Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: VECO), the leading provider of atomic force microscopes (AFMs) to the nanoscience community, announced today that it will host the "Seeing at the Nanoscale VIII" conference at the Congress Center, Basel, Switzerland, August 30-September 1, 2010, as part of the 550th anniversary celebrations of the University of Basel.
In its eighth year, the conference has a solid reputation for providing an optimum forum for academic and industrial scientists to share information and exchange ideas on a wide variety of cutting-edge nanotechnology topics, ranging from novel imaging approaches and unique material characterization to combining AFM with other technologies, such as confocal microscopy and Raman spectroscopy.
"Nature is the best example of a system functioning on the nanometer scale, where the involved materials, energy consumption and data handling are optimized," commented Conference Chair Christoph Gerber, Director for Scientific Communication, NCCR, Institute of Physics at the University of Basel. "The emergence of the STM and AFM led to a paradigm shift in the understanding and perception of matter at its most fundamental level, and opened the doors to the nanoworld. Today these technologies are still making a tremendous impact on disciplines ranging from physics and chemistry through information technology, spintronics, quantum computing, and molecular electronics, all the way to life sciences. According to the Web of Science, over 7,000 AFM-related papers were published in 2009 alone, bringing the total to more than 80,000 since its invention. As a consequence, revolutionary concepts have stimulated a wide spread of new technologies in recent years. Veeco's annual Seeing at the Nanoscale conference is therefore a must in the agenda of every nanoscientist."
"I think we can all appreciate how the traditional boundaries of scientific disciplines are blurred at the nanoscale," added Conference Co-Chair Roderick Lim, Argovia Professor for Nanobiology, Biozentrum and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute at the University of Basel. "Not just in the methods of visualizing and manipulating molecular processes, but even more so in how we conceive of new concepts and solve problems. With this in mind, Christoph and I are committed to bringing out the synergies that exist between the physical and biological sciences in our planning of Seeing at the Nanoscale VIII in Basel. We are particularly honored that several of the leading experts who practice such interdisciplinarity have agreed to attend. It is also fantastic that our enthusiasm is shared by our joint organizers: Veeco, the Swiss Nanoscience Institute, the Biozentrum, and the M.E. Müller Foundation of Switzerland. I do urge folks from all walks of science to join us for this remarkable event."
The "Seeing at Nanoscale conference continues the tradition of building the SPM community in leading technology innovation and applications. This year we are excited by the attendance of distinguished speakers and the close proximity of the conference location to the birthplace of SPM technology," remarked Chanmin Su, Director of Technology at Veeco.