This award supports participation of students in the 2010 Gaseous Electronics Conference related to Plasma Science that will be held on Monday, Oct. 4 - Friday, Oct. 8, 2010 at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris, France. The Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC) is an annual topical meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) sponsored under the auspices of the Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (DAMOP). This year's conference will be held jointly with the Japanese International Conference on reactive Plasmas (ICRP).
The GEC has a strong tradition of encouraging and promoting student participation. The GEC has an enviable reputation of being the first conference that many of the leading members of the community presented their research results as graduate students. Student participation in this year's GEC is particularly important to the professional development of young scientists and engineers. With the GEC being held in an international venue, this may be the first opportunity for US graduate students to travel internationally to present the results of their research. As part of the GEC program, there will be tours of laboratories at several French universities and CNRS facilities.
Intellectual Merit
The GEC is the leading international conference in the science and technology of low temperature plasmas (LTPs) and collision physics (CP). The conference has been the venue of the first presentations on world leading developments in investigations of LTPs and CP, from lighting and lasers, to plasma materials processing and plasma-medicine. The invited speakers represent the world's leading scientists in LTPs and CP. This year's conference is expected to continue the tradition of their being presentations on the state of the art in plasma physics and engineering, and collision physics.
Broader Impact
The broader impacts of this award include the opportunity for young U.S. scientists to attend one of the most important conferences in their field held at an international venue. They will have the opportunity to observe firsthand the scientific and cultural diversity of the field, and establish what will hopefully be career long collaborations with their international counterparts. Special efforts will be made to support graduate students who are women and underrepresented minorities.
The Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC) is an annual topical meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) sponsored under the auspices of the Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (DAMOP). The GEC combines aspects of atomic, molecular, and optical physics with low temperature plasma physics, electric discharges and plasma chemistry, as well as their technological applications. Fundamental topics addressed at the GEC include atomic and molecular cross sections, plasma diagnostics, ion and electron distribution functions, as well as kinetic, particle-in-cell (PIC) and fluid plasma modeling. Applications include plasma processing of materials, plasma interaction with surfaces, lasers, lighting, plasma medicine, plasma aided combustion and plasma control of aeronautical flows, among others. The GEC plays a key role in advancing research in these areas in the US and internationally. In particular, the GEC is the only US conference that brings together members of the atomic, molecular, and optical physics communities with researchers interested in the science and technology of low temperature plasmas. The 63rd Annual GEC was held Monday, Oct. 4 - Friday, Oct. 8, 2010 at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris, France. The conference was held jointly with the Japanese International Conference on reactive Plasmas (ICRP). The GEC has a strong tradition of encouraging and promoting student and post-doctoral participation. The GEC has an enviable reputation of being the first conference that many of the leading members of the community presented their research results as graduate students. Student and post-doctoral fellow participation in this year’s GEC was particularly important to the professional development of young scientists and engineers due to its international location. With the GEC being held in an international venue, this was the first opportunity for many US graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to travel internationally to present the results of their research. With this grant, 15 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows received travel support to attend the GEC in Paris. All of the students and post-doctoral fellows presented papers and actively participated in the conference. Intellectual Merit: The GEC is the leading international conference in the science and technology of low temperature plasmas (LTPs) and collision physics (CP). The conference has been the venue of the first presentations on world leading developments in investigations of LTPs and CP, from lighting and lasers, to plasma materials processing and plasma-medicine. The invited speakers represent the world’s leading scientists in LTPs and CP. The 2010 GEC continued this record of success with more than 700 papers being presented. Broader Impact: It is a stated goal of the NSF to broaden the international perspectives of graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. The broader impacts of this proposal included the opportunity for graduate students and post-doctoral researchers from US institutions to attend one of the most important conferences in their field held at an international venue. They had the opportunity to observe first hand the scientific and cultural diversity of the field, and established what will hopefully be career long collaborations with their international counterparts. Of the 15 students and post-doctoral fellows who were supported with this grant, 6 were women.
