The 26th ESCAMPIG conference on the physics of ionized gases organized by the Department of Plasma Physics and Technology, CEPLANT center, and the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists was successfully held at the FIT BUT in Božetěchova in Brno. 191 participants from 26 countries from all over the world attended the conference.
The 26th biennial ESCAMPIG 2024 International Conference is successfully over! The conference on atomic and molecular physics of ionized gases was held in the Czech Republic for the first time. Department of Plasma Physics and Technology, the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists, and the CEPLANT center are proud to have the opportunity to organize this conference. A beautiful historical campus of the Faculty of Information Technology of Brno University of Technology at Božetěchova was chosen as the venue for the conference.
ESCAMPIG 2024 in Brno offered the best from the plasma diagnostics community in Europe. Hot and current topics were discussed, from the elemental plasma processes to laser-produced plasma. Six general invited talks were given by Holger Kersten (DE), Peter Bruggeman (USA), Gabi Daniel Stancu (FR), Kinga Kutasi (HU), Luís L. Alves (PT), and Juraj Országh (SK). Seven topical invited speakers were Marija Puač (RS), Augusto Stancampiano (FR), Catalin Vitelaru (RO), Miguel Jiménez Redondo (DE), Luca Vialetto (USA), Ana Mária Gómez-Ramírez (ES), Filippo Cichocki (IT).
Xin Tu received The William Crookes Prize for a mid-career researcher who has significantly contributed to one or more scientific topics the ESCAMPIG covers. Xin Tu gave his talk Plasma Catalysis for Sustainable Production of Fuels and Chemicals: Challenges and Perspectives on the conference's last day.
Jannis Teunissen was awarded the UPAP C16 Early Career Scientist Prize for 2023 and gave his talk A future perspective on modeling streamer discharges: longer time scales and other gases on the conference's third day.
The best poster prize was awarded in the category of Modeling to M. Stastny; K. Mrozek; K. Jurik; L. Havlicek; M. Novotny; A. Obrusnik; Numerical simulation of a low-pressure electrodeless ion source intended for air-breathing electric propulsion. The best poster prize in the category of Experimental was awarded to
V. Wolf; R. Friedl; U. Fantz; Ammonia production in a low- to mid-pressure microwave discharge.
Organizators prepared a rich cultural program for the participants. The welcome party featured the cimbalon music of the POĹANA BRNO group. Jazz Baía and Byznys TIME provided music for the conference dinner. Participants could visit Vila Tugendhat, Špilberk Castle, or underground historical water tanks. The DPPT and CEPLANT have opened their laboratories for lab tour. In addition, DPPT scientists prepared the ESCAMPIG HERALD newspaper for every conference day, with interesting information about the conference, scientific discoveries, and an original encryption game for physicists.
Conference sponsors were IOP Publishing, SHM Šumperk, PLATIT AG, Vakuum Service, PlasmaSolve s.r.o., Plasma Matters B.V., Eaton, Hiden Analytical, Roplass s.r.o., HVM PLASMA, OptiXs, s.r.o., International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), SOLAYL, Heinzinger electronic GmbH, and Faculty of Science Masaryk University in Brno.
The next 27th ESCAMPIG conference will take place in 2026 at Madeira, Portugal.
CaviPlasma technology for the cleaning of wastewater from hard-to-remove pollutants wins the TA ČR Award in the category SOCIETY and also becomes the absolute winner with the title Czech Idea 2024.
Prof. Šárka Pospíšilová, a prorector for research and doctoral studies, gave awards to new MU absolvents for exceptional results during their postgraduate studies. In the physics field, two fresh graduates from the Physics departments were awarded: Dr. Michal kiaba and Dr. Matej Kosiba.
