Internationalization

GEC conference 2022 in Japan

After two years of social distancing and online meetings, 2022 will be known as the year that gave rebirth to on-site conferences. Since the beginning of the year, many conferences have returned, and so has the GEC (gaseous electronics conference). From Monday (Oct 3rd) to Friday (Oct 7th), the international low-temperature plasma community met in Sendai, Japan. As the organizers would not get tired of emphasizing, they were hyped about finally realizing an in-person event again. The community shared this enthusiasm.

Almost six hundred papers were presented to five-hundred-fifty participants- the third most papers within the last ten years- and an attendance comparable to online events. Another notable statistic of the conference is the high count of students. Half of the participants were students, which included Ph.D. students as well as undergrads. With thirty-three contributions, a large group from Bochum and the SFBs attended GEC. Similar to the conference, this group had a dominant share of Ph.D. and undergrad students.

At least four parallel sessions were conducted to fit the numerous contributions into the five days available. Scientific highlights of the conference were the workshops conducted on Monday and the price talks; given on Wednesday. Professor Toshiaki Makabe received the "Will Allis Prize'' to acknowledge his life's work in plasma science, and Professor Masaru Hori received the "Reactive Plasma Award'' for his research. In terms of success, the SFBs, SFB-TR87 and CRC1316, did not fall too short in comparison. Andrew Gibson, Lars Schücke and Jan Trieschmann (former two CRC 1316, latter SFB-TR87) were invited to present their research. Julian Schulze (PI in both CRCs) chaired and organized the GEC, and five people from the consortia were chosen as session chairs.

Moreover, two outstanding performances have to be mentioned. The respective committees priced the oral presentation of Tobias Gergs and the poster presentation of Arisa Bodnar. Tobias Gergs is a member of the SFb-TR87 and got awarded the "Student's Excellence Award". Arisa Bodnar presented her Bachelor thesis, which she did in the frame of the CRC 1316, and received the "Student Poster Price". All in all, the large share of people and their valuable contributions caused the SFBs to impact the conference meaningfully.

The wholesome and successful experience is reflected in the happy faces in the picture above.