Campinas Workshop Could be the Start of a Series

The success of a recent summer workshop in Brazil, partly sponsored by APS and organized with the help of the APS Office of International Affairs, may augur well for a series of such workshops at appropriate locations throughout Latin America.

The meeting, held from February 11 to February 13, combined a workshop on the use of synchrotron radiation for research with a symposium on nanotechnologies. The site was the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory in Campinas, Brazil, and the Chair of the Organizing Committee was the founding director of this facility, Cylon Gonalves da Silva.

The meeting was put together in eight months of concerted effort. "It was surprising to see how, on such short notice, we could get together a good number of scientists from several countries in Latin America", commented da Silva. "This shows such meetings are needed. The venue was well suited to showcase the determination of many countries in Latin America to support research and to provide high-quality scientific infrastructure."

Among the lecturers were ten from the United States, including Richard Pratt of the University of Pittsburgh. "The workshop in Campinas was very useful," he said, "for understanding what has been accomplished, and for becoming acquainted with the people there, others in Brazil, and more generally throughout the Americas."

This month, organizers of the meeting, together with representatives of the APS and of the US Liaison Committee to the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, plan to get together to discuss future meetings in Latin America. "Many participants were extremely positive," said da Silva, "suggesting that the workshop should become part of a regular program of meetings on synchrotron radiation and nanotechnology in Latin America."

Pratt had a similar opinion, remarking that "the concentrated activity in a short time frame could provide a model for other such workshops in the future."

Inter-American Workshop on the use of Synchrotron Radiation for Research and Symposium on Nanotechnologies hosted by Laboratorio Nacional de Luz Sincrotron, Campinas-SP-Brazil, February 11-13, 2001. Courtesy of LNLS