Second Circular
 
In continuation of a very successful series of 5 conferences in Europe and overseas, we invite you to participate in Diffusion Fundamentals VI, scheduled for August 23rd – 26th, 2015 in Dresden/Germany.

 

 Scope
 
As a ubiquitous process of random movement, ranging from molecular up to macroscopic and even cosmic scales, diffusion is key to spreading phenomena in quite diverse areas. Bringing together scientists from disciplines as different as archaeology, ecology, epidemics, ethnology, linguistics and sociology with biologists, chemists, physicists, mathematicians and engineers, Diffusion Fundamentals VI is scheduled to highlight the astonishingly similar patterns of spreading phenomena in Humanities, Natural Sciences and Engineering. The conference is preceded by a pre-school on Sunday, August 23rd, introducing into basics of diffusion and spreading.

 

 Confirmed Invited Speakers and Tentative Titles of Talks
 
 Dirk Brockmann (Berlin)
Epidemics Spreading
 Frank Cichos (Leipzig)
Hot Brownian Motion: Experiment
 Marc-Olivier Coppens (London)
Nature-Inspired Transport Optimization
 Joaquim Fort (Girona)
The Neolithic Transition: Diffusion of People or Diffusion of Culture?
 Albrecht Fritzsche (Erlangen)
Spreading Innovations
 Russel Gray (Jena)
Expansion of Language Families
 Detlef Gronenborn (Mainz)
The Expansion of Farming as seen from Archaeology and related Disciplines
 Shlomo Havlin (Ramat Gan)
Spreading of Failures in the Internet and in Power Grids
 Anne Kandler (London)
Analysing Language Shift: The Example of Scottish Gaelic
 Rainer Klages (London)
Search for Food of Birds, Fish and Insects
 Rajamani Krishna (Amsterdam)
Uphill Diffusion
 Klaus Kroy (Leipzig)
Hot Brownian Motion: Theory
 Michael Leitner (Munich)
Dispersal in Plants and Animals: Modelling
 Carsten Lemmen (Geesthacht)
The Expansion of Farming as seen from Archaeology and related Disciplines
 Philipp Maass (Osnabrück)
Diffusive Transport in Non-Equilibrium Steady States
 Hernán Makse (New York)
A New Class of Superspreader: From Twitter, Cities and the Brain
 Christoph Neinhuis (Dresden)
Transport Systems in Living Organisms
 Charles Nicholson (New York)
Brain Structure Revealed by Diffusive Spread of Molecules
 William S. Price (Sydney)
NMR Versatility
 Anita Roth-Nebelsick (Stuttgart)
Transport Systems in Living Organisms
 Martin Schnittler (Greifswald)
Spore Dispersal in Lower Organisms: From Model Assumptions to Reality
 Manfred Wendisch (Leipzig)
Diffusion Processes in Atmospheric Physics
 Søren Wichmann (Leiden)
Language Migration: Empirical Data and Modelling
 Evening lecture on Sunday, August 23rd, by Hans Joachim Meyer (Berlin), former Minister for Higher
 Education, Research and Culture of Saxony, on "A Global Language or a World of Languages"

 

 Venue
 

In recent years Dresden has evolved as an internationally recognized center for materials research and technology. The presence of 3 Max-Planck-Institutes, 2 Leibniz-Institutes, 11 Fraunhofer-Institutes, one Helmholtz-Center, and the Technical University with appr. 30,000 students renders the location as a focal point for interdisciplinary cooperation. The Elbe River and the gently rolling landscape between Sächsische Schweiz and Meissen determine the nature in which Dresden is embedded with its architectural attractiveness, natural beauty and charming atmosphere. The climate is equally beneficial to the development of the arts and to viniculture. At the same time Dresden is a modern city with the flair of the former Saxon residence, simply a place with lifestyle. Dresden is famous for its baroque architecture (e.g. the Zwinger, Frauenkirche), its theaters (e.g. Semperoper), museums, festivals and events.

The Diffusion Fundamentals VI conference will take place at the TU Dresden, south of the city center. A map of the conference site and the city center can be found in the general information section of the conference website.

 

 Pre-School
 

A pre-conference school will be organized on "Fundamentals of Diffusion and Spreading" on August 23rd, 2015 in the conference building. The half-day event is in particular scheduled for PhD students, post-docs and younger scientists who would like to gain an introduction into the mathematical concepts used for the description of spreading phenomena. The lectures will be given by Armin Bunde, Jürgen Caro, Jörg Kärger and Gero Vogl and cover topics such as

  • Diffusion Step by Step
  • From Random Walk to Fluxes
  • Growth, Conversion, Interaction

Though the pre-school is free of charge for conference attendees, participation will be possible only after registration.

 

 Excursion and Cultural Activities
 

Prior to the conference dinner, on Tuesday afternoon (August 25th) the participants will have some free time for an individual walk through the magnificent city of Dresden. The conference dinner will take place in the restaurant Pulverturm which is located in the historical center of Dresden next to Frauenkirche.
The participants are invited to book the optional Guided Walk through the City of Dresden (free of charge) which is scheduled to start on Wednesday 26th at 3 pm after the end of the conference. Also, a hiking trip to the Elbsandsteingebirge - Sächsische Schweiz (free of charge, participants pay for tickets and food) shall be offered for Thursday 27th.

