From 5- 9 September, Kursaal hosted the International Particle Accelerator Conference, an event that attracted 1,200 scientists from around the world to the capital of Guipuzcoa.
This world conference is the product of the merger of the three international particle accelerator conferences (held in Europe, Asia and the Americas) in 2010, when they were consolidated into a single event and the decision was made to alternate the venue between each continent. The first conference was held in June 2010 in Kyoto (Japan), followed by this year's edition held at Kursaal in San Sebastian.
Oliver Bruening from the CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) is head of the Organising Committee; Andy Wolski, from the University of Liverpool, chairman of the Scientific Committee; Francis Pérez, from CELLS - ALBA, is president of the Local Organisation Committee; and Christine Petit-Jean-Genaz from the CERN is the IPAC Conference coordinator for Europe.
Special session: Women in science
As well as the meetings, debates and presentations scheduled by the scientific committee, two special sessions were held: one held on 5 September on the Spanish science industry, organised by Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) and the Spanish Science Industry Association (INEUSTAR). The aim of this session was to demonstrate the advances made in Spain in the area of acceleration technologies. The session was chaired by Juan Tomas Hernani, secretary-general for innovation at the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
The second special session, entitled "Women in science," addressed issues that included the contribution made by women in the field of particle acceleration and how to encourage the young to study science and technology. The work-home life balance in science was also addressed during this session, with keynotes given by Martine Jaminon, Caterina Biscari and Margarita Cimadevilla. Cimadevilla gave an address on "Science ex Aequo", about which an exhibition was also held in one of Kursaal's hall.
There were around 100 stands at the congress belonging to companies, institutes and laboratories related to particle acceleration. There were also 1,300 posters with communications from those present at the congress.
A milestone for Kursaal
For San Sebastian, winning the bid for the congress was the culmination of three years of hard work, against stiff competition from other Spanish cities. The city submitted a solid bid prepared Kursaal and the San Sebastian Convention Bureau before the IPAC International Committee – comprising some 20 researchers from all over the world – at the CERN in Geneva in December 2008.
Once the bids had been submitted, the committee conducted an inspection visit to the candidate cities. The decision to award the event to San Sebastian is a major milestone, not only due to the attendance figures but also due to the fact that the event addressed an issue that is current, innovative and of importance to the future.
The next IPAC congresses will be held in New Orleans (USA), in 2012; Shanghai (China), in 2013; Dresden (Germany), in 2014; and Richmond (USA), in 2015.
