It is with great sadness, that I was informed that Wim de Jeu passed away on the 3rd of June 2026 in Heerlen, The Netherlands. Wim was one of the great contributors to liquid crystal and soft matter research who firmly established the use of scattering methods for structure determination for partially ordered and self-organised materials. He will greatly be missed by the liquid crystal community.

Ingo Dierking

We were heartbroken to learn of the passing of Derek Gray. The international liquid crystal community has lost a scientist who made remarkable contributions to the field, particularly in cellulose liquid crystals. Derek's legacy will serve as a guiding light and an inspiration for future generations. Derek received important international recognition for his outstanding work on cellulose, including the prestigious "2013 Marcus Wallenberg Prize". Derek leaves behind a vast legacy for all of us, as well as "saudade" among those who had the privilege of knowing him and sharing his time and knowledge. Derek will be deeply missed.

Emily Cranston

Maria Helena Godinho

Obituary

The 6th ICM will take place between 16-18 September in Manchester, UK. Being a Materials conference, the scope of the meeting is relatively broad, but will also cover soft matter and liquid crystals. Members of the ILCS will receive a 20% discount on registration. Please see the URL  https://sciforum.net/event/ICM2026 for more information.

Ingo Dierking

Dear members of the International Liquid Crystal Society,

With great sadness, we write to share news of the sudden passing of Luz Martínez-Miranda, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. We are heartbroken by her loss.

Luz was an internationally recognized physicist in our field of iquid crystals and their characterization using X-ray scattering techniques. She was a prolific author, with over 90 journal publications, and wrote a book titled “Liquid Crystals in Photovoltaics: An Introduction.” Her recognition led to being elected a fellow of the American Society for the Advancement of Science in 2004 and the American Physical Society (APS) in 2007. Later in 2014, she received the APS Edward A. Bouchet Prize, and in 2016 was selected for the Fulbright Foreign Student Program to work at the University of Chile. For these and many other achievements, her work set trends that have shaped the course of our field.

Luz was a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, where she obtained both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics. She then obtained a doctoral degree in the same discipline from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), under the guidance of Robert Birgeneau in 1985. Her thesis was titled “Crossover Behavior and Fluctuations in the Vicinity of a Liquid Crystal Multicritical Point”. She was at the time one of the eight female students enrolled in the MIT Department of Physics. She began a postdoctoral appointment at the University of California, Berkeley until 1987, and joined the University of Pennsylvania as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, with a secondary appointment in Materials Science and Engineering.

She joined the University of Maryland in 1995 as an assistant professor in the then-Department of Materials and Nuclear Engineering, and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 1998, and to full professor in 2023.

She was the third and first female president of the National Society of Hispanic Physicists, and also served on committees for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science and the APS. She played a crucial role in the University of Maryland Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, directing the minority outreach program, and served as a student advisor for more than 25 years.

A woman of many talents, she studied musical performance alongside her physics degrees and, in particular, knew how to play the harpsichord, a baroque instrument. Like great music, we believe Luz’s contributions to our society will stand the test of time, and we will remember the impact she made on our lives.

Dr. Lourdes Salamanca-Riba, Professor Emerita - University of Maryland

and 

Prof. Dr. Eduardo Soto-Bustamante - University of Chile

The liquid crystal and soft matter community has lost a scientist whose work has had a lasting influence on the field. Wolfgang Helfrich, who passed away in 2025, made fundamental contributions to both liquid crystal research and biophysics.

After studying physics in Göttingen, Munich and Tübingen, and completing his doctorate at the Technical University of Munich in 1961, Helfrich worked in Munich, Ottawa, and at the RCA Laboratories in Princeton. Following his habilitation in 1967, he returned to RCA, where he began developing theoretical ideas on the structure of liquid crystals.

In 1970, at Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel, Helfrich — together with Martin Schadt — developed the first twisted nematic liquid crystal display (LCD). This concept became the basis for a technology that is now used in billions of devices worldwide.

