Nanocon conference celebrated its 10th anniversary
The first conference in the Czech Republic to focus solely on nanomaterials was the Nanocon in 2008. Since then it has become an annual event, and one of the largest-scale conferences in this field in Central Europe. This year it was held (and its 10th anniversary celebrated) in the city of Brno, from the 17th to 19th of October, with the active participation of RCPTM, a co-founder of the event. Radek Zbořil (RCPTM’s Director) was once again convenor, and two of the invited speakers were RCPTM representatives—Pavel Hobza and Aleš Panáček.
“This conference has gradually managed to become the biggest event in nanotechnology in our country as well as belonging to the most important professional meetings in this area. The major part of the programme during this 10th anniversary year was devoted to nanomedicine. I am glad that RCPTM representatives will give the major talks”, said Radek Zbořil.
Pavel Hobza, a world-renowned expert on non-covalent interactions from RCPTM and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS, explained the new way to control electronic and magnetic properties of molecules. This research, which was published in Nature Communication journal, has aroused considerable interest among experts. Moreover, it was selected for Editor’s Highlights. Aleš Panáček, a distinguished physical chemist, focused on bacterial resistance to silver nanoparticles. This research has also received great attention as it was published in Nature Nanotechnology journal. This achievement contributed to his winning a prestigious prize called President’s Prize of the Czech Science Foundation (GACR).
330 participants registered for the conference this year. The conference also hosted world-renowned scientists. One, Paras N. Prasad, Executive Director of the Institute for Laser, Photonics and Biophotonics, University at Buffalo, New York State, USA, is a multidisciplinary researcher in the field of photonics and nonlinear optics, who has achieved global success for his pioneering work on use of light-based technologies to address serious global health problems. Prof. Prasad presented a plenary lecture entitled ‘Convergence of Science: Linking Nanotechnology with Photonics and Biology to Impact on Energy and Health Care.’ Another, Antonio H. Castro Neto, Director of the Centre for Advanced 2D Materials, National University of Singapore, is a materials scientist and condensed matter theorist, who has achieved global recognition for his work on 2D materials. He delivered another plenary lecture entitled ‘2D Materials: Science and Technology’.