2007 Liquid Crystals Gordon Research Conference will be held at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire, June 10-15, 2007

液晶科学技术已经真正超越了许多基础学科的边界，现在正在深入渗透到其他许多领域和应用领域。一些例子学科包括生物科学、生物技术和健康科学领域，以及光子学、传感器和纳米技术领域。液晶由各向异性有机分子组成，与外界电场和表面相互作用，强烈影响着液晶的结构和性质。从基本的角度来看，液晶的基本理论和模型已经在许多科学界得到了极大的接受；取向顺序和集体分子行为的概念渗透了当代生物科学界的知识基础，有助于对细胞膜、功能肌肉、细胞分裂和形态发生的基本理解。由于其有用的电光特性，它们是许多应用的理想选择；最普遍的是信息显示。由于他们在信息显示方面的成功，研究人员和技术人员正在推动应用研究的前沿，以寻找这些独特材料的其他用途。戈登液晶研究会议历来汇聚了众多研究人员和技术专家，讨论和辩论液晶的合成、潜在的物理现象和潜在的应用。戈登液晶研究会议将通过口头和海报演示以及社会活动，为讨论和辩论液晶科学和技术前沿的想法提供一个场所。讨论的主题包括新型液晶化合物的合成和表征，包括低摩尔质量、弹性体和活性介晶材料；具有生物学意义的液晶系统；生物启发材料；纳米粒子对液晶的修饰；自组装和新的液晶相；最新的模拟和建模；以及液晶在生物医学成像、光子学、激光、电光和生物传感器应用中的现代应用。液晶已经对社会产生了深远的影响，通过它们在笔记本电脑、台式机和电视机上的平板显示设备的成功，目前正准备在生物、医学和人类健康方面找到新的令人兴奋的应用。NSF的资金将用于资助年轻研究人员参加会议，并在这个高度跨学科的领域进一步整合和培训。%乍一看，笔记本电脑和生活之间的联系并不明显。然而，这种共性涉及一种被称为液晶的独特材料。液晶为科学家和工程师提供了许多独特的特征，因为它们能够像液体一样流动，但也具有许多与晶体相同的特性。这些特性使它们在涉及电子输入和光学输出的应用中非常有用；最普遍的是信息显示器，它被用于笔记本电脑、台式电脑以及最近的电视市场。今天，液晶显示器，或LCD市场正在走向成熟。然而，由于在信息显示方面的成功，液晶研究人员和技术人员正在推动应用研究的前沿，以寻找这些材料的其他用途，如环境传感器、用于快速筛查传染病的床边诊断设备、用于提高药物疗效的药物输送平台、可以检测和监测热和湿度的致动器，以及用于医疗应用的廉价光谱仪，所有这些都有可能对未来新的工程应用和产品产生深远影响。例如，由于其简单性，液晶材料为研究人员提供了测试和验证分子和纳米尺度上的许多理论和模型的基本系统。关于液晶的戈登研究会议将提供一个平衡的场所，通过口头和海报演示以及社交活动，讨论和辩论液晶科学和技术的前沿思想。在应用方面，大会将重点介绍液晶科学的基础知识和下一代液晶器件。无论从哪个角度来看，液晶都使便携式计算成为可能，并改变了我们共享和传输信息的方式。现在，该领域即将出现许多新的科学发现，这些发现可能会使令人兴奋的新生物医学设备能够改善健康和人类福利，造福社会。这种潜力的核心是积极研究液晶科学的年轻研究人员；NSF的资金将用于资助这些人参加会议，并变得更充分地接受培训，并融入这个高度交叉的领域。

Liquid crystal science and technology has truly transcended the boundaries of many fundamental disciplines, and now is deeply penetrating into many other fields and application areas. Some example disciplines include the bioscience, biotechnology, and health science fields, as well as the areas of photonics, sensors and nanotechnology. Composed of anisotropic organic molecules, liquid crystals interact with external fields and surfaces, which strongly influence their structure and properties. From a basic perspective, the fundamental theories and models of liquid crystals have gained great acceptance in many scientific communities; the concept of orientational order and collective molecular behavior penetrates the contemporary knowledge base of the bio-sciences community, contributing to the fundamental understanding of cell membranes, functioning muscles, division of cells, and morphogenesis. Because of their useful electro-optical properties, they are ideal for many applications; the most ubiquitous being the information display. Due to their success in information displays, researchers and technologists are pushing the frontiers of applied research to find other uses for these unique materials. The Gordon Research Conference on Liquid Crystals has historically brought together an eclectic set researchers and technologists to discuss and debate the synthesis, underlying physical phenomena, and potential application of liquid crystals. The Gordon Research Conference on Liquid Crystals will provide a venue for discussion and debate of the ideas at the forefront of liquid crystal science and technology through oral and poster presentations, and social events. Discussion topics include synthesis and characterization of new liquid crystal compounds including low molar mass, elastomeric, and reactive mesogen materials; liquid crystal systems of biological significance; bio-inspired materials; the modification of liquid crystals with nano-particles; self-assembly and new liquid crystal phases; state-of-the-art simulation and modeling; and modern uses of liquid crystals in biomedical imaging, photonics, lasing, electro-optic, and biosensor applications. Liquid crystals have already had a profound impact on society, through their success in flat panel display devices on our laptops, desktops and television sets, and are currently poised to find new and exciting applications in biology, medicine and human health. The NSF funds will be used to fund young researchers to attend the conference and become further integrated and trained in this highly interdisciplinary field. %%%At first glance, the connection between laptops and life is not readily apparent. However, the commonality involves a unique material known as a liquid crystal. Liquid crystals offer scientists and engineers many unique features because of their ability to flow like liquids, but possess many of the same properties of crystals. These properties make them useful for applications involving an electrical input and an optical output; the most ubiquitous being the information display, which is used in laptops, desktops and more recently the television market. Today, the liquid crystal display, or LCD market is maturing. However, due to the successes in information display, liquid crystal researchers and technologists are pushing the frontiers of applied research to find other uses of these materials for environmental sensors, bedside diagnostic devices for rapid screening of infectious disease, drug delivery platforms to improve the efficacy of drugs, actuators that can detect and monitor heat and humidity, and inexpensive spectrometers for medical applications, all of which have the potential to have a profound impact on new engineering applications and products in the future. Because of their simplicity, liquid crystal materials provide researchers with basic systems to test and validate a number of theories and models on the molecular and nanoscale, for example. The Gordon Research Conference on Liquid Crystals will provide a balanced venue for a discussion and debate of ideas at the forefront of liquid crystal science and technology through oral and poster presentations, and social events. In terms of applications, the conference will focus on the fundamentals of liquid crystal science and the next generation of liquid crystal devices. By any objective account, liquid crystals have enabled portable computing and transformed the way we share and transfer information. Now the field is on the verge of many new scientific discoveries that may enable exciting new biomedical devices to improve health and human welfare for societal good. At the heart of this potential are the young researchers actively investigating the liquid crystal sciences; the NSF funds will go towards funding these individuals to attend the conference and become more fully trained and integrated into this highly interdisciplinary field.