Gordon research conferences 'frontiers of science'

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trends in analytical chemistry, vol, 6, no. G,,1987

in t h e n e w s Gordon Research Conferences 'Frontiers of Science' Origin of the conferences The conferences were initiated by Dr. Neil E. Gordon, of Johns Hopkins, who foresaw in the late 1920s many of the problems we are so conscious of t o d a y - - the difficulty of establishing good, direct communication between scientists working in particular areas, and sometimes in different disciplines of science; the distractions prevalent in large meetings of scientific societies, where all but a handful may be almost totally removed from significant interest in a given area, and similar problems. His solution was the Conferences, essentially as they exist today; secluded locations, small groups of highly qualified participants, informal and off-the-record discussions and the specification of a scientific subject at the frontier of knowledge. It all began with a single conference in 1931; it has become some 128 annual conferences today, attended by 14 000 scientists from countries around the world. After Dr. Gordon had to retire for reasons of health from active participation in the conferences, the name Gordon Research Conferences was adopted in his honor. The Gordon Research Conferences is a self-supporting, non-profit organization, incorporated in New Hampshire as a voluntary corporation for scientific purposes. The Conferences is also a participating organization of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The venues for the summer of 1987 will be New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Objectives The object and exclusive purpose of tile Gordon Research Conferences is to foster and promote education and science by organizing and

operating meetings of research scientists with common interests in the fields of chemistry or related sciences for the purpose of discussions and the free exchange of ideas, thereby stimulating advanced thinking in research at universities, research foundations, and industrial laboratories. This type of meeting is a valuable means of disseminating information and ideas to an extent that could not be achieved through the usual channels of publication and presentation at scientific meetings. In addition, scientists in related fields become acquainted and valuable associations are formed that often result in collaboration and cooperative efforts among laboratories. It is hoped that each conference will extend the frontiers of science by fostering a free and informal exchange of ideas among persons actively interested in the subject under discussion. The purpose of the program is to bring experts up to date on the latest developments, to analyze the significance of these developments and to provoke suggestions concerning the underlying theories and profitable methods of approach for scientific research. The review of known information is not desired. Meetings are held in the morning and in the evening, Monday to Friday, with the exception of Friday evening. The afternoons are available for recreation, reading or participation in discussion groups, as the individual desires. In order to protect individual rights and to promote discussion it is an established requirement of each Conferenc~ that no information presented is to be used without specific authorization of the individual making the contribution, whether in formal presentation or in discussion. Scientific publications are not to be

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trends in analytical chemistry, vol. 6, no, 6, 1987

prepared as emanating from the Conferences. The recording of lectures by tapes, etc. and the photography of slides are prohibited.

Registration and reservations Individuals interested in attending the Conferences are requested to send their applications to the office

of the Director. It is important that you submit your application promptly in order that it may be given early consideration by the review commit-

Analytical Chemistry

Separation and Purification

New HamptonSchool

Colby-SawyerCollege (N)

Spectroscopy of Matrix Isolated S p e c l u Plymouth State College(S)

Bruce Chase, chairman; William Heineman, vice chairman

Richard D. Noble, chairman; Edward L. Cussler, vice chairman

Martin Moskovits, chairman; V. E. Bondybey, vice chairman

10August

10August

10August

B. Chase, discussion leader F. Lytle, 'Two-photon spectroscopy of molecules in fluid solution.' D. Lubman, 'Laser-induced ionization of biological compounds in supersonic beam mass spectroscopy.' M. Wirth, discussion leader L. Carreira, 'CARS, an analytical technique?' T. Gustafson, 'Time-resolved optical charactadzation of thin film materials.'

R. A. Bartsch, discussion leader D. H. Busch, 'Longevity, the critical factor in oxygen carrier design.' W. S. W. Ho, 'Olefin separations via complexation with cuprous diketonate.' A. L. Bunge, discussion leader S. D. Alexandratos, 'Design and development of metaHon separations with dual mechanism ion exchangeredox/coordination/precipitation resins.' M. M. Sharma, 'New strategies in separation of close boiling substances.'

