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13. IUVSTA WORKSHOPS,
IUVSTA SCHOOLS,
ANDTECHNICAL
TRAINING COURSES
After the financial restructuring of the Union
during
J. M. Lafferty’s presidency (1980-83)
it became possible for the regular administrative
expenses of the Union to be fully financed from
the share subscriptions. This left the financial
donations made by triennial congress (IVC)
organisers, together with interest generated from
the Union’s reserve funds, available for scientific
and educational activities.
While some of this was set aside each triennium to
build up the reserves, a major part was designated
as the STD Discretionary Fund. The Union had been
very fortunate in that its reserves had benefited
unexpectedly from two major donations, one from the
French VacuumSociety and another from the American
Vacuum Society, following the 8
th
and 10
th
International
Vacuum Congresses respectively. (See Section 9.)
During the 1986-89 triennium, under the guidance
of the Scientific Director, A. Van Oostrom (NL), the
STD debated possible initiatives for utilising these
Discretionary Funds. Possibilities considered included
Summer Schools, “seed money” for conferences,
IUVSTA guest lecturers, support for scientists to attend
conferences, and interaction with UNESCO through
the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
in Trieste, Italy.
As a result of these deliberations, activities were
undertaken which eventually developed into the current
IUVSTAWorkshop series and the IUVSTA School series.
The Short Course program was also an outcome of
these discussions. The fact that the Highlight Seminars
also were initiated in this triennium testifies to the vitality
James M. LAFFERTY
15
IUVSTA Schools
19
IUVSTATechnical
Short Courses
45
IUVSTA-Welch scholars
80
IUVSTA workshops
SUMMARY