NIR-2013 Update
Submitted by ianm on 11 March 2013 - 10:58am
Ready to feel some Good Vibrations? Don’t miss
NIR-2013, 2–7 June 2013, La Grande Motte, France!
What’s new in this, the 16th International Conference of NIR Spectroscopy? Nearly 400 abstracts have been received and they have given rise to 75 twenty-minute oral presentations, more than 100 five-minute flash presentations and 200 posters. Mornings are devoted to plenary sessions with theoretical and methodological issues (instrumentation, chemometrics, spectroscopy basics, sampling, hyperspectral imaging) while in the afternoons, three parallel sessions are allotted to applications including agriculture, biowaste/bioenergy, food, soil, wood, petrochemistry, chemistry, pharmaceutical uses, ecology and other emergent applications. The ends of the afternoons, as well as the morning breaks, are dedicated to poster sessions and visits to the 30 exhibition booths of the equipment manufacturers.
In order to have as high a scientific level as possible, the abstracts have been double-assessed in a blind review process by the Scientific Committee (60 members), while prestigious established speakers and rising stars of NIR have been invited. A special guest, never heard before in the other NIR conferences, is expected for the opening ceremony: Professor Sune Svansberg, from Lund University (Sweden) and South China Normal University (China), former director of Lund Laser Centre and former President of Nobel Prize Committee in Physics, who has more than 600 publications in spectroscopy, will give a talk on spectroscopy applications in environmental, ecological, pharmaceutical and medical research. Morning methodological sessions will all start with a keynote speaker: Dr Wouter Saeys (KUL Belgium) for instrumentation, Professor Tom Fearn (University College London, UK) for chemometrics, Professor Hamid Dehghani (University of Birmingham, UK) for spectroscopy, Professor Kim Esbensen (Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, DK) for experimental methodology and Professor Kim Moon (USDA, USA) for hyperspectral imaging.
Everything is planned to enable our delegates to have both a captivating and friendly conference. Our objective is to facilitate interactions: “flash presentations” make it possible for authors to introduce themselves and their work in five minutes in order to allow interested delegates to meet them after the session. An innovative “NIR in action” session will be set up and will give companies the opportunities to show videos of their equipment in action in the field or in the factory. An electronic “Wall” for job offers and requests will be available so that students can show their resumés while companies or laboratories can publicise their vacancies. Every evening, after the parallel sessions, the poster session will take place around a drink (wonderful Languedoc Roussillon wines and other cocktails!) during the “happy hour”. Social parties are planned with the support of our Platinum Sponsors, while on Wednesday we will have a special Gala dinner. Earlier, Wednesday afternoon is devoted to relaxation during which delegates can participate in a golf tournament, explore the beach, visit La Grande-Motte (20th century architectural heritage) or the surrounding sights (Sete and Bouzigue l ports, Nîmes and Pont du Gard, Montpellier).
The venue is wonderful. The congress takes place in La Grande-Motte, a city by the seaside, which was built from scratch in the 1970s, which makes it an archetype of 70s architecture. Various accommodation types are available, from 4* hotels to apartments in holiday residences and even cheap and practical mobile homes in the campsite nearby (book asap—June is not the hottest season but may be pretty busy). Restaurants, spas, the golf course, as well as beaches and the natural beauty of the surroundings will enable you to have wonderful memories of your stay. La Grande Motte’s geographical location is quite outstanding, close to Montpellier and Nîmes and at the gateway to Camargue. This is the ideal starting point for tours of Roman Gaul, Provence and the hinterland of Languedoc as full-day or half-day excursions. You should come early or stay a few extra days after the conference.
Be sure to be with us in June 2013 and do not miss the early bird registration deadline (1 April)!
Professor Véronique Bellon-Maurel, IRSTEA, France
Chair of NIR-2013
