VI European Conference on Neutron Scattering (ECNS2015)

Abstract

It was a great pleasure for the Materials Science Institute of Aragón (CSIC- University of Zaragoza) to host the VI European Conference on Neutron Scattering (ECNS) from the 30th of August until the 4th of September 2015. The meeting was held in Zaragoza, Spain, a prosperous and well communicated city founded by the Emperor Octavio Augustus over 2000 years ago. Zaragoza, a city where different cultures, Muslims, Jewish, and Christians have left their mark is famous for its landmarks such as the Basilica del Pilar, La Seo Cathedral and the Aljaferfa Palace as well as the local cuisine.The conference is organized every four years as a forum for the European neutron scattering community to discuss recent developments and advances in all branches of science in which neutron scattering is, or eventually could be used. In 2015 the conference gathered more than 650 participants from 31 different countries from around the globe including Japan, United States of America, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, India, Argentina, China and Australia. This volume assembles the proceedings of the ECNS 2015.The main topics in the conference were; Neutron Sources and Facilities, Neutron Instrumentation (Optics, Sample Environment, Detectors and Software), Fundamental Science, Chemistry of Materials, Magnetism, Superconductivity, Functional Materials, Glasses and Liquids, Thin Films and Interfaces, Soft Condensed Matter, Health and Life Sciences, Engineering applications, Cultural Heritage and Archaeometry.Jean-Marie Tarascon, J. Manuel Perez-Mato, Roberto Caciuffo, Paul Schofield, Peter Fierlinger, Helmut Schober and Frank Gabel presented plenary talks. In addition, 33 keynote talks and 222 oral presentations were given during the four parallel sessions as well as 325 poster presentations. The poster sessions, which were held during the lunch and coffee breaks, were well attended and participants had time to visit not only the posters but also the exhibition.The VI European Conference on Neutron Scattering (ECNS) was supported by our institutional sponsors (Government of Aragon, CSIC and University of Zaragoza) as well as one platinum sponsor (Consortium of German Neutron Sources), three gold sponsors (ILL, PSI, ESS), four silver sponsors (Swiss Neutronics, ISIS, ESS Bilbao, JINR-FLNP) and 12 bronze sponsors (NMi3, Airbus Defence & Space, Tessella, Oxford Instruments, General Electric, Laboratoire Leon Brillouin, HNF Technologies, AVS, ANTE, Mirrotron Ltd, Toshiba, and the ENATE winery). The Sponsors ranged from neutron sources, consortia and laboratories to industrial organisations.A total of 19 graduate students and post-graduate students received the International Union of Crystallography fellowships (IUCR). Fellows came from Denmark, France, Hungary, Russia, UK, Australia, Japan and Spain.ENSA has a long-standing culture of rewarding scientists for their work and at the ENSA session the 2015 Walter Halg Prize was awarded to Prof Dr Helmut Rauch for his outstanding and seminal contributions to the fundamental aspects of neutron physics and optics and many related aspects of quantum physics.The Seventh Erwin Felix Lewy Bertaut Prize of the European Crystallographic Association (ECA) and European Neutron Scattering Association (ENSA) was awarded to Dr. Giorgio Schiro for his work on movement of biological matter.A number of satellite meetings were also held during the conference such as the Swiss Neutron Scattering Society General Assembly, the Neutron sources directors meeting as well as the European Neutron Scattering Association (ENSA) meeting. In particular, the Neutron sources directors meeting gathered directors from 14 Neutron sources from countries around the world. The ENSA meeting, which was held on the second day of the conference, hosted delegates from Holland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Spain and France.Several national facilities will close by 2020, which will cause the overall neutron capacity in Europe to be greatly reduced. Design studies for new, cost effective and energy efficient, accelerator-based sources must be initiated now in order to rejuvenate the ecosystem of European facilities by 2025. We hope that the high level of participation and the high quality of the science presented at ECNS in Zaragoza will transmit a clear sign to the European Authorities about the necessity to support our diverse community by maintaining the European capability and capacity, which is indispensable in both the short and long term.The organizers would like to thank all the attendees for their active participation and enthusiasm, which ensured that the conference was a great success.The different committees (Local Organising Committee, National Advisory Committee, International Advisory Board, and International Program Committee) appointed to advise us during the organization process and to develop the scientific program (which was not an easy task...) are also deeply recognised.Javier Campo Chair of ECNS 2015 Materials Science Institute of Aragon (CSIC- University of Zaragoza)