Announcements

MDPI Romania sponsored four events over the month of April, contributing author training sessions to each event.

The NutriSciLabs 2024 conference was held at the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy on 12 April 2024. Organized by the Association of Students from the Faculty of Pharmacy Studies, the conference aimed to enhance students’ academic writing and research skills, and bolster their confidence in participating in the academic world. Ioana Paunescu, journal relations specialist for MDPI Romania, led the training session. Paunescu first outlined MDPI’s history and core values, then explained academic writing techniques, ethics, and similarity percentages. The presentation covered the entire editorial process, highlighting the amount of attention paid to details throughout manuscript processing. Paunescu also discussed common errors that authors make while writing, and how to avoid such errors.

On 13 April 2024, the NextGEN 2.0 Student Conference took place at the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca. NextGen Healthcare organized this event with the university’s European Students’ Society to discuss European and international current affairs. MDPI Romania contributed an author training session called Steps of the Publication Process. Irina Codruta Zaharia, journal relations specialist, began the session with a general introduction of MDPI before diving into different article types, different layout formats, possible journals to submit to, the MDPI submission checklist, and the MDPI editorial process. By explaining the fundamentals of writing and publishing academic papers, Zaharia imparted valuable industry knowledge to the curious minds present. Participants were eager to engage with Zaharia in the subsequent Q&A session.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the International Conference “Students for Students” has long been a gathering place for undergraduate and postgraduate students of all nationalities to present their work and exchange ideas with each other. This year’s conference was held on 18 April 2024, with MDPI Romania contributing an author training session called The World of Open Access. Key speakers included Dr. Norbert Kiss from MDPI Romania and Prof. Dragos Horvath from Strasbourg University. Dr. Kiss discussed the history of open access, differences between open access publishing and traditional publishing, and implications for open access in the future. Attendees expressed keen interest in the subject, approaching Dr. Kiss with questions about academic publishing as well as his career trajectory.

Most recently, on 26 April 2024, MDPI Romania sponsored the National Symposium of Students from Geology and Geophysics Faculties. The AAPG Students Chapter at the Babes-Bolyai University organized this event as an opportunity for geology students from all Romanian universities to present their work and confer with other researchers. Dr. Kiss gave his lecture The World of Open Access at this event as well.

MDPI is thankful to all the participants, speakers, and organizers who attended these events. Through their enthusiasm and dedication, these events were great successes.

A range of MDPI journals will be attending the 18th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering in Milan, Italy, from 30 June to 5 July 2024.

The 18th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (WCEE2024) is the world’s leading conference led by the Italian Association of Earthquake Engineering (ANIDIS) and the International Association of Earthquake Engineering (IAEE). The WCEE2024 is expected to attract more than 4000 participants, including internationally recognized academics and scientists, professional engineers and seismologists, innovative researchers and young engineers, experts and entrepreneurs from the construction industry.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Buildings;
• CivilEng;
• Geotechnics;
• Architecture;
• Applied Sciences;
• Heritage;
• Safety;
• Geosciences;
• Infrastructures;
• GeoHazards;
• AI;
• Modelling.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to engage with us at our booth. Our delegates look forward to meeting you and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit https://www.wcee2024.it/ or contact the Buildings Editorial Office at buildings@mdpi.com.

MDPI will be attending the 35th Irish Signals and Systems Conference in Belfast, UK, which will take place from 13 to 14 June 2024. The conference focuses on digital signal processing, control systems, communications and related fields of ICT, and encompasses algorithms and system modeling, design, and implementation for a broad range of applications.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Applied Sciences;
• Electronics;
• Drones;
• Mathematics;
• Network;
• Signals;
• Smart Cities;
• Systems;
• Telecom.

If you are attending the conference, please visit our booth. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following link: https://issc.ie/index.html.

MDPI will attend the 34th CCS Congress, which will be held in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, from 15 to 18 June 2024. Registration for the event opens on 14 June.

This annual congress is hosted by the Chinese Chemical Society (CCS). With the support and active participation of chemists across the country, the annual academic conference of the Chinese Chemical Society has continued to expand in scale and influence and has become a comprehensive academic exchange platform with the most comprehensive categories, the largest scale, and the highest level in chemistry and related fields. The theme of the 34th CCS Congress is “Toward Higher Quality Chemistry Research”. It has established 70 academic branches. The forms of academic exchange include conference plenary reports (PL), keynote reports (KN), invited reports (I), oral reports (O), flash reports (F), and poster reports (P). The annual meeting collects academic papers (abstracts) from chemists. Workers in scientific research, teaching, and industry in chemistry and related fields are welcome to submit papers and actively participate in the meeting.

A series of colorful forums, continuing education, and other activities will be held simultaneously during the annual meeting. An exhibition will also be held, inviting the support and active participation of relevant universities and research institutes, enterprises, book publishing, and academic journals.

