Dear Colleagues,
It is an honor to me to address the potential members
as well as the members of the Asia-Pacific EPR/ESR Society. May
I take this opportunity to introduce the Society to you and brief you on
the current activities of the Society.
For the benefit of some of you let me recall that the
Asia-Pacific
EPR/ESR Society (APES) came into existence at the Inaugural Meeting held
during the 1st Asia-Pacific EPR/ESR Symposium at the
City University of Hong Kong, in January 1997. APES has become an Affiliate
Society of the International EPR/ESR Society (IES) in March, 1999.
The 2nd Asia-Pacific EPR/ESR Symposium (APES'99)
was held, under the auspices of APES, at the Zhejiang University, Hangzhou,
China, October 31 - November 4, 1999. Conference Report for APES'99 has
appeared in the EPR Newsletter (vol.10 /no.4, 1999). On behalf of
the APES Council I would like to thank all hard working Members of the
APES'99 Local Organising Committee for their dedicated effort as well as
the sponsoring organisations who financially supported the Symposium. Under
the skilful leadership of Prof. Yuanzhi XU, the APES'99 have been a very
successful Symposium. In the appreciation of the commitment and hard work,
Professor Xu and each member of his team has been awarded the APES Distinguished
Service Award.
During APES'99 the 2nd Meeting of the Asia-Pacific
EPR/ESR Society was held. We were privileged to have with us Prof. John
R. Pilbrow, IES President, who delivered an Address to the participants
of the Meeting. The 34 APES members present elected the new APES Council
for 1999-2001 as follows:
President |
Prof. Czeslaw Rudowicz |
(Hong Kong,
SAR) |
Vice
President |
Prof. Asako
Kawamori |
(Japan) |
Secretary |
Dr Yau-yuen
Yeung |
(Hong Kong, SAR) |
Representatives |
Prof. Dr.
G. Hanson |
(Australia/New
Zealand) |
|
Prof. H.
Ohta |
(Japan) |
|
Prof. Y.
Li |
(Peoples’
Republic of China) |
|
Prof. S.
V. Bhat |
(India) |
|
Prof. H.
S. So |
(Republic
of Korea) |
|
Prof. T.T. Nguyen |
(Vietnam) |
|
Prof. A. Ziadtinov |
(Russia - Far East) |
It was also decided that in view of adopting free membership,
the position of Treasurer was not required for this term. By a separate
form an endorsement for the elected Council 1999-2001 is sought from the
APES members who could not attend APES’99. A brief summary of the activities
of the Asia-Pacific EPR/ESR Society discussed at the 2nd APES
Meeting and their current status is given below.
-
Organization of the Asia-Pacific
EPR/ESR Symposium 2001 and 2003
It was decided at the 2nd APES Meeting that
the third Symposium (APES’01) will be held in Kobe in October/November
2001, with Prof. A. Kawamori as the Chairman and Prof. H. Ohta as the Secretary
of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for APES’01, respectively, whereas
the fourth Symposium (APES’03) will be held in Bangalore in October/ November
2003 with Prof. S.V. Bhat as the Chairman of the LOC. An EPR/ESR Workshop
or a School with tutorial sessions for students and researchers is also
planned to be held before the APES’03. All materials related to the APES’99
as well as the APES Meeting are available on the APES Web site. For updated
information on the future Asia-Pacific EPR/ESR Symposia please visit the
APES Web site. May I take this opportunity to congratulate Prof. Kawamoriand
her team on the commitment and hard work. As you may see from the 1st
Announcement for APES'01, the organization of the APES'01 is progressing
very well.
-
Formation of the Local and National
EPR/ESR Users' Groups
The rationales for formation of the Local and National
EPR/ESR Users’ Groups have been outlined in the APES President's Report
presented at APES’99. Members supported the idea and provided examples
of local initiatives in this regard. The IES President encouraged such
initiatives and urged members of regional/national societies to become
paid members of IES, since part of the IES funds might be used in the region
in future. An example of Georgian contribution to the IES medals in return
for IES fees was given. Financial help for young AP researchers to attend
future APE Symposia may be considered. General attitude was that no formal
structure need to be imposed on any local or national grouping. The national
EPR/ESR Groups should be in charge of the local organization and also responsible
for handling the financial affairs of the future Asia-Pacific EPR/ESR Symposia.
The logistic support for and coordination of the organization of the future
Symposia will be provided by the Asia-Pacific EPR/ESR Society. The national
EPR/ESR Groups could also directly elect their representatives to the Society's
Council.
Several organizational and technical questions concerning
the draft APES Constitution have been discussed at the 2nd APES
Meeting. Modified draft APES Constitution will be available on the APES
Web site for members comments.
The members expressed positive views about the APES
Web site at: <http://www.ied.edu.hk/has/phys/apepr>.
Thanks are due to the Webmaster, Dr Yau-yuen Yeung. Several comments on
possible improvements of the APES Web site have been made. It was suggested
that most of APES activities be shifted to Internet. Members are encouraged
to visit the APES Web site more often and send any useful information to
be included therein by email to <yyyeung@ied.edu.hk>.
To facilitate access for PRC members, a Chinese mirror Web site has recently
been created by Prof. Li (email: < liy@sam.chem.tsinghua.edu.cn>).
-
Directory of EPR/ESR Facilities
within the Asia-Pacific region
In order to compile a listing of, e.g. major research
interests and projects, and available equipment, etc., other pertinent
questions have been included in the new Membership Application/Update Formprovided
separately. Information from members will be used to compile the Directory
of EPR/ESR Facilities within the Asia-Pacific region. However, in view
of the amount of work involved and the fast changing situation, it seems
necessary to work out a system where members could add and update their
data online.
-
Guidelines for presentation of EPR/ESR
data
The rationales for such guidelines have been outlined
in the APES President's Report presented at APES’99. Since the Recommendations
for EPR/ESR Nomenclature and Conventions for Presenting Experimental Data
in Publications has been published (H. Kon, Pure & Appl. Chem.61,
2195 (1989)) no development in this regard has been made. This
Recommendations
dealt only with the spin S=1/2 systems. It would be most worthwhile to
coordinate international efforts in order to unify the various ways of
data presentation as well as the nomenclature used for the parameters and
operators used in the EPR/ESR area. The existing abundance of the ways
of data presentation often leads to confusion at present. It was suggested
that under the auspices of APES and IES, a feasibility study be carried
out to assess the scientific and technical aspects, and the financial support
required for this project.
-
Establishment of the International
EPR Research and Data Centre
A brief description of the aims and structure of the
International EPR Research and Data Center is available from the APES President
on request. While this project was considered very useful, the general
feeling was that it might be difficult to obtain financial support. Consequently
further implementation has been postponed.
Membership drive
The membership of APES is free (for the time
being) and open to all researchers from the Asia-Pacific
region who are active in the EPR/ESR area or have an interest
in the applications of the EPR/ESR techniques. A strong Society would suit
well our regional needs and ensure that a better coordination of our efforts
can be achieved. I hope that all our Members and many more potential
members will attend the APES'01. Then a successful 3rd General
Meeting will be held in Kobe. In the meantime I invite all colleagues
to join APES. A new Membership Application/Update Form (also
available on the APES Web site) is attached. Please (1) pass on a copy
of
the Form to all interested colleagues, and (2) fill it in and
return to me ASAP so we can update our records.
Your comments on any of the above matters are most
welcome. Hoping to hear from you.
Czeslaw Rudowicz
President
The Asia-Pacific EPR/ESR Society Hong Kong, March 2000