Draft Guidelines for Proposals for Host Sites for QFS Meetings

Guidelines for Proposals for Host Sites for QFS Meetings

These brief introductory comments and proposal guidelines have been discussed by the QFS Steering Committee as appropriate for the preparation of proposals for consideration for selection as host sites for QFS meetings.

Definition: QFS meetings are meetings of the international community of researchers in the area of Quantum Fluids and Solids. These meetings are presently agreed to be held in each year in which there is no international LT-XX meeting. The most recent several meetings have been held in: Grenoble (2010), Evanston (2009), Kazan (2007), Kyoto (2006), Trento (2004), Albuquerque (2003), Konstance (2001), Minnesota (2000), Amherst (1998), Paris (1997), Ithaca (1995), and State College (1992). The site for the QFS2012 meeting will be in Lancaster, England and the QFS2013 meeting will be in Matsue, Japan. (The next LT meeting, LT27, will be held in Argentina in 2014.)

Steering Committee: At the 1998 meeting it was decided to create an international QFS steering committee which would serve to (1) coordinate meeting information between the QFS community and the IUPAP Commission C5 and (2) select the sites of future QFS meetings from proposals submitted to the steering committee. The QFS Steering Committee will consist of the chairman of the next to be held QFS conference, the three(*) most recent conference chairs, and at most three(*) additional people to ensure that there is at least one representative from Europe, Japan, the former Soviet Union (FSU), and the United States. The identification of a QFS chairman for the next future meeting will result in the retirement of the most past QFS chairman, ensuring a rotation of committee membership with a continuity of experience. The QFS committee decided that it would select sites for the QFS conferences in a manner that would provide approximately two years advance notice to the conference organizers. The chair of the immediate past QFS meeting will serve as the Chair of the steering Committee until the next meeting of a QFS conference and which point the chair of that conference will assume the steering committee Chair until the next QFS meeting.

The current membership (as of the end of QFS2010) of the QFS Steering Committee is:

Vladimir Dmitriev* (representing the FSU) (dmitriev@kapitza.ras.ru )
Henri Godfrin (QFS2010), Chair (henri.godfrin@grenoble.cnrs.fr )
Robert Hallock* (QFS98) (hallock@physics.umass.edu )
William Halperin (QFS2009), (w-halperin@northwestern.edu )
Yuichi Okuda (representing Japan), (okuda@ap.titech.ac.jp )
George Pickett (QFS2012), Chair-elect (g.pickett@lancaster.ac.uk )
John Saunders* (representing IUPAP-C5) (J.Saunders@rhul.ac.uk )

[* A representative from the Quantum Fluids and Solids community from IUPAP-C5 is also included on the committee; currently this position is filled by John Saunders. Since the time of the QFS2003 meeting it has been requested by the Committee that Bob Hallock remain a member for long-term continuity (he is also currently Chairman for IUPAP, C5). He has agreed to do so, serving at the pleasure of the committee, and has agreed to continue to maintain the home web page for the conference series. At the QFS2004 meeting it was decided to add to the committee a quantum fluids representative from the FSU and Vladimir Dmitriev accepted an invitation from the committee and joined the committee; his membership was renewed at the QFS2009 meeting. ]



Proposals to be a QFS host site: An institution that proposes to host a QFS meeting should submit (by e-mail to the present steering committee chair) a request to be host. It would also be helpful if an electronic copy could be sent to Bob Hallock (hallock@physics.umass.edu ). The request should be in the form of a brief proposal (e.g. the equivalent of one to two printed pages) that contains the following information:

1. Identification of the proposed QFS meeting Chair, co-Chair(s), and brief comment on the local committee and its ability to carry out the required work.

2. A description of the geographical location of the anticipated conference site including a brief description of the expected meeting facilities.

3. A discussion of the format of the meeting, types of presentations, etc. (e.g. all invited, some contributed, any posters?, etc.)

4. A discussion of the scientific emphasis of the meeting, e.g. will it be a traditional meeting, or will it have special emphasis such as instrumentation and technique, etc., etc.

5. An estimate of the anticipated costs to conference registrants.

In addition, a proposal may also indicate the following additional information, but the absence of such information will not reduce the attractiveness of the proposal.

6. A discussion of the anticipated participant living arrangements.

7. A description of any anticipated companion program for guests of participants.

8. Mention of any possible satellite (or other) conferences which might influence the plans of participants.

Submission deadline: The QFS Steering Committee accepts proposals so that two years advance notice will be provided by the committee in selecting sites. Proposals to host future QFS meetings should be sent electronically to the current QFS chair, copied at the same time to Bob Hallock (hallock@physics.umass.edu ), to arrive two years and three months in advance of a proposed meeting. So in a typical case, to host in August of year N, proposals should be received in year N-2 by the end of April. A decision by the Steering Committee on proposals can be anticipated at the end of the meeting of the Steering Committee (at a LT or QFS) held in year N-2. Based on the strength of proposals submitted in year N-2 and the willingness of the proposers, the committee may elect to approve additional QFS meetings further in the future, e.g. in year N+1. (This happened in the case of approval for QFS2013). If the Steering Committee chooses to make exceptions or variations in the standard submission procedures and dates, it will make an effort to announce these well in advance. The web site will maintain a current list of all approved future QFS sites.

Conference year / Deadline: QFS meeting for year N; proposals due at the end of April in year N-2. (LT meetings will be in 2011, 2014, etc.) QFS meetings are currenlty approved for QFS2012 and QFS2013. The next proposal round (for QFS2015) will be due in April of 2013.

Advice: For those seeking to host future QFS meetings, advice and suggestions will be freely available from previous QFS meeting Chairs.

Meeting Information: Future meetings will create web sites which will effectively provide updated information, and that these sites will be maintained at least until the end of the next QFS meeting. The site from QFS-98 is available at http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~qfs98/info1.htm and will be maintained, including a link to the future meetings when they become available. This web address will be maintained into the future and will act as the homepage for the QFS series of meetings. Changes in web address due to unforeseen computer problems will be announced by e-mail.

Meeting Frequency: The community by vote at QFS-98 has decided that a major meeting once a year (i.e. QFS or LT) is workable and this frequency will be tried for a few years. This was reaffirmed at the QFS2000 meeting. We anticipate that the issue of frequency of meetings will be reconsidered in a few years.

Financial Support: It is expected that hosts of QFS meetings will solicit financial support from relevant agencies in an effort to minimize the registration and other costs associated with the conference. We note that a number of agencies have a policy which may prevent them from consistently funding such a meeting. With the host country changing, it is expected that no agency will be solicited too frequently. The Steering Committee has adopted the policy that local hosts are free to solicit funds from sources of their choosing, but are cautioned that some sources may place constraints on the meeting. For example, at present IUPAP limits registration fees for conferences which it supports. Other constraints may also exist for IUPAP and other agencies. The Steering Committee urges hosts to be aware of any potential constraints and plan their solicitations accordingly.

Conflicts and Coordination: We strongly encourage potential hosts to be cognizant of other relevant conferences and select their proposed meeting dates accordingly.

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