The following is a guide for those interested in submitting applications to host the 31st International Liquid Crystal Conference (Summer, 2028). The deadline for submissions is February 28, 2025. However, I strongly urge potential applicants to contact me well in advance. I will do my best to ensure that applications are in the proper format before they are sent to the ILCS Board for a vote.

There is no specific form for the application, but it should include the following information:

1. Conference Location: Name of the city and venue (address); short description of the city and conference location.

2. Organizing Committee: Names and affiliations of the prospective Conference Chairman, Conference Secretary, and other members of the Organizing Committee; contact details (name, address, telephone number, and email address) of a person from whom further information can be requested; experience in organizing conferences.

3. Conference Facilities: Description of the facilities, including available lecture rooms and their capacities, space for posters, copying facilities, internet connections, dining facilities, connection to public transport, and parking.

4. Accommodation: Description of the types of accommodation available, including quality, price range, location, connection by public transport with the conference site, railway, and airport.

5. Social Facilities and Program: Description of social facilities and the planned program.

6. Provisional Budget: Expected expenses and receipts, planned registration fee, external sponsorship. Note that a modest loan from the ILCS is possible to help with the expenses of planning the conference.

7. Additional Information: Any further information that you think will support your application, such as relevance for all members and constituents, diversity, openness, inclusion, and logistical and financial support for young scientists and students.

To expedite the application process and ensure fairness, I request that all submitted materials be electronic and compiled as a single PDF document suitable for sending as an attachment. In the past, some applications have included general brochures about the host city. Since Board members will not be able to consult these during the decision-making process, I do not believe they are particularly useful. Instead, a URL containing information about the host city and/or conference facilities could be provided for Board members to consult.

Finally, while it is both appropriate and desirable for local convention centers to assist in preparing a conference application, it is essential that there be full support from local and/or national scientific bodies. In the past, the actual application has always been submitted through such bodies.

The recipients of this email should feel free to distribute this information among colleagues who might be interested in organizing the conference.

Wei LEE

Vice President, International Liquid Crystal Society

Wei.Lee@nycu.edu.tw

On behalf of the Taiwan Liquid Crystal Society and National Sun Yat‐Sen University, we are pleased to welcome you to the 21st Optics of Liquid Crystals Conference (OLC 2025) to be held at CHATEAU DE CHINE Kaohsiung Hotel in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, from August 31 to September 5, 2025.

Following the last OLC held in Szczecin, Poland, this conference continues to promote the development of liquid crystal science and technology research and its benefits to society as a whole. We hope that OLC2025 will provide a great platform for people from academia and industry to conduct fruitful discussions and exchange the latest developments and advances in interdisciplinary fields. We are delighted to announce the participation of individual support from leading academics and researchers from across the globe in their respective areas of focus. We sincerely invite you to attend this conference, submit a paper reflecting your current research, and achieve excellence in global LC-related R&D fields.

Taiwan, also known as Formosa — the Beautiful Island, is blessed with rich geological diversity and the beauty of a society full of friendliness and hospitality, especially in the most popular port city of sunny southern Taiwan. We look forward to seeing you at OLC2025 in Kaohsiung!

Web Addres: https://olc2025.conf.tw/

Dear colleagues and friends,

On October 10, 2024, we will organize a scientific day in honor of Maurice Kleman (1934-2021).

This meeting, entitled "The science of defects: a tribute to the physicist Maurice Kleman", will illustrate the richness of Maurice Kléman's scientific contributions through high-level scientific presentations.

The event will take place in Paris at the IPGG Amphitheater (6, rue Jean Calvin, 75005).

A website with the detailed program of the day and the possibility to register for this event is now online:

https://klemanconference.sciencesconf.org/

There is no registration fee, but registration is required.

We hope you will be able to join us for this event.

With best regards.

The Organizing Committee: C. Blanc, E. Lacaze, C. Quilliet, E. Raphaël and F. Sorrentino.

One of the eight sessions of The 4th International Online Conference on Crystals will be on Liquid Crystals, chaired by Prof Chigrinov. The meeting will be held from 18-20 September 2024 and registration is free. This is a good opportunity, especially for young researchers, to showcase their work, and prizes will be given for best presentations.

Abstract submission deadline is the 8th of May 2024 and more details are available at:

https://sciforum.net/event/iocc2024#registration?section#welcome

It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Sergey Pikin on the 13th of January 2024. He was one of the well-known Russian researchers on liquid crystals and especially ferroelectric LCs.

Ingo Dierking