METANANO 2020: participants and their geography
The METANANO International Conference on Metamaterials and Nanophotonics is organized every year by the staff of ITMO University’s Faculty of Physics and Engineering together with their Russian and international colleagues. The first conference took place in 2014 in the Cuban city of Varadero, while 2016 marked the first time that the event came to Anapa, Russia, where it brought together over 90 scientists mostly from Russian universities and research centers. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, METANANO was held in Vladivostok, Sochi and St. Petersburg, respectively.
Last year, the number of participants exceeded 400 people, more than half of whom came from Europe, the US, Australia and China.
As per tradition, the next conference is planned to include plenary sessions. Every year, these feature reports by scientists from leading laboratories and research centers in Germany, Sweden, France, the US, Finland, the UK, Russia and other countries. This year won’t be an exception. Over 230 applications have already been submitted, including by international researchers.
METANANO 2020 will be held in Tbilisi – a city with a 1,500-year history, breathtaking nature and hospitable locals. It is in such an open and cordial ambience that the participants will be sharing the latest results in the field of nanophotonics and physics of nanomaterials, as well as discussing important questions concerning the scientific community.
New features at the 2020 conference
Compared to last year, there will be an increase in the number of thematic sections: from 13 to 18. For the first time in the event’s history, it will get an industrial section featuring presentations by representatives of Huawei, Samsung, and other major companies.
Another new feature is the introduction of ethical rules, drawn up in order to protect the rights of researchers belonging to different social groups.
“We strive to be an inclusive conference aimed at providing equal opportunities to all researchers working in our field, regardless of their social situation and background. Our Equality and Diversity Policy has been developed to put in place comfortable conditions for the participation of people of different genders and social statuses, ensuring that they feel included both in the scientific program and the social communication at the conference,” shares Mikhail Petrov, the chair of the METANANO 2020 program committee.
In terms of other key points, the conference will retain its last year’s format. A wide range of topics will be presented: from condensed matter physics to microwaves. Apart from plenary sessions and thematics sections, the event’s program will include a symposium on quantum photonics technologies. It will become a platform for the discussion of the latest advances in the development and application of single photon sources, new materials, concepts for quantum photonics and other important topics.
Having already confirmed their participation as plenary speakers are such prominent scientists as Federico Capasso (Harvard University, the US), Shanhui Fan (Stanford University, the US), Maryna Bodnarchuk (ETH Zurich, Switzerland), and others. The full list of speakers can be found here.
Despite the complicated epidemiological situation, the organizers are continuing the preparations for the onsite conference in the hope that the situation with the pandemic will improve over the summer.
“We’re discussing how to expand our classical onsite conference with an online broadcasting option in case some of the participants won’t be able to come because of the pandemic, but will be willing to attend remotely. It seems important to us to offer such an opportunity given the circumstances,” explains Mikhail Petrov.
How to participate in METANANO
As in previous years, a grants competition is being held for talented students, PhD researchers and young scientists wanting to attend METANANO. To participate, you need to send your CV and motivation letter to the event’s organizers by May 10. The METANANO program committee will consider all applications, and the best candidates will have their travel costs and registration fee paid for. Each application will be considered within three weeks, the results will be announced on June 1.
Abstracts for participating in the conference have to be submitted before March 31, and the conference itself will take place on September 14-18, 2020. Additional information on the participation and the venue is available on the event’s website.