In parallel, Helfrich made important contributions to the physics of membranes. His 1973 paper introduced what is now known as the Helfrich energy, a curvature-based description of membrane elasticity that remains central in biophysics. In the years that followed, he developed key ideas on membrane fluctuations, entropic interactions, and vesicle shapes, which continue to influence research across disciplines.

From 1973 until his retirement in 1997, Helfrich was Professor of Experimental Physics at the Free University of Berlin. He received several distinctions for his work, including the Robert-Wichard-Pohl Prize of the German Physical Society and, in 2012, the Draper Prize of the US National Academy of Engineering.

Wolfgang Helfrich combined theoretical depth with a strong sense for physical problems. He moved between fundamental questions and practical applications and was known for his independent thinking and his critical view of rigid academic and industrial structures.

He will be remembered as a scientist who opened new perspectives in the study of liquid crystals and membranes, and as an inspiration to colleagues and students.

https://www.glcs.ovgu.de/Blog.html

For all awards, the nomination deadline is extended to April 30, 2026.

Detailed nomination guidelines, eligibility criteria, and required documentation are available on the ILCS website ( Honors and Awards).

The award recipients will be announced by June 1, 2026, and all awards will be formally presented during the 30^th International Liquid Crystal Conference (ILCC), to be held in Québec City, Canada, from June 21 to June 26, 2026. 

The Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State University (KSU) seeks to hire an outstanding scientist at any level working in experimental advanced materials and/or at the interface to soft matter science, broadly defined.

Areas of interest may include liquid crystals, nanomaterials, biomaterials, polymers as well as biomimetic, responsive and adaptive materials as well as any combination thereof.

The candidates should apply by February 2026.

More information in Job Advertisements and here, or by sending an email to Professor Torsten Hegmann (thegmann@kent.edu). 

The International Liquid Crystal Society (ILCS) invites nominations for its prestigious awards honoring outstanding scientific achievements and service to the liquid crystal community. ILCS strongly encourages the community to submit nominations and help recognize excellence at all career stages.

Nominations are welcomed for the following awards:

• The Glenn H. Brown Prizes Awarded for the best Ph.D. theses in liquid crystal science. Typically, four prizes are awarded every two years.
• The Samsung Display Mid-Career Award and The LG Display Mid-Career Award -two separate awards honoring mid-career scientists for significant and sustained contributions to liquid crystal research and applications.
• The Michi Nakata Award recognizes early-career (postdoctoral) researchers for exceptional independent scientific achievements and strong research potential.
  
• Election as Honored Member of ILCS -a distinguished recognition for individuals who have made exceptional scientific contributions and long-term service to the liquid crystal community and ILCS.
• The Pierre-Gilles de Gennes ILCS Prize - the highest honor of the ILCS, awarded for groundbreaking achievements and lasting impact on liquid crystal science.

For all awards, the nomination deadline is April 30, 2026. Detailed nomination guidelines, eligibility criteria, and required documentation are available on the ILCS website (Honors and Awards). The award recipients will be announced by June 1, 2026, and all awards will be formally presented during the 30^th International Liquid Crystal Conference (ILCC), to be held in Québec City, Canada, from June 21 to June 26, 2026. Award recipients will be invited to present lectures at the conference, highlighting their scientific achievements and contributions to the liquid crystal community.

ILCS warmly encourages the community to submit nominations and hopes to receive a large and diverse number of nominations, reflecting the breadth, excellence, and vitality of liquid crystal research across all career stages.

We are please to invite you to attend the Conference OP211 - Liquid Crystals Conference LCXXX at SPIE Optics + Photonics that will take place in San Diego, USA from 23^rd to 27^th of August, 2026.

Stay tuned for updates on Conference topics, invited speakers, and key deadlines on the official conference website https://spie.org/OP26P/conferencedetails/liquid-crystals.

We look forward to seeing you in beautiful San Diego for an inspiring Week of science and collaboration. 

We are please to invite you to attend the 30th International Liquid Crystal Conference that will  will take place in Québec City from June 21^st to June 26^th, 2026.

Stay tuned for updates on symposium topics, invited speakers, and key deadlines on the official conference website: https://ilcc2026.org/en.

We look forward to seeing you in beautiful Quebec for an inspiring week of science and collaboration!