Chairperson del Comitato Scientifico Eighth International Bologna Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media (Bologna MRPM8) Bologna, 10-14 Settembre 2006

P. Fantazzini e' stata Chairperson del Comitato Scientifico di tale Congresso Internazionale. Questa attivita', che si e' protratta per circa due anni, ha comportato la scelta dei temi, dei relatori ad invito, la selezione degli abstract pervenuti e la suddivisione di quelli accettati nelle varie categorie di presentazione. Particolare cura e' stata dedicata anche alla articolazione delle 5 giornate del congresso nelle XII Sessioni scientifiche. L'internazionalita' del Congresso e' testimoniata dalle personalita' che hanno fatto parte del Comitato Scientifico: International Scientific Advisory Committee Paola Fantazzini (I, Chair); Ioan Ardelean (RO); Jerzy Blicharski (PL) Bernhard Blümich (D); Peter Blümler (D); Robert J.S. Brown (USA); Paul Callaghan (NZ); Keh-Jim Dunn (USA); Eiichi Fukushima (USA); Lynn Gladden (UK); John Gore (USA); Laurie Hall (UK); Martin Hürlimann (USA); Jörg Kärger (D); Rainer Kimmich (D); Igor Koptyug (RU); Jean-Pierre Korb (F); Peter McDonald (UK); Bruno Maraviglia (I); Nikolaus Nestle (D); Ken Packer (UK); Pabitra Sen (USA); Siegfried Stapf (D); John Strange (UK); Hans Thomann (USA); Rustem Valiullin (RU); Sergey Vasenkov (D); Marija Vilfan (SI). Il carattere della manifestazione puo' essere facilmente dedotto dal testo dell'indirizzo di saluto rivolto da P. Fantazzini ai partecipanti, che apre il libretto del Programma. Qui se ne riporta la parte iniziale. Welcome to the 8th International Bologna Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media, Bologna MRPM8, Ampere Event organized under the auspices of Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna. The Conference takes place at the prestigious Engineering Faculty of the University of Bologna, which has put its facilities at our disposal free of charge for the smooth and fruitful conduct of the meeting. This conference series was founded at the University of Bologna, where the first meeting was held in 1990. MRPM2 was held in 1993 at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK , MRPM3 in 1995 at the Université Catolique of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, MRPM4 in 1997 in Trondheim, Norway. The conference returned to Bologna for MRPM5 in 2000. MRPM6 was organized in 2002 at the University of Ulm, Germany, and MRPM7 in Palaiseau, France. The Proceedings of all the previous MRPM Conferences have been published as Special Issues of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Since the vitality and interest of these Conferences and the consideration that the community which the conference series serves had grown considerably over the years in such a way that it now extends to cover all continents of the globe, after MRPM7 the community has joined the Groupement Ampere as the MRPM Division, and the Conferences, which now are explicitly called the “Bologna MRPM Conferences,” are Ampere Events. The next Conference (Bologna MRPM9) is expected to be organized in 2008 by the Research Center of Schlumberger (Boston). The conference is devoted to the progress in Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media and in our understanding of Porous Media themselves, and to stimulate the contact among people from various parts of Academia and Industry. Researchers in Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Computer Sciences, and in Industrial Applications will benefit from exchange of ideas, experiences, and new approaches. Topics will include innovative techniques to study structure, behavior of fluids, and their interactions in every kind of natural and artificial materials, including rocks, cements, biological tissues, foodstuffs, wood, particle packs, sediments, pharmaceuticals, zeolites, and bioconstructs. New data acquisition and processing techniques are also expected to be strong features. Paola Fantazzini, Chair Bologna MRPM8, August 21th 2006