Conference Series on Methods and Applications in Fluorescence

The phenomenon of fluorescence spans scientific, medical and engineering disciplines. Just about every structure on the atomic and molecular scale is capable of absorbing and emitting light as fluorescence under the right conditions. This ubiquitous nature of fluorescence lends itself to translating progress across different fields of research and their application. The Methods and Applications of Fluorescence (MAF) Conference provides a great opportunity to share multidisciplinary skills and knowledge at their interface and beyond.

Until the1990s, when MAF became established, fluorescence research was mainly reported at more general conferences such as those on photochemistry and photobiology, but as recognition of the importance and potential of fluorescence became evident the unmet need for a conference dedicated to fluorescence became clear.

Today fluorescence is widely recognised as a field in its own right. Consistently attracting well over 350 delegates MAF is the largest and most established conference in the field.

MAF has a long-standing tradition for over 30 years in bringing together practitioners of fluorescence in spectroscopy and imaging with applications ranging from materials research to life sciences. MAF's aim is to keep and develop this tradition and to gather a large number of world-leading experts, industrialists, emerging investigators, students and postdocs to discuss state-of-the-art of this field of research.

This mutual synergy across fluorescence researchers and users benefits learning at all levels from students new to the field wanting to gain feedback on initial results through to expert practitioners in research institutions and industry wanting to learn more about the current frontiers and emerging trends. Papers relating to work presented at the Conference can be submitted to a special issue of the Institute of Physics MAF journal (Impact Factor 3.2).

Scope

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The MAF conference welcomes contributions across all areas of fluorescence. These include spectroscopy, microscopy, imaging, probes and sensors. New instrumentation developments, data analysis, chemical synthesis of probes, fundamental photophysics, quantum methodologies and the many multifarious applications of fluorescence across nanotechnology, chemistry, life sciences, pharmacology, medicine, materials, engineering and physics are all within scope.

History

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The MAF conference was forged out of the brainchild of Professor Otto Wolfbeis. Working in Graz at the time Otto realised the need for a conference focused on fluorescence. Starting out as a small workshop the first events were held in Graz in 1989 and 1991. However, the demand from the community for more of the same became apparent and MAF rapidly gained international standing and reputation with conferences in Prague in 1993, Cambridge in 1995 and subsequent biennial events. In recognition of Otto's seminal contributions, at each MAF conference The Otto Wolfbeis Prize is awarded in his honour to scientists with proven excellence in the fields of fluorescence spectroscopy, fluorescent probes, or fluorescence imaging. The Awardee presents a Plenary lecture to mark the award. Winners to date are Enrico Gratton (University of California at Irvine; 2022) and Johan Hofkens (KU Leuven, Belgium; 2019).

Conference Format

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Starting with an opening lecture and welcome reception on the Sunday evening the MAF conference follows the format of three days of plenary, invited and contributed lectures in themed sessions along with vibrant poster sessions. Best poster prizes are awarded.

Recent programmes can be found for the 2019 La Jolla conference and the 2022 Gothenburg conference. A conference dinner, social programme and on-site catering are available to delegates.

MAF Journal

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The success of the MAF conference and growing recognition of the generic importance of fluorescence led David Birch, Yves Mély and Otto Wolfbeis in 2012 to found the MAF journal published by the Institute of Physics (IOP) Publishing. The journal provides a complementary outlet to the conference for sharing research and a special issue of the MAF journal relating to conference contributions serves to document the event for future reference. Pre-conference submission to this special issue of the journal is recommended in order to maximise impact.

Researchers are warmly invited to suggest topics as Guest Editors for other special issues of the journal.

