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of the Annual Report, Annual Accounts Report
and Programme of Activities. All effective
members belong to the General Meeting. The
officers of the General Meeting are the President,
two officers and two substitutes, elected by
secret ballot from among its members. The
Executive Board is formed by its President, one
Vice-President, five officers and three substitute
officers. It is the duty of the Executive Board to
execute the resolutions of the General Meeting,
to deliberate on the admission of new members,
to prepare the Annual Report, to draft the
internal by-laws of the society and to represent
the Society. The Supervisory Board is formed
by three effective members: the President, the
Vice-President and Secretary and two substitute
officers. The Supervisory Board reviews the
balance of income and expenses, periodically
examines the SOPORVAC accounts, and
prepares the Annual Accounts Report to be
submitted to the General Meeting for approval.
Society statutes had the first revision in 2016
to encompass more flexibility and some recent
requirements. Since 2014, the President of the
Executive Board is Professor Carlos Tavares
from Universidade do Minho who brought new
impetus to the society.
The major areas of interest and activity within the
society are: thin films, applied surface science,
nanometer science, surface engineering, and
vacuum science and technology, although have
representatives in all actual IUVSTA divisions.
Since its foundation, SOPORVAC has organised
national meetings in collaboration with ASEVA-
Asociación Española del Vacío y sus Aplicaciones in
order to promote cooperation between Portuguese
and Spanish experts. These are the IBERIAN
VACUUM MEETINGS, or RIVA (Reunião Ibérica
de Vácuo e Aplicações) Meetings, which have
been held in Braga (1988), Alicante (1993), Lisbon
(1997), Ávila (2000), Guimarães (2005), Salamanca
(2006), Caparica (2008), Salamanca (2010), Aveiro
(2014) and Bilbao (2017). In 2010 SOPORVAC
was actively involved in the organisation of the
11
th
European Vacuum Conference and in 2014
organised the 13
th
European Vacuum Conference
in Aveiro. In 2016 organised the 14
th
IUVSTA
School on Nano-Optics, held in Braga at the
International Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL),
jointly with the IUVSTA Executive Council Meeting
ECM122. A new edition of the Nano-Optics School
is tentatively planned for 2019, also at the INL.
Since 2016 the Society organizes a yearly
workshop to discuss hot topics on vacuum
based science and technology. This workshop
series is a forum where national researchers
debate their most recent achievements or
update their background in vacuum science and
technology. Recent editions were in Braga (2016)
and Coimbra (2017).
SOPORVAC looks forward seeking for more
activities, as organizing major international
events, IUVSTA schools and workshops and
promoting scientific exchange in vacuum
and technology related fields at national and
international levels. In particular, SOPORVAC
is supporting physics graduate students from
Portuguese Universities in the organization of
their scientific annual meetings. Additionally,
SOPORVAC participates actively in International
Workshops and Conferences organized in
Portugal, by attributing a monetary prize for the
best student presentation on the field of Vacuum
Science and Technology.
SOPORVAC occasionally organizes vacuum
courses for the industry. It is planned for 2018
or 2019 a Vacuum course for technicians from
industry using vacuum technology. Besides
providing lectures on vacuum science, it is also
given some training on the maintenance of
vacuum equipment.
SUMMARY