Development of a Worldwide Aerosol Community – from GAeF to IARA

Abstract

In former days, research in science and technology was done in defined individual disciplines like physics or chemistry and often limited to the country of origin of the involved researchers. Nowadays, new research areas are often multidisciplinary, international and often transcontinental. This has caused an increasing interest of scientists and researchers in getting information about the ongoing activities around the world and eventually led to building international and interdisciplinary communities. The rise of a new discipline in science and research is usually accompanied by the foundation of corresponding professional organizations in order to promote scientific work in this field, to exchange information by organizing scientific conferences, supporting publications and to establish scientific education and teaching. Relevant markers of the development of associations are the number of members, the composition of the membership, the locations, hosts and participants of conferences, the quantity and main topics of papers presented as well as the language and the proceedings of the conferences.