientists is a focus of the Gordon Research Conferences organization, with the intent of having the junior scientists interact extensively and develop a network of scientific collaborators, while also developing the breadth and depth of their physics knowledge, leading to greater career achievements. The Gordon Photonuclear Reactions Conferences have been notable for the large attendance of junior scientists. For the 2012 Conference, 30% of attendees were graduate students, and 14% were postdocs. It is very noteworthy that 27% of attendees were women, far in excess of the percentage of women in the field.