W. Schulze, discussion leader E. Schumacher, 'Mass-selected clusters in matrices.' K. Rebane, 'Impurity centers in solids.' E. Knozinger, 'Inelastic neutron scattering from matrix-isolated complexes.' G. A. Ozin, discussion leader D. Lindsay, 'ESR studies and computations on clusters in matrices.' A. Lager, 'Astrophysical molecules and clusters.'

11August

M. Moskovits, discussion leader J. Jortner, subject to be announced. J. Tulley, subject to be announced. S. Fischer, subject to be announced. H. Frei, discussion leader J. Shirk, 'Photoisomerization in matrices.' M. Tasumi, 'Photoreactions.'

11August W. Heineman, discussion leader J. Kirkland, 'Recant developments in the high-resolution separation of very high molecular weight components.' T. Chester, 'Supercdtical fluid chromatography: Progress and applications.' E. Yeung, 'Combining spectroscopy and chromatography in chemical analysis.' I. Krull, 'Recently detected detection approaches in liquid chromatography.'

12August B. Fateley, discussion leader G. Richmond, 'Probing the solid-liquid interface with non-linear optics.' H. Abruna, 'X-rays as in situ probes of electrochemical interfaces.' G. Hieftje, discussion leader S. Chiang, 'Scanning tunneling microscopy of metals on semiconductors.' A. Wieckowski, 'Application of nuclear properties in the analysis of electrode surfaces.'

13August I. Levin, discussion leader R. Salemme, 'Applications of x-ray crystallography in protein engineering and rational drug design,' Speaker and subject to be announced. L. Faulkner, discussion leader R. Mathies, 'Determination of retinal chromophore structure in rhodopsins with resonance Raman spectroscopy.' S. Carr, 'Structural analysis of proteins by tandem mass spectrometry.'

14August J. Robinson, discussion.leader A..Marshall, 'Data reduction in Fouder transform spectrometry: Advantages and artifacts.' J. Bettridge, 'Pattern recognition from different perspectives.'

11August E. L. Cussler, discussion leader J. D. Way, 'Facilitated transport membranes for hydrogen production.' C. J. D. Fell, 'Solvent swollen/filled membranes for recovery of heavy molecular weight components from gas streams.' E. L. Cussler, discussion leader D. W. Deetz, 'Stabilized liquid membranes for gas separations.' J. Draxler, 'lndustdal scale process for zinc removal using emulsion liquid membranes.'

12August T. A. Hatton, discussion leader P.-A. Albertsson, 'Separation of biopolymers and cell particles by partition in aqueousaqueous two-phase systems.' C. J. van Oss, 'Aqueous phase partitioning mechanism and its implications.' J. Shaeiwitz, discussion leader C. Fabiani, 'Physicochemical aspects of transport in an implantable bio-artificial pancreas.' E. Drioli, 'Enzyme membranes and enzyme membrane reactors in biotechnological processes.'

12August R. Hauge, discussion leader R. Perutz, subject to be announced. M. Poliakoff, subject to be announced. B. Mile, 'ESR studies.' A. Oskam, discussion leader L. Andrews, subject to be announced. A. Downs, subject to be announced.

13August W. Weltner, discussion leader J. Nibler, subject to be announced. N. Schwentner, 'Vibrational and electronic relaxation.' P. Montano, 'EXAFS studies of small metal clusters.' V. Bondybey, discussion leader G. Pimental, subject to be announced. J. Turner, subject to be announced.

13August

14August

M. L. Heinitz, discussion leader P. K. Dasgupta, 'Trace and ultratrace analysis of ionic species.' W. Nitsch, 'The importance of surfactants for the kinetics in liquid-liquid systems.' G. Pez, discussion leader L. A. Robbins, 'Industrial scale separation of parts per quadrillion dioxin from water? W. F. Prouty, 'Large-scale purification of recombinant human insulin.'

F. Froben, discussion leader S. Leach, 'Matrices and astrophysics.' L. Abouaf, subject to be announced. L. Knight, 'Reactive laser sputtering/matrix ESR.'

14August M. L. Heinitz, discussion leader H. A. Chase, 'Optimization of fixed bed adsorption separation of proteins.' M. V. Novotny, 'Microcolumn separation methods.'