Committees

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The organisation of MAF conferences is managed by a Permanent Standing Committee (PSC) and a Local Organising Committee (LOC) for each conference. The PSC provides the continuity of experience and selects the venues for future events based on presentations by proposed local organisers. The PSC is a truly international body representative of the global range of research topics and applications in fluorescence. Since 2011, the PSC Chair is Yves M?ly (Strasbourg). Membership of the PSC is reviewed annually and new nominations are welcome. The Chair of a LOC automatically becomes a member of the PSC. Current membership is:

Mario Berberan-Santos (Lisbon), David Birch (Strathclyde), Viktoria Birkedal (Aarhus), Fred Brouwer (Amsterdam), Alexander Demchenko (Kiev), Alberto Diaspro (Genova), Michelle Digman (Irvine), Christian Eggeling (Jena), Ulrike Endesfelder (Bonn), Martin Hof (Prague), Enrico Gratton (Irvine), Zygmunt Gryczynski (Fort Worth), Stefan Hell (Göttingen), Johan Hofkens (Leuven), David Jameson (Honolulu), Anita Jones (Edinburgh), Clemens Kaminski (Cambridge), Guruswamy Krisnamoorthy (Mumbai), Joseph Lakowicz (Baltimore), Marcia Levitus (Tempe; AZ), Bin Liu (Singapore), Yves Mély (Strasbourg), Seung Bum Park (Seoul), Julia Pérez Prieto (Valencia), Jicun Ren (Shanghai), Ute Resch-Genger (Berlin), Catherine Ann Royer (Troy; NY), Markus Sauer (Wü rzburg), Suzanne Scarlata (New York), Martin Schnermann (Frederick; MD), Gerhard Schütz (Vienna), Claus Seidel (Düsseldorf), Trevor Smith (Melbourne), Keiji Suzuki (Yokohama), Yitzhak Tor (San Diego), Jacek Waluk (Warsaw), Jerker Widengren (Stockholm), Marcus Wilhelmsson (Göteborg), Paul Wiseman (Montreal), Thorsten Wohland (Singapore).

Previous Conferences

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MAF conferences have a long history of supporting the global fluorescence community as can be seen from previous conference venues:

1989 and 1991: Graz (Austria; Chair: Otto Wolfbeis); 1993 Prague; Chair: Jan Slavik), 1995 Cambridge (UK; Chairs: James Miller and David Birch); 1997 Berlin; Chair: Wolfgang Rettig; 1999: Paris (Chairs: Bernard Valeur and Jean-Claude Brochon); 2001 Amsterdam (Chair: Ruud Kraayenhof); 2003 Prague II (Chair: Martin Hof); 2005 Lisbon (Chair: Mario Berberan-Santos); 2007 Salzburg (Austria; Chair: Otto Wolfbeis); 2009 Budapest (Chair: Janos Matko); 2011 Strasbourg (France; Chair: Yves Mély); 2015 Würzburg (Germany; Chair: Markus Sauer); 2017 Bruges (Belgium; Chair: Johan Hofkens); 2019 San Diego - La Jolla (Chairs: Yitzak Tor and Michelle Digman); 2022 Gothenburg (Sweden; Chairs: Marcus Wilhelmsson and Bo Andersson); 2024 Valencia (Spain; scheduled; Chairs: Julia Perez-Prieto and Miguel Miranda Alonso).

Future Conferences

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Registrations are now open for the next MAF conference, the 18th in the series, scheduled to be held in Valencia in Spain on September 8th-11th, 2024. Local organisers are Prof. Julia Perez Prieto and Prof. Miguel Miranda.

info@mafvalencia2024.com

The MAF Permanent Standing Committee has agreed that following MAF 18 in Valencia future conferences will be held annually and alternate between North America and Europe. The North American venue for MAF 19 in 2025 will be Montreal in Québec, Canada.

Exhibition and sponsorship

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By regularly attracting high delegate numbers MAF offers excellent opportunity for companies to promote products of relevance to fluorescence through advertising, exhibition stands, events and short presentations on new developments.

A range of sponsorships levels related to different levels of promotion, are available. The conference regularly attracts organizations serving the fluorescence community that includes manufacturers of instruments, fluorescent probes, chemicals and scientific publishers. Regular exhibitors include IOP Publishing, HORIBA, CHROMA, ISS, pco. PicoQuant, Edinburgh Instruments and Olympus. Exhibition places are limited so early reservation with advance payment to secure a place is recommended.

Contacts

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For sponsorship and exhibition information on the 2024 conference in Valencia visit:

https://mafvalencia2024.com/sponsorship-and-exhibition

E-mail: info@mafvalencia2024.com

Phone: +34 91 833 74 33