The following MDPI journals will be represented at the conference:

• Molecules;
• International Journal of Molecular Sciences;
• Polymers;
• Biomedicines;
• Inorganics;
• Processes;
• Symmetry;
• Separations;
• Membranes;
• Materials;
• Reactions;
• Chemistry;
• Compounds;
• Biomolecules;
• Sustainable Chemistry;
• Chemosensors;
• Applied Sciences.

If you are planning on attending this conference, please do not hesitate to stop by our booth #B37 and start a conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following website: https://www.chemsoc.org.cn/meeting/34th/.

A range of MDPI journals will be attending the Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference and Probabilistic Mechanics & Reliability Conference in Chicago, USA, from 28 to 31 of May 2024.

This conference will be hosted by The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, Illinois, with an organization led by Professors Paolo Gardoni and Arif Masud. The event will provide a forum to discuss the fundamental advances in engineering mechanics, bringing together scholars from around the world to exchange and disseminate the most recent developments in engineering mechanics and probabilistic methods across wide-ranging fields related to the discipline of civil engineering, including industry applications of engineering mechanics.

This conference will attract a significant number of people from academia, research institutions, and industrial organizations. The symposium, including several networking activities, would cover the most up-to-date topics related to process systems engineering. Presentations given by world-renowned plenary and keynote speakers will offer a cutting-edge to the symposium.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Buildings;
• Fluids;
• CivilEng;
• Applied Sciences;
• Infrastructures;
• Mathematics;
• JETA;
• Modelling.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to engage with us at our booth. Our delegates look forward to meeting you and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit https://www.emi-conference.org/ or contact the Buildings Editorial Office.

MDPI would like to invite all experts recognized in their fields to attend the MDPI International Day of Light 2024 Webinar, which will be held on 16 May 2024. The aim of this webinar is to encourage researchers to come together, take action, and highlight how the exchange of findings facilitates efforts to raise awareness about the study of light. The study of light has led to promising alternative energy sources, lifesaving medical advances in diagnostics technology and treatments, light-speed internet, and many other discoveries that have revolutionized society and shaped our understanding of the universe.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the MDPI International Day of Light 2024 Webinar.

Title: MDPI International Day of Light 2024 Webinar
Date: 16 May 2024
Time: 09:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m. (CEST) | 03:00 p.m.–05:00 p.m. (CST Asia)
More Information: https://sciforum.net/event/IDL2024

This is a free webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Unable to attend? Register anyway and we will let you know when the recording is available to watch.

Register for free:

Program:

Relevant Special Issues:

Nanomaterials
“Light-Matter Interaction in Nano Systems: Fundamentals and Applications”
Guest Editors: Zhengkun Fu, Lianghui Huang and Mengtao Sun
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2024

Sensors
“Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC)”
Guest Editor: Alin-Mihai Cailean
Deadline: 30 June 2024

“Recent Trends and Advances in Laser Spectroscopy and Sensing”
Guest Editor: Violeta Lazic
Deadline: 20 August 2024

“Feature Papers in Optical Sensors 2024”
Guest Editors: Gabriele Bolognini and Yuliya Semenova
Deadline: 31 December 2024

Applied Sciences
“Application of Advanced Lighting Systems in Buildings and Cities”
Guest Editors: Luis Santos and M. Glória Gomes
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 June 2024

“Optical Sensors: Applications, Performance and Challenges”
Guest Editors: Yubing Wang, Lijun Wang and Junfeng Song
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2024

“Smart Lighting and Visual Safety”
Guest Editors: Yandan Lin and Minchen Wei
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2024

“New Trends in Next-Generation Optical Networks”
Guest Editors: Gerardo Antonio Castañón-Avila
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 21 December 2024

“Interdisciplinary Approaches and Applications of Optics & Photonics (AOP2024)”
Guest Editors: Manuel Filipe P. C. M. Costa and Sandra Franco
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024

“Advances in Optics, Photonics and Lasers”
Guest Editors: Aleksej Rodin and Sergey Y. Yurish
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2024

“Laser Ultrasonics and Advanced Sensing: Technologies and Applications”
Guest Editor: Chenyin Ni
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2024

“Ultrafast and Nonlinear Laser Applications”
Guest Editor: Sergej Orlov
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2024

“Diode Lasers: Materials, Devices and Application”
Guest Editors: Jing Yang and Zhenfu Wang
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2024

“Nanophotonics and Integrated Photonics”
Guest Editors: Fanfan Lu and Zhiqiang Yang
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2024

Optics
“Ultrafast Light-Matter Interaction”
Guest Editor: Daria Popova-Gorelova
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2024

Energies
“Advances in Solar Systems and Energy Efficiency”
Guest Editors: Maciej Zajkowski, Adam Idzkowski, Zbigniew Sołjan, and Stanislav Darula
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 19 June 2024

Inventions
“Recent Advances in Visible Light Communication and Optical Wireless Information Systems”
Guest Editor: Jupeng Ding
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Prof. Dr. Giulio Cerullo as the new Editor-in-Chief of Applied Sciences (ISSN: 2076-3417).

