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The Scientific Program Network (SPN)
for the
IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium (NSS),
Medical Imaging Conference (MIC)
and
International Workshop on Room Temperature Semiconductor Detectors (RTSD)
The NSS/MIC/RTSD is one of the world's largest and most significant annual meetings of our worldwide science and engineering
community working in topic areas of the NSS/MIC/RTSD, from now on just called "Conference". This Conference is increasingly
more attractive letting the number of participants grow steadily and strongly from each year to the next - for the 2008
edition (Dresden, Germany), more than 2,000 abstracts have been received already (more still to come for the workshops)
bringing the expected number of participants close to 3,000. Abstracts have been received from almost 60 different countries - showing
the strong worldwide interest in this Conference.
This Conference was started as workshop on scintillation detectors about 50 years ago, and soon became the NSS - which
developed further into what it is today. A comprehensive article about its exiting history and development can be found in
the CERN Courier October 2004 issue: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/nps/IEEE-NSSMIC-CERN-CourierAr.pdf
Since this Conference is being organized for our worldwide science and engineering community active in these fields, it is
important that the community also has an opportunity to support the conference, provide input and feedback to the Scientific
Program Organizers, and contribute to it, and also be given the opportunity for becoming directly involved with it.
The Scientific Program Network (SPN) offers all of these possibilities. It was formed for the 2008 IEEE NSS/MIC/RTSD and
has been extremely successful (and people love to get involved this way, and getting together during SPN meetings) and shall be
continued for future NSS/MIC's (and NSS/MIC/RTSD's) depending on the endorsement on each year's conference General Chair.
- At SPN meetings, the scientific program of the Conference is introduced.
- Participants, in turn, introduce their institutes showing the specific areas of research, thus being able to
identify and discuss directly with people of the current Conference Organization with what kind of papers and research
projects they, and their institutes, may contribute to the Conference.
- Input to the scientific program can then be provided to the SPN coordinator who will then forward it to the Conference
Chairs for consideration. (Or to member of the Conference Organizing Committee who likely will also be present at each of the SPN meetings - so
direct feedback can be given.)
- The SPN Coordinator will ask the meeting participants who would be available for tasks at the Conference and will
circle around a list where meeting participants can state their availability for tasks such as Abstract and Paper Reviewers,
Session Chair, Topic Convener, Session Room Assistant, etc. - this list will then be given to the Conference Chairs as a
recommendation from the SPN.
- The SPN meetings bring together people from many countries, cultures, and institutions and thus creates a unique
opportunity to be able to get to know to each other, and to learn who belongs to one's community, also on a personal level.
- Because people from so many countries and institutions come together during an SPN meeting, the institutions hosting an
SPN meeting gain quite a bit of visibility; the hosting institute will also be acknowledged at the Conference and in the Conference Booklet
as supporter of that year's NSS/MIC or NSS/MIC/RTSD, and its support for the SPN meeting is very much appreciated.
- Costs for SPN Meetings: So far the institutes hosting our meetings were willing to offer support in form of complimentary
accommodation for the SPN participants as well as for a nice and well-liked social event. Being a volunteer network, this is
very much appreciated and necessary, since the costs for travel have to be covered by the participants themselves.
- Participants represent the full range of our community and thus include men and women, students, doctors, professors, deans
of departments, institute directors, university presidents, etc. - all communicating with each other in English and on a relaxed,
collegial, first-name basis (no titles).
The Network: It consists of SPN Country Coordinators (SPN - CC's) and national email lists of experts of our community
ordered by country (which may be further ordered by fields covered by the Conference). The SPN has been started with a first meeting in Prague,
Czech Republic, 1 October 2007, hosted by the Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics (IEAP) of Czech Technical
University (CTU) - see photo of participants. It rapidly expanded to additional Eastern European and Asian
Countries, including Kazakhstan, and also to Latin America, and the SPN, as of now, has a (rapidly growing) data base
consisting of almost 1,000 contacts of colleagues who are experts in the various Conference topics. South America, has just been
added, and Australia shall be included will be added next.
List of SPN Countries include:
Austria, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan,
Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay and USA. (Additional countries are about to join.)
If you would need more information, please send email to: Barbara.Obryk@ifj.edu.pl
Contact:
Uwe Bratzler
www.nss-mic.org/2008
tel: +41 2276 71309
e-mail: Uwe.Bratzler@cern.ch
Barbara Obryk
www.ifj.edu.pl
tel: +48 12 662-82-80
e-mail: barbara.obryk@ifj.edu.pl
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