We are pleased to announce that the scientific program for the Molecular & Ionic Cluster Conference 2010 (MIC2010, September 5-10, 2010, in Japan) has been established and is available from the conference website.

The conference will comprise 9 scientific sessions focused on key areas of cluster science.

Session 1 : He droplets and quantum condensed phase

Session 2 : Ionic Clusters

Session 3 : Clusters and Aerosols in Atmospheric Chemistry

Session 4 : Intermolecular Potentials

Session 5 : Metal clusters

Session 6 : Hydrogen-Bonded Networks

Session 7 : Cold Molecules and Controlled Collisions

Session 8 : Noncovalent Interactions in biological / Large molecules & clusters

Session 9 : Dynamics in Clusters

Inviter Speakers & Discussion Leaders　

Nadine Halberstadt (U. Paul Sabatier-Toulouse) Takamasa Momose (U. British Columbia), Frank Stienkemeier (U. Freiburg), Asuka Fujii　 (Tohoku U.), Mark Johnson (Yale U.) Kazuo Takatsuka　 (U.Tokyo), Otto Dopfer　 (TU Berlin), Ruth Signorell　 (U. British Columbia), Veronica Vaida (U. Colorado), Marsha Lester　 (U. Pennsylvania), Sotiris Xantheas　 (Pacific Northwest National Lab.), Jeremy Hutson (U. Durham), Anne McCoy (Ohio State U.), Jean-Philip Piquemal　 (U. Paris VI)), Bernd von Issendorff　 (U. Freiburg), Martin Jarrold　 (Indiana U.), Atsushi Nakajima　 (Keio U.), Seong Keun Kim　 (Seoul National U.), Hiroshi Sekiya (Kyushu U.), James Lisy (U. Illinois), G. Naresh Patwari (Indian Inst. Tech.) , Klaus Muller-Dethlefs (U. Manchester), Timothy Softley　 (Oxford U.), Roland Wester　 (U. Freiburg), David Wales (U. Cambridge), Takayuki Ebata (Hiroshima U.), Timothy Zwier (Purdue U.), Bernard Brutchy (U. Frankfurt), Carl Lineberger　　 (U. Colorado), Christophe Jouvet　 (U. Paris Sud), Dan Neumark　 (U. C. Berkeley)

　 (Discussion Leader is a session chair and will give a review talk on the topics.)

The 2010 Molecular and Ionic Clusters Conference will be one of the most exciting and important cluster science meetings of the year. The conference will be held at Atema Kougen Resort Hotel Belnatio in Niigata, Japan from September 5-10, 2010. The hotel has its own Japanese Hot Springs and is set in a 12.6 acre (5.1 km²) site with easy access to a wide range of outdoor activities including tennis, hiking, cycling and swimming - there is even a full 18 hole golf course! The region is famous for its sake, traditional Japanese rice wine, and for those who develop a taste, a visit to see the Sake being made is a great opportunity. The conference will cover the spectroscopy, dynamics, and reactivity of a wide range of cluster types and sizes, including helium nanodroplets, metal clusters, ionic clusters, hydrogen-bonded networks, and clusters involving biological molecules. Special sessions on contemporary topics such as cold- molecule collisions are also scheduled. Both experimental and theoretical aspects of cluster science will be well-represented at the conference.

The Molecular and Ionic Cluster Conference has traditionally been run as a Gordon Research Conference. Based on the ballot held at the MIC business meeting in September 2008, it was decided to proceed with the meeting in Japan in 2010. The Gordon Research Conferences currently have no registered venues in Japan and thus the 2010 conference will proceed without the Gordon name.　 It is expected that the 2012 meeting will be held in the United States as a winter Gordon Conference.

Electronic registration for the conference will be available on the website from January 2010.

We would like to note that there are at least 9 free slots available for Hot Topics (typically 15 min), and the speakers for these sessions will be chosen from poster presenters.　 Therefore, please consider presenting your most up-to-date work as a poster.　

The conference fee has now been established as 78,000 yen for double occupancy (US$791 on June 6, 2009).　 This conference fee is almost the same as that of the GRC held on the US east coast, but in this case, the accommodation is at a resort hotel, similar to a European venue.　 For any additional information, please visit the conference website or for more specialist queries, contact us at either of the e-mail addresses provided below.

We very much look forward to hearing from you in due course and to welcoming you to Japan in 2010.

Masaaki and Ken

Chairs:

Masaaki Fujii (Tokyo Tech)　 : [log in to unmask]

Kenneth D. Jordan (U. Pittsburgh) : [log in to unmask]

Vice Chairs:

Anne McCoy (Ohio State U.) & Frank Stienkemeier (U. Freiburg)