Name: Prof. Dr. Giulio Cerullo
Affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy
Interests: lasers; optical instruments; nonlinear optics; ultrafast optics; time-resolved spectroscopy

Prof. Dr. Giulio Cerullo is a Full Professor at the Physics Department, Politecnico di Milano, where he leads the Ultrafast Optical Spectroscopy laboratory. His research activity focuses on the generation of tunable few-optical-cycle light pulses and on their application to the study of primary photoinduced processes in molecules, nanostructures, and two-dimensional materials. He has published more than 550 papers which have received over 30000 citations (h-index 89 according to Scopus). He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America and the European Physical Society, a member of the Accademia dei Lincei and past Chair of the Quantum Electronics and Optics Division of the European Physical Society. He was General Chair of the conferences CLEO/Europe 2017, Ultrafast Phenomena 2018 and the International Conference on Raman Spectroscopy 2022. He was the 2023 recipient of the EPS-QEOD Quantum Electronics Prize. He sits on the editorial boards of the journals Science Advances, Laser & Photonics Reviews, Journal of Physical Chemistry and Scientific Reports. He has received an ERC Advanced Grant and has participated in many European projects, including the supervision of seven Marie Curie Individual Fellowships. He is the co-founder of two spin-off companies (Cambridge Raman Imaging and NIREOS).

We are confident that his vision and leadership will steer Applied Sciences towards new heights of success.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Giulio Cerullo, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views of the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Editor-in-Chief?
Applied Sciences is one of the largest open access journals, covering a wide range of topics, from physical and chemical sciences to biology, engineering and environmental sciences. In terms of scope, impact, and number of published papers per year, it compares to other leading open access journals such as Scientific Reports and PLOS ONE. I see, therefore, the role of Editor-in-Chief as a challenge but also a unique opportunity to make an impact on the scientific community of which I am part.

2. What is your vision for the journal?
I aim to promote the visibility and the impact of the journal by attracting the best researchers to publish their results in Applied Sciences. The visibility of the journal can be promoted, for example, by influential invited review or perspective papers or by Special Issues dedicated to emerging topics and coordinated by leading scientists. At the same time, it is important to maintain, and even increase, the rigor of the peer-review process, which is the foundation on the reputation of the journal. As an author and Editor-in-Chief of Applied Sciences, I could appreciate the rigorous and efficient peer-review procedure, which ensures high scientific quality and credibility of the published articles. Nowadays, however, new challenges to scientific integrity arise, such as for example the use of artificial intelligence for writing papers, for which adequate countermeasures need to be developed.

3.What does the future of this field of research look like?
Applied Sciences covers an extremely broad and interdisciplinary field of research, which concerns all the applied aspects of natural sciences, from biology to physics, chemistry, and engineering. Nowadays the impact of science on society is becoming greater than ever, and therefore the translation of fundamental scientific discoveries into technological and industrial applications is of key importance. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations in 2015, identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose accomplishment will ensure peace and prosperity for the people and the planet, for the present and the future. Scientific research such as the one published in Applied Sciences will play a key role in the achievement of the SDGs.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?
Open access is very important as it enables all researchers, especially those from emerging countries who may have limited financial resources, to access all the novel generated scientific knowledge. Many funding agencies, including the European Union, mandate open access for all the publications which stem from their funded projects. For the authors, open access is also advantageous, as it increases the penetration of their research and consequently its impact.

The articles below have been selected as 2023 Issue Cover Articles by the Editorial Office of Applied Sciences (ISSN: 2076-3417). These articles came from multiple fields within the scope of Applied Sciences, and we hope that they can provide insights and references for scholars in related fields.

MDPI will be attending the 28th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences—Micro-Total Analysis Systems (µTAS 2024) held in Montréal, Canada, from 13 to 17 October 2024.

The µTAS International Conference series is the premier forum for reporting research results in microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip, organ-on-a-chip, wearables, BioMEMS, microfabrication, 3D printing, nanotechnology, integration, materials and surfaces, analysis and synthesis, and detection technologies for chemistry, life sciences, and biomedicine. µTAS 2024 will feature plenary and keynote talks from world luminaries and will offer an opportunity for students and scientists to deliver oral and poster presentations selected from submitted abstracts to a global audience of experts in their area. µTAS 2024 will also include networking and social session for students, minorities, young faculty, and an array of industry exhibitions and presentations, as well as a wonderful cultural experience in Montréal.

During this conference, MDPI will welcome researchers from different backgrounds to visit and share their latest views and research with us.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Micromachines;
• Applied Sciences;
• Bioengineering;
• Fibers;
• Molecules;
• JLPEA;
• Technologies;
• Chemosensors;
• Biosensors.

If you plan on attending this conference, feel free to stop by our booth at #50. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person to answer any questions you may have.

For more information about the conference, please see the following link: https://microtas2024.org/.