Gordon Research Conferences
The Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) are a series of international specialist conferences in the fields of chemistry , physics and biology .
history
Beginnings
From the late 1920s, the chemistry department at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore began hosting summer conferences. The actual origins of the conferences, however, go back to 1931, when a conference organized by Neil E. Gordon, staff member and professor of the Chemistry Faculty there, took place at Johns Hopkins University in the summer. The aim at the time was to bring together scientists from different areas and thus discuss the latest research results. Between 1931 and 1947 the conferences were held in the Chesapeake Bay area . During this time, the conferences were still used as a summer school at Johns Hopkins University. Each conference lasted one week and was given a specially selected topic. In the first few years, these topics were mainly aimed at the chemistry department.
In search of a more remote location, the conference finally moved to Gibson Island , Maryland in the mid-1930s . Around the same time, the conferences of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) followed, which it supported financially, among other things. From 1942 to 1946 the conferences were therefore called AAAS-Gibson Island Chemical Research Conferences.
Neil Gordon moved from Johns Hopkins University to Fayette, Missouri in 1936. The series continued without him and in the summer of 1937 the university held conferences in Virginia Beach . Gordon was Secretary of the Conferences from 1938 to 1939, and in the fall of 1939 he was named the first Director of the Conferences.
1946 to 1990
In 1946, Neil Gordon retired as director. The chemist W. George Parks became the new director in 1947. Under him the conference was moved to Colby Junior College in New London, New Hampshire in 1947 . In 1948, in honor of Neil Gordon, the conferences were renamed “Gordon Research Conferences” - in the summer of 1947 there were ten of these conferences.
It was founded as a not-for-profit and thus tax-exempt organization in 1956 in New Hampshire. Until 1963, the conferences took place exclusively in summer, but then the Polymers Conference, founded in 1947, moved to Santa Barbara , California , so that conferences could also take place there in winter. The Gordon Research Conferences were now also represented on the west coast of the USA. In 1968 the chemist and former assistant director Alexander M. Cruickshank became the new dicector of the GRC. Twelve years later, the winter conferences on the west coast of Santa Barbara were moved to Ventura , California.
Since 1990
In response to the globalization of technology and research, the Gordon Research Conferences began in 1990 to hold conferences not only within the United States , but also abroad from now on. The first conferences of this kind took place in Volterra , northern Italy . After Cruickshank's retirement, chemist Carlyle B. Storm became the new director. Fuel chemist Nancy Ryan Gray has been Director of the Gordon Research Conferences since 2003.
Today's conferences
functionality
The GRC director chairs an advisory board (Board of Trustees) made up of 15 people. The advisory board decides on the topics of the individual conference series. Scientists can apply to attend a Gordon Research Conference. The selection is made by the conference leader. The number of participants is limited to a maximum of 200 participants. The conferences are usually one week long and offer a lot of time for discussions in addition to scientific lectures and posters. Previously unpublished results should also be presented in the lectures and the information about these results should not be disseminated. The participants in a conference elect the leader of the next conference in the same series. Every participant can stand for election. Each of these elections is secret. The quality of the conference is assessed by the participants and forms a basis for the decision of the advisory board whether the series of conferences on this topic will be continued.
numbers
A total of 300 Gordon Research Conferences and Gordon Research Seminars are planned for 2019. The international conferences have grown steadily since 1990 and currently more than 50 conferences are held each year in Italy , Switzerland , Hong Kong and Spain alone . From 1931 to 2006 a total of 600,000 researchers attended the conferences and a total of 5,500 weeks of conferences were held.
Gordon Research Seminar
The first Gordon Research Seminar (GRS for short) took place in 1996. The program is intended to support postdocs and graduates parallel to a Gordon Research Conference and thus prepare them for active participation in a GRC. In addition, they should enable an exchange of experiences with the best international researchers. The program has grown steadily since 2005 - today the majority of Gordon Research Conferences take place in parallel with a Gordon Research Seminar.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ GRC 75th Anniversary - History (Foundations, Leadership, and Growth). Retrieved November 24, 2018 .
- ^ A b Science - Gordon Research Conferences. American Association for the Advancement of Science, March 1, 1991, accessed November 24, 2018 .
- ^ History of GRC. Retrieved November 24, 2018 .
- ↑ President and CEO. Retrieved November 24, 2018 .
- ^ Board of Trustees. Retrieved November 24, 2018 .
- ↑ About GRC. Retrieved November 24, 2018 .
- ^ GRC 75th Anniversary - Introduction. Retrieved November 24, 2018 .