The British Liquid Crystal Society Annual Training Workshops (2019-21)

液晶是一类重要的软材料，因为它们不仅是我们对软材料的基本理解的关键，而且还具有对经济至关重要的各种技术应用。液晶显示器(LCD)技术提供了全球平板显示器市场的中坚力量，目前全球平板显示器市场的价值超过1000亿GB。它们诱人的光电和刺激响应特性也使其适合于非显示器应用。特别是液晶技术的发展，是英国在物理、化学、数学和工程等传统学科的十字路口进行基础研究和应用研究相结合的成果，是英国的开创性工作。为适应21世纪的需要，新的液晶技术的发展需要以液晶研究跨学科领域强大的知识基础为基础的创新。毫无疑问，为了充分利用这一令人兴奋的研究领域的潜力，并使英国液晶界继续保持对竞争对手的优势，继续提供训练有素、技术熟练的研究人员，在软物质和生物物质的更广泛背景下，具有核心液晶研究及其界面方面的专门知识，这无疑是一个国家问题。在这项建议中，我们建议代表英国液晶学会在伯明翰大学连续三年(2019-21)举办年度培训工作坊。拟议的研讨会每年举行一次，为期三天，旨在为液晶研究领域的新手提供必要的跨学科背景，并接触与扩大液晶研究范围有关的软物质和生物物质领域。这种接触对于保护知识的广度至关重要，尤其是对于新兴应用领域的工作和促进跨学科合作来说，这是必要的。研讨会将把来自学术界、工业界和其他领域的早期和经验丰富的研究人员聚集在一个跨学科的平台上，交流知识、发展实用技能和培养新想法。我们设想早期的研究人员主要是博士生，但他们也可能是博士后研究助理，以及行业中对液晶研究领域相对较新的研究人员，无论他们的学术背景如何。虽然头两天的讲座和实践培训将主要集中在核心液晶研究的各个方面，但第三天的方案将建立在这一基础上，并强调在更广泛的软物质和生物物质领域内液晶研究界面的最新发展。下午将举行一个小型研讨会，名为“本世纪20年代的液晶研究”，将讨论液晶研究及其界面上出现的新问题和公开问题。

Liquid crystals are an important class of soft materials, because they not only have been key to our fundamental understanding of soft materials, but also have a variety of technological applications critical to the economy. Liquid crystal display (LCD) technology provides the backbone of the global market of flat-panel displays, which is currently worth over £100 bn. Their attractive opto-electrical and stimuli-responsive properties also make them suitable for non-display applications. The development of the LCD technology, in particular, is a triumph of combined basic and applied research at the crossroads of traditional disciplines of physics, chemistry, mathematics and engineering, initiated by pioneering work in the UK.The development of new liquid-crystal technologies to meet the need of the 21st century requires innovation underpinned by a strong knowledge-base in the interdisciplinary field of liquid-crystal research. It is undoubtedly a matter of national importance to continue the supply of highly trained and skilled researchers with expertise in core liquid-crystal research as well as in its interfaces in the broader context of soft and biological matter for fully harnessing the potential of this exciting field of research and for the UK liquid-crystal community to continue to hold an edge over its competitors. In this proposal, we propose to organise an Annual Training Workshop on behalf of the British Liquid Crystal Society at the University of Birmingham for three consecutive years (2019-21). The proposed workshop, a three-day event held annually, is intended to provide novices in the field of liquid-crystal research with the necessary interdisciplinary background and an exposure to the field of soft and biological matter relevant to the widening scope of liquid-crystal research. Such an exposure is critical to securing the breadth of knowledge, which, in particular, is necessary to work in the areas of emerging applications and foster collaboration across disciplines. The workshop will bring early-stage and experienced researchers, drawn from academia, industry and beyond, together on a cross-disciplinary platform for exchange of knowledge, development of practical skills and fostering of new ideas. We envisage the early-stage researchers to be primarily PhD students, but they could also be post-doctoral research associates and researchers in industry relatively new to the field of liquid-crystal research, irrespective of their academic backgrounds. While the lectures and practical training sessions in the first two days will be predominantly focused on aspects of core liquid-crystal research, the third day's programme will build on this foundation and highlight recent developments at the interfaces of liquid-crystal research within the broader field of soft and biological matter. There will be a mini-symposium in the afternoon, called "Liquid-Crystal Research in the 2020s", which will discuss emerging questions and open problems in liquid-crystal research and at its interfaces.