2009 European Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry Graz, 15–20 February, 2009

“I have very much appreciated the program—it is excellent and daring, and brings to the floor a whole new suite of talented young scientists.” (Olivier Donard)

Those were the comments expressed by a previous chair of the European Winter Plasma Conference—they seem to capture perfectly the spirit of the 2009 conference in Graz which gave the podium to the rising young stars of plasma spectrochemistry. The result was a series of energetic plenary lectures, followed by sharply focused 10 minute oral presentations delivered in two concurrent sessions. Tight time control, essential for concurrent sessions, was achieved with the help of a traditional alpine cow bell which sat within easy reach of the session chair, ever threatening to clamorously end long-winded speakers. At this point we wish to thank the operators of the cow bell, the session chairs, who made a great contribution to the success of the conference.

Fig. 1 The conference venue, Grazer Congress, serves as the city's concert hall when the plasma spectrochemists aren't there.

Despite the bell, or perhaps because of it, the theme of the conference was one of informality and relaxed interaction, with plenty of time to take a coffee and cake during the sessions, lunch breaks long enough to have useful scientific discussions and forge new collaborations, and a full social program. The social highlight was the Hot Plasma Party held on the Monday evening at the local brewery. We think the photos tell the story well enough! Social activities continued during the week, albeit at a more leisurely pace, with daily tours of Graz, a ski-day, and trips to a chocolate factory, a thermal bath, and a traditional Styrian buschenschank.

Fig. 2 Professor Annemie Bogaerts receives the 2009 European Award for Plasma Spectrochemistry from Don Potter of Agilent Technologies, the sponsors of the award.

Fig. 3 Hot plasma party goers were asked to dress up in traditional national costume with the prospect of winning a prize: the three finalists (Thomas Prohaska, Jörg Feldmann, and Andreas Prange) preparing to win the audience's deciding vote with an impromptu stage performance.

Back at the conference venue! The scientific program included the major topics covered at recent conferences in the series such as fundamental plasma processes and the latest advances in instrumentation, laser-assisted plasma spectrochemistry, stable isotope measurements, and elemental speciation. The Graz conference also continued the trend seen at earlier conferences with applications of plasma source techniques being a dominant part of the program.

The scientific program had a focus on poster presentations with two consecutive sessions each displaying the posters for two days. Refreshments provided during this period seemed to help the scientific discussions in front of the poster stands. The presenters were also encouraged by prizes awarded during the two sessions by JAAS and Perkin Elmer. The two winners were Maria Estela del Castillo Busto and Sebastian Groh, second prize winners were Larissa Wäntig and Harald Hagendorfer, and the two third prize winners were Johanna Irrgeher and Thorben Pfeifer. We congratulate them on their fine work and the poster judges who chose so well.

Fig. 4 Turning it on for the judges! There was also a prize for the best dancer—strong competition, but the clear winner was Bodo Hattendorf.

We would like to thank the sponsors of the conference including the scientific companies which exhibited their latest products throughout the week. And, of course, we wish to thank the conference participants who responded so enthusiastically to the new scientific format and to the social activities. It will be interesting to see if this type of format is adopted by subsequent conferences.

This themed issue of JAAS assembles a selection of the work presented at the Graz conference. The deadline for paper submission was set immediately after the conference to enable JAAS to publish this special issue as soon as possible so that the content is current and relevant. We invite you to read the latest work in plasma spectrochemistry, and we encourage you to continue the tradition of these European Winter Conferences by attending the 2011 conference in Zaragoza.

Kevin Francesconi

Walter Goessler

Guenter Knapp

On behalf of the Organising Committee and the Scientific Committee of Winterplasmagraz.

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