Office of Public Affairs
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THE w HONG KONG SCIENCE G m UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY ?icwHktr55E -. . . .*.’For Immediate Release 16 August 1994
Tel: (852) 358 6316 Fax: (852) 358 0537
HKUST To Host International
Conference
on Raman Spectroscopy
Some five hundred scientists from forty countries will gather in Hong Kong from 22 to 26 August to participate in the XIVth International Conference on Raman Spectroscopy (ICORS), hosted by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Laser-based Raman Spectroscopy - a technique of ‘fingerprinting’ molecules by analyzing the wavelengths or spectra produced by the collision of laser light with a target molecule - is used in many areas of modem molecular science, including biology, chemistry, physics, pharmacology, and advanced materials.
“The laser is one of the greatest scientific and technological inventions of the 20th century,” says Professor Nai-Teng Yu, head of HKUST’s Chemistry Department and Chairman of the conference organising committee. “Thanks to the laser, Raman Spectroscopy has become one of our most important scientific tools.”
About the conference, Professor Yu says,“ICORS is held in Asia only once every ten years, and it is our honour to host it this year. Raman Spectroscopists will come from all over the world, of course, but in particular, having the conference in this location will enable scientists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Chinese Mainland to come into contact with each other to explore the possibility of future collaborations.”
A conference highlight will be the keynote address delivered on 22 August by Nicolaas Bloembergen of Harvard University. A Nobel Laureate in Physics, Professor Bloembergen will look back over “A Quarter Century of Pica- and Femtosecond Raman Scattering”.
On display during the conference will be an exhibition of state-of-the-art scientific instruments and books from vendors around the world.
The conference proceedings are being published by John Wiley & Sons.
(Direct enquiries to the Office of Public Affairs at Tel: 358 6305 or Prof Nai- teng Yu at Tel : 358 7363)
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