The 13th International Colloquium on Atomic Spectra and Oscillator Strengths for Astrophysical and Laboratory Plasmas

The 13th International Colloquium on Atomic Spectra and Oscillator Strengths for Astrophysical and Laboratory Plasmas (ASOS2019), co-hosted by Fudan and Lund Universities, was held at Fudan University from 23–27 June 2019. It attracted over 100 participants, both from outside China, with about 40 participants from Argentina, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, but also over 60 scholars from universities or research institutes from within China (e.g., the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Academy of Engineering Physics, the Southwestern Institute of Physics, Fudan University, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou University, National University of Defense Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Shaanxi Normal University, Tsinghua University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University). Establishing itself in PRC, the global network supported by the conference is thereby extended. The ASOS-conferences started in 1983, with what was basically a trial meeting held at the University of Lund. Sadly both Professors Indrek Martinson and Svenneric Johansson, instrumental in the first ASOS, are no longer with us but are certainly remembered by many in the ASOS community. On the other hand, two of the current co-chairs of the ASOS-3 SOC both attended the very first meeting as graduate students in Lund, showing it is a small world. We are sure that all the participants of ASOS-13 will remember the wonderful organisation and for that we would like thank the members of the local organising committee, led by Professor Baoren Wei and Associate Professor Jun Xiao (Figure 1 and Figure 2).

Dedicated Session to Charlotte Froese Fischer

Professor Alan Hibbert from the Queen’s University Belfast delivered a report entitled “Charlotte Froese Fischer: Her works and her impact”, discussing the career of one of the corner stone figures in the field of atomic structure and spectroscopy, a way to celebrate her 90th birthday. Alan’s talk was showing respect for her tireless scientific work for more than 60 years and her ground-breaking scientific contributions. It was a pity that Charlotte was not able to participate in the conference, but as a pleasant surprise, Alan showed a recorded message from Charlotte for the participants, which added a special commemorative significance to this colloquium. As part of our theme to celebrate Charlotte’s 90th birthday a number of contributions were given by some of her more recent post docs, from Gediminas Gaigalas in the 1990s to Ran Si in last two years (Figure 3 and Figure 4).

A total of 38 experts and scholars were invited to give lectures during the four-day seminar and the results of their endeavours can be found at https://www.koushare.com/video/meetingVideo?mid=89. The contents covered a number of major themes within atomic physics, both theoretical and experimental, including applications to, e.g., astrophysics and fusion plasma. The meeting spanned over four full days. Since it was held in Shanghai, with excellent possibilities to explore the enormous city, the participants could enjoy their own sight seeings and hence no joint outing was organized. The conference dinner was held at a rotating restaurant in the center of Shanghai, with a great view of the city, from all angles.

We are now looking forward to the 14th ASOS-meeting, which is planned for Paris in 2022—until then, stay safe! (Figure 5).