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tee. This is particularly necessary for those Conferences which are customarily over-subscribed and for which it is often necessary to establish a waiting list. Applications must be submitted in duplicate on the standard application form which may be obtained from the office of the Director. This procedure is important because certain specific information is required in order that a fair and equitable decision on the application may be made. Attendance at each Conference is limited to approximately 100 conferees.

Deadline for receipt of applications is six weeks prior to the conference. The Director will submit the applications of those requesting permission to attend a Conference to the Chairperson for that Conference. The Chairperson will review the applications and select applicants so as to distribute the attendance as widely as possible among the various institutions and laboratories represented by the applications.

trends in analytical chemistry, vol: 6, no. 6, 1987

the periods of from one to four and one-half days. Requests for applications to the Conferences, or for additional information, should be addressed to: Dr. Alexander M. Cruickshank, Gordon Research Conferences, Gordon Research Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 028810801, U.S.A. Tel. 401/783-4011 or 401/783-3372. Mail for the office of the Director from June 15th to August 21st, 1987 should be addressed to: ColbySawyer College, New London, NH 03257, U.S.A. Tel. 603/526-2870.

Conference fees 1987

New Hampshire Conference (double occupancy) $310; non-resident conferee (meals, no room) $270; guest (rooms, meals) $220.

Rhode Island Special fund A special fund is provided from the registration fee and is made available to the Chairperson of each Conference for the purpose of increasing the participation of research scientists who could not otherwise attend and participate because of financial limitations. Its use is not limited to scientists who have been invited by the Chairperson as a speaker or discussion leader. The money is to be used as an assistance fund only and may be used to contribute toward Conferees' travel expenses, registration fee and/or subsistence expenses at the Conference, or both. Total travel and subsistence expenses usually will not be provided. The Board of Trustees of the Conferences has established a fixed fee for all resident participants (speakers, discussion leaders, conferees) at each Conference. This fee was established to encourage attendance for the entire Conference and to provide the Special Fund which is available to each Conference Chairperson. The fixed fee will be charged regardless of the time a participant (speakers, discussion leaders, conferees) attends the Conference - - that is, for

Conference (double occupancy) $325; non-resident conferee (meals,

no room) $270; guest (rooms, meals) $235. Children must be at least 12 years of age to have accommodations at host site (room and meals). Offsite accomodations (hotel, motel, and so forth) near the host schools are available; however, early reservations are recommended. The office will send on request a list of outside housing for your information and use.

Topics The following topics have been selected from the program as being of most interest to the readers of TrAC. For the complete program, readers are referred to Science, March 6, 1987. Analytical chemistry. New Hampton School, 10-14 August 1987. Separation and purification. Colby Sawyer College (N), 10-14 August 1987.

Spectroscopy of matrix isolated species. Plymouth State College (S), 10-14 August 1987. See the box on p. V for more details.

Non-isotopic clinical testing on the rise in Europe

Luminescence immunoassay (LIA) is becoming increasingly important to European clinical laboratories, according to a report recently published by the market research firm of Frost and Sullivan. Entitled 'Clinical Immunoassay Instruments in Europe' (No. E862), the report predicts that the use of LIA equipment will nearly quadruple by 1991, leading a strong swing away from the use of radioisotopes in testing. In 1986, isotopic testing instrumentation sales were virtually all on a replacement basis only, 'and this market sector is in general reducing in value 5 to 6% a year as laboratories change over from isotopic to non-isotopic technologies'. The use of fluorescence immunoassays (FIA) is expected to continue its substantial increase in the near

term. FIA equipment comprised about one quarter of 1986 non-isotopic instruments by units. More than half of this market sector by unit is made up of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) instrumentation. Many of these instruments are not being employed to their full capacity which is seen as a hindrance to future sales. West Germany leads the field in non-isotopic instrument purchases, which reached almost $21 000 000 in 1986. In France there has been a significant increase in the market, which in 1986 stood at $14 000 000, as the French government has accepted non-isotopic assays for reimbursement. In the U.K. the market is worth $8 600 000 and is seen to be held back by the system of centralized laboratories and a low level of acceptance of the technology.