50 / 166
50
won its suit against the City of Cannes
and presented IUVSTA with an additional
60,000 French Francs, plus a gift of
120,000 French Francs to establish a
special fund to support the attendance of
students or participants from developing
countries at future Vacuum Congresses.
Until 1983, the organisation of the
International Vacuum Congresses had been
almost entirely the responsibility of the host
National Society. The EC’s only role was to
select the host country and monitor progress
of the Local Organising Committee. In
1980, J. M. Lafferty (USA), President of the
Union, asked J. L. de Segovia (E) to chair
a Congress Planning Committee (CPC)
for the purpose of developing a model
organisational structure for the planning,
programming and execution of future
International Vacuum Congresses and
Conferences involving the Union, its new
Divisions and the host country. De Segovia
and his Committee devised such a plan
which involves two pillars on which the
organisational structure of the Congress is
supported: the Organising Committee (OC),
and the International Program Committees
(IPCs) through which IUVSTA Divisions work
together with the host National Society.
The OC is appointed by the host National
Society and is composed of its own
scientists. It has full responsibility for the
Congress and is responsible to its National
Society. The National Society Councillor
is the link between the National Society
and the IUVSTA, keeping the EC and the
CPC fully informed on the progress of the
OC. Each IPC is composed of scientists,
at least one half being proposed by the
relevant Division and the remainder being
selected by the OC. The chairmen of the
IPCs are chosen by the OC from two or
more nominees proposed by the Divisions.
It is the important task of the IPCs to
organise the scientific program of the
Congress including the selection of topics,
joint (interdivisional) session topics, plenary
lecturers, invited speakers, moderators,
review procedures, etc.
This procedure, involving active participation
by the IUVSTA Divisions, was first used for
the Ninth International Vacuum Congress
and Fifth International Conference on
Solid Surfaces organised by the Spanish
Vacuum Society and held in the Madrid
Conference Centre on 26-30 September
1983. The OC was under the Chairmanship
of J. L. de Segovia. The congress was divi
ded into five main sections each with its
own corresponding IPC. These IPCs and
Chairmen were: Surface Science, D. A. King
(GB); Vacuum Science, J. Hengevoss (CH);
Thin Films, F. Abeles (F); Electronic Materials
and Processing, M. Croset (F); and Fusion
Technology, M. Kaminsky (USA). About
900 participants from 30 countries attended
the Congress. There were five plenary
lectures, 80 invited talks and 750 short
papers. The interlink between overlapping
areas was provided through common
sessions. Two volumes were published
containing the contributions to the Congress.
One volume contained extended abstracts
of papers presented at the Congress and the
other volume contained papers presented by
the invited speakers. These were edited by
the Spanish Vacuum Society. The authors
were allowed to publish their contributions
in an archival journal of their choice. Most
of them appeared in the Journal of Vacuum
Science and Technology, Surface Science,
Vacuum, Thin Solid Films and Fusion
Technology. The Congress fee was US$ 210.
The exhibition occupied 1000 square meters
with 60 booths. Twenty-three manufacturers
were represented. The Spanish Government,
through several departments, gave financial
support to the Congress. This was done
mainly through the Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Cientificas which provided
funds and headquarters for the congress
organisation and through the Surface and
Vacuum Physics group of the Instituto de
Física de Materiales.
In 1986 the Congress returned again
to the USA and was hosted by the
American Vacuum Society in conjunction
with their own national meeting. Thus
the 10
th
International Vacuum Congress,