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Following exciting conferences in Leipzig, Germany (2005, celebrating the anniversaries of Einstein's and Fick's landmark papers on diffusion), L'Aquila, Italy (2007), and Athens, Greece (2009), the Fourth Diffusion Fundamentals Conference will, for the first time, be held outside of Europe, as a testimony to its international outreach. The world-wide community of researchers in the field of diffusion is invited to the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, to discuss current developments in the fundamentals of diffusion, and its relevance to a wealth of applications.

Rapid progress in the field is due in part to its immediate significance to applications in separation, transport and catalytic processes (in medicine, sensors, energy, chemical and biotechnology, geology, and even information technology and social sciences), from the molecular to the inter-galactic scale. It is also due to radical advances in our ability to synthesize and observe nanostructured materials, with increased insights thanks to sophisticated molecular characterization methods, and theoretical and computational methodologies.

Diffusion Fundamentals IV will follow the tradition of its predecessors as a high-quality conference with outstanding invited oral, plenary presentations, and ample opportunity to view and discuss contributed posters that discuss the most recent progress. Both chairmen and plenary speakers are encouraged to refer extensively to the posters relevant for their session. Extended abstracts or full papers (see below) of conference contributions will be available electronically via the Diffusion Fundamentals Online Journal.

A detailed scientific program will be posted soon: Please revisit for updates. Talks will cover areas including the theoretical description and experimental measurement of nano-confinement effects on diffusion; progress on the description of collective diffusion; transport through synthetic and biological membranes; diffusion and its impact in chemical engineering, neuroscience, biomedical engineering, geology, energy and environmental applications.

Each group of plenary talks will be accompanied by poster sessions. Ideally, the contributions to the poster sessions should be related to the various aspects covered in the plenary talks. Correspondingly, the plenary speakers and the chairpersons of the sessions will be asked to serve as first reviewers of the poster submissions and will be encouraged to refer to individual posters during their presentations, whenever appropriate.


Location
As the oldest technological university in the United States (1824), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has a rich history. Its beautiful campus boasts both old and hypermodern architecture, such as the recently opened Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. All presentations will be in the new Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies with comfortable seating and state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment.

August is a nice season to visit, with pleasant temperatures, and an opportunity to enjoy the many magnificent neighboring sites, such as the Adirondacks, Saratoga Springs, or the charming Berkshires, all less than one hour away. As such, New Yorkers have enjoyed coming "upstate" to this area for more than a century, where also a lot of the cultural life is centered especially in summer. Troy itself has beautiful 19th Century architecture, as a result of its industrial importance from the mid-nineteenth century on. Troy is also the famous Home of Uncle Sam!

Rensselaer is 15 minutes from Albany International Airport and 15 minutes from Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak Train Station, with direct and frequent connections to New York City's Penn Station on a beautiful train ride along the Hudson River. It is also about 2 1/2 driving distance from New York City (I-87) and 3 hours from Boston (I-90).


Fees, Payment and Registration
The participation fee for early registration (till April 15^th, 2011) is US$450; for late registration (until August 1^st, 2011) it is US$540. The reduced fee for students is US$200 (early registration) and US$250, respectively. For registration, please fill out the registration form, send it to diffusionfundamentals@gmail.com, and wire the registration fee to the account mentioned on the form. We will send you a confirmation of your registration via Email after receiving your fee on our bank account.

The conference fee comprises an electronic copy of the conference proceedings, catering during the conference and the social program, including the welcome reception on Sunday, August 21st, the gala dinner and the excursion.

The price for accompanying persons is US$150, (US$200 for late registration), including participation to the welcome reception, gala dinner and the excursion.

Cancellations: If a cancellation request is received before July 1^st, 2011, 75% of the amount paid will be refunded. No refund will be possible after July 1^st, 2011. Please address all request for cancellations to M.-O. Coppens.


Accommodation
Most attendees will be housed in the Hilton Garden Inn Troy, close to campus, where a block of rooms has been reserved at a rate of $129+tax per night, including buffet breakfast. Please make reservations directly through the hotel. Other hotels in the neighborhood are available, including the Best Western Franklin Square Inn in downtown Troy, also close to campus.

Conference Volume
The conference book will be in electronic format, and include full paper contributions of plenary speakers and sessions' chairmen and the two-page poster abstracts.
The conference contributions will be published only electronically, as a special volume of the Online-Journal "Diffusion Fundamentals". This online publication will be comprised of the Conference Volume, as well as the full paper contributions by poster presenters (see below for details).


Posters
Authors are requested to send their two-pages abstracts via the Internet before April 15^th, 2011. Accepted abstracts will appear in the conference book.
Please note that the deadline for last-minute poster contributions is August 1^st. Last minute submissions will only be published in the special volume of the Online-Journal.
Please follow the format as given under http://diffusion.uni-leipzig.de/pdf/layout-poster-abstracts.doc since only if this format is followed may the contribution be included in the Conference Volume and/or the Online-Journal, and send your abstract to diffusionfundamentals@gmail.com.


Full Paper Contributions
Authors of contributions that were accepted as posters of the conference are invited to send full papers before August 1^st. Please, follow the instructions given under http://diffusion.uni-leipzig.de/pdf/layout-full-paper-contribution.doc and send your paper to tomas@uni-leipzig.de. The publication in the special issue of the Online-Journal "Diffusion Fundamentals" depends on the positive response of the referees.

Important Dates

Conference Chairmen:
Marc-Olivier Coppens, Rensselaer; Alex Neimark, Rutgers; Douglas Ruthven, University of Maine; Matthias Thommes, Quantachrome Instruments

Scientific Committee:

Dezsö L. Beke, Debrecen		Stefano Brandani, Edinburgh		Armin Bunde, Giessen
Paul Callaghan, New Zealand		Alan Chadwick, Canterbury		Christian Chmelik, Leipzig
Marc-Olivier Coppens, Troy		Gerhard Ertl, Berlin		Dieter Freude, Leipzig
Farida Grinberg, Jülich		Paul Heitjans, Hannover		Jörg Kärger, Leipzig
Yossi Klafter, Tel Aviv		Klaus Kroy, Leipzig		Alfred Leipertz, Erlangen-Nuremberg
Andreas Mandelis, Toronto		Graeme Murch, Callaghan		Jean Philibert, Paris
William S. Price, Sydney		Douglas M. Ruthven, Orono		Michael J. Saxton, Davis
Gunter Schütz, Jülich		Doros Theodorou, Athens		Rustem Valiullin, Leipzig
Ilpo Vattulainen, Helsinki		Gero Vogl, Vienna		George H. Weiss, Bethesda

Organization Rensselaer: Marc-Olivier Coppens

Electronic Support (abstracts, papers): Tomas Binder

Email: diffusionfundamentals@gmail.com


Downloads
- pre-announcement of the conference:
http://diffusion.uni-leipzig.de/pdf/DiffusionFundamentalsIV_Preannouncement_Aug09.pdf (pdf, 1 MB)