 

 Important Dates
 
 May 31st  Early payment deadline 
 June 15th  Abstract submission deadline 
 July 31st
 Final announcement 
 Deadline of recent research poster abstracts 
 Late payment deadline 
 August 12th  Cash payment registration deadline 
 August 23rd  Pre-School of Diffusion Fundamentals VI 
 August 23rd – 26th  Diffusion Fundamentals VI 

 

 Travel and Accommodation
 

The City of Dresden, capital of Saxony is located in the eastern part of Germany, about 200 km to the south of Berlin and about 150 km to the north-east of Prague. On account of its airport, Dresden is easily accessible. The German railway network links Dresden with all major German and European destinations. Furthermore, the city possesses ideal connections by road and river, both with its immediate surroundings and with more distant destinations. Further details are given in the travel information section at the conference website.
Accommodation has to be directly reserved by the participants. A list of suitable hotels is available at the conference website. Early booking is highly recommended.

 

 Registration
 

The conference fee includes all catering during the conference comprising the Conference Dinner and the guided walk through the City of Dresden. Please note that a participation in the conference excursion requires a registration! Registration is possible online at the conference website.

 
Conference Fee
Early Payment,
until May 31st, 2015
Late Payment,
until July 31st, 2015
Register by August 12th, 2015,
cash payment on arrival
Full Delegate 250 € 300 € 350 €
Student/PhD Student  150 € 200 € 250 €
Accompanying Person  70 € 85 € 100 €
 

If a cancellation request is received before May 31st, 2015, 100% of the amount paid minus a handling fee of 25 € will be refunded. If a cancellation request is received before July 15th, 2015, 50% of the amount paid will be refunded. No refund will be possible after this date. Please send your request for cancellation to Dr. Lutz Schiffer (df6@diffusion-fundamentals.org).

Alumni of the fellowship and award programs of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, who are based abroad and will be presenting a poster at the conference, may contact the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to apply for a conference allowance for the attendance of specialist conferences in Germany. For more information please refer to http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/specialist-conferences.html.

 

 Abstract Submission
 

The conference will comprise invited talks and two extended poster sessions. You are welcome to submit a poster contribution. Please submit your poster abstract until May 31st, 2015 by e-mail to abstract@diffusion-fundamentals.org. Please use the abstract template (.doc) supplied in the download section of the conference website for submission. The length is limited to two A4 pages.
Posters should fit in DIN A0 portrait format (width: 84.1 cm, height 118.9 cm). "Best Poster Awards" are scheduled for posters highlighting particularly impressively the impact and beauty of interdisciplinarity in diffusion research.
Accepted abstracts shall be published, together with short versions of the invited plenary talks, in the conference proceedings appearing as a special volume of the Diffusion-Fundamentals Online Journal.

 

 Local Organization
 
  • Jürgen Caro, Cornelia Breitkopf, Eike Brunner, Grit Kalies, Stefan Kaskel, Christoph Neinhuis, Lutz Schiffer, Hans Wiesmeth
 
 Scientific Committee
 
  • Jörg Kärger, Armin Bunde, Jürgen Caro, Christian Chmelik, Gero Vogl
 
 Diffusion-Fundamentals Advisory Board
 
  • Dezsö L. Beke, Lajos Kossuth University, Debrecen, Hungary
  • Stefano Brandani, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
  • Armin Bunde, Justus Liebig University Gießen, Germany
  • Jürgen Caro, University of Hannover, Germany
  • Alan Chadwick, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK
  • Christian Chmelik, University of Leipzig, Germany
  • Frank Cichos, University of Leipzig, Germany
  • Marc-Olivier Coppens, University College London, UK
  • Gerhard Ertl, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Germany
  • Dieter Freude, University of Leipzig, Germany
  • Petrik Galvosas, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
  • Roger Gläser, University of Leipzig, Germany
  • Farida Grinberg, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
  • Paul Heitjans, University of Hannover, Germany
  • Jörg Kärger, University of Leipzig, Germany
  • Yossi Klafter, Tel Aviv University, Israel
  • Klaus Kroy, University of Leipzig, Germany
  • Alfred Leipertz, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
  • Andreas Mandelis, University of Toronto, Canada
  • Graeme Murch, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
  • Jean Philibert, Université de Paris-Sud, France
  • William S. Price, University of Western Sydney, Australia
  • Douglas M. Ruthven, University of Maine, Orono, USA
  • Michael J. Saxton, University of California, Davis, USA
  • Gunter Schütz, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
  • Boris B. Straumal, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
  • Doros Theodorou, Athens, University of Patras, Greece
  • Rustem Valiullin, University of Leipzig, Germany
  • Ilpo Vattulainen, Tampere University of Technology, Finland
  • Gero Vogl, University of Vienna, Austria
  • George H. Weiss, Center for Information Technology Maryland, Bethesda, USA
 
 Support
 

 We are happy to announce that the Diffusion Fundamentals VI conference will be supported by:

 
Technical University Dresden
Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig
Leibniz University of Hanover
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Bruker Biospin
Chemiewerke Bad Köstritz GmbH
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
Fonds der Chemischen Industrie
Förderverein der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig e.V.
Gesellschaft von Freunden und Förderern der TU Dresden e.V.
Leipziger Universitätsverlag
Rubotherm GmbH
Vereinigung von Förderern und Freunden der Universität Leipzig e.V.