We are pleased to announce that a one-day meeting will be held at the University of Birmingham on 20 June 2023 on the theme of “Liquid-Crystal Research in the 2020s”. The meeting, supported by the British Liquid Crystal Society (BLCS),  is intended for early-stage researchers, primarily for PhD students, but also for post-doctoral research associates and researchers in industry, who are relatively new to the field of liquid-crystal research, irrespective of their academic disciplines.

In the absence of the BLCS Annual Training Workshop this year in the traditional format, some introductory materials for education and training will be made available to the participants on an online platform before the one-day meeting for a limited period. The one-day meeting (from 11 am to 5 pm) will provide opportunities for presenting posters and networking.

Confirmed speakers include:

1. Helen Gleeson | University of Leeds
2. Mark R. Wilson | Durham University
3. Dr Guy Bryan-Brown | New Vision Display
4. Jon Preece | University of Birmingham and ChromaTwist

Expressions of interest in the prescribed format (see the next page) are currently invited for attending this one-day meeting in June. Please email your expression of interest to blcs-atw@contacts.bham.ac.uk by 9 June 2023. Please send your expression of interest as soon as possible – places are limited.

Accepted participants will be notified shortly after the deadline. There are no registration fees for accepted participants.

The BLCS is now seeking nominations onto the steering committee. The following BLCS committee positions are now available:

• Treasurer – the elected person will be Treasurer-elect from the date of the election until the Annual Meeting in March/April in 2024, when they will become Treasurer for three years.
• Ordinary Members – those elected will serve for just under three years from the date of the election until the Annual Meeting in March/April 2026.
• Chair-elect – the elected person will be Chair-elect from the date of the election until the Annual Meeting in March/April 2024 when they will take over as Chair for two years, and then be Vice-Chair for a further year.

Both nominees and nominators (proposer & seconder) must be members of the Society and the permission of the nominee must be obtained. Nominations should be made by email. The Nomination form can be found on the last page of this letter which you can download from this link: committee nominations.

The timeline for the election process is as follows:

• 14^th April – Nominations open.
• 12^th May – Nominations close.
• 19^th May – Members will be told of the nominees for each post and online voting begins.
• 9^th June – Voting ends.
• 16^th June – Announcement of successful nominees.

The details of the online voting will be released in due course.

We acknowledge that this election is unusual due to the previous elections during the Covid19 outbreak, which have forced a change in timings, and that the next terms of office will aim to return us to the normal timetable (i.e. election deadline at the Annual meeting each year).

We very much look forward to meeting you in Glasgow next year. For more information, please visit the following sites:

• BLCS23 homepage:
  https://www.gla.ac.uk/events/conferences/blcs2023/
• Abstract submission (extended deadline 20th February 2023): https://www.gla.ac.uk/events/conferences/blcs2023/abstracts/
• Registration (Deadline for Registration is 3rd April 2023.  )
  https://www.gla.ac.uk/events/conferences/blcs2023/registration/

We very much look forward to meeting you in Glasgow next year. For more information, please visit the meeting website www.gla.ac.uk/events/conferences/blcs2023/

Deadline for abstract submission: 13th February 2023
Registration opens: 3rd January 2023

After two years of waiting, our 2020 George Gray medal winner, Prof. Ewa Górecka (University of Warsaw), was finally presented with the award in person.

Prof. Ewa Górecka (University of Warsaw) receiving the 2020 BLCS Gray Medal Award from the current chair the of the BLCS, Prof. Nigel Mottram, together with past Chairs, Profs John Goodby and Corrie Imrie. Photo credits go to BLCS Treasurer, Prof. Giampaolo D’Alessandro.

Prof. Górecka’s work on the chemistry and physics of liquid crystals has been hugely influential over the last 30 years. Her work has led to crucial insights into the structure and organisation of almost all phases of liquid crystal, focussing particular on aspects of chirality, ferro/antiferroelectricity, polarity and investigating newer phases such as the twist-bend phase. Prof. Górecka has collaborated with many institutions around the world, including visiting professorships at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, KAIST research university in Korea, Penang University in Malaysia, the French Institute of Physics and Material Chemistry, Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, and the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. For many years, she has had substantial collaborations with the University of Maribor and the University of Aberdeen. She has received previous awards from the Japanese Society of Applied Physics, the Wiktor Kemula Prize, the Prof. Wojciech Świętosławski Prize, and the Prime Minister’s Award for outstanding scientific achievements.

The award was presented during the recent International Liquid Crystal Conference in Lisbon by the current BLCS Chair, Prof. Nigel Mottram, together with past Chairs, Profs John Goodby and Corrie Imrie, and the BLCS Treasurer, Prof. Giampaolo D’Alessandro (who also took the photographs).

Prof. Ewa Górecka (University of Warsaw) along side Profs. Nigel Mottram, John Goodby and Corrie Imrie.

This year we are looking forward to welcoming you in person and in addition we are encouraging everyone to think outside the box for their presentation and consider

• New and unusual applications of liquid crystal research.
• Liquid crystals beyond low molecular weight.
• Liquid crystals as art
• How to make liquid crystals interesting for non-experts

Abstract submissions for both oral and poster presentations are now open with specific details on how to submit an abstract on the conference website.

Deadline for abstract submission: Saturday 12 March 2022

The workshop, being funded by the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is intended to provide education and training for the next generation of researchers in the highly interdisciplinary area of liquid-crystal research, highlighting its recent advances in the wider context of soft and biological matter.

The 2022 event will be held as a physical event in the summer. The three-day event will start at noon on the 15th June and finish in the late afternoon of the 17th, and will include lectures, practical training sessions and a mini-symposium “Liquid-Crystal Research in the 2020s”; the mini-symposium will discuss emerging questions and open problems in liquid-crystals research and at its interfaces. The workshop is intended for early-stage researchers (primarily PhD students, but also post-doctoral research associates and researchers in industry, who are relatively new to the field of liquid-crystal research, irrespective of their academic disciplines) and can offer limited number of places.

For further details and to register your interest please download this Expression of Interest form. Note the deadline for expressions of interest is 28 February 2022. There are no registration fees for accepted participants.

Programme
The final programme will be made available here in due course. The list of speakers confirmed so far is as follows: