Announcements

Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417; CODEN: ASPCC7) published its inaugural issue in 2011; it has experienced tremendous growth in terms of the number and quality of scientific publications, and has been covered by Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science) and Scopus.

Applied Sciences was started to help all scientists conduct their own research into the growth of these frontiers by breaking down barriers and connecting the many subfields to cut through this vast forest. These functions allow researchers to see these frontiers and their surrounding (or quite distant) fields and subfields, and provide them the opportunity to incubate and develop their knowledge even further with the aid of this multi-dimensional network.

MDPI will be attending 2020 IAFP Annual Meeting, held in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, 25–28 October 2020.

Each year, the International Association for Food Protection hosts an Annual Meeting, providing attendees with information on current and emerging food safety issues, the latest science, innovative solutions to new and recurring problems, and the opportunity to network with thousands of food safety professionals from around the globe. Held in various locations throughout North America, this meeting has grown over the years to become the leading food safety conference worldwide. IAFP 2020 will be held at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio. 

The IAFP Annual Meeting is attended by more than 3,800 of the top industry, academic and governmental food safety professionals from six continents. This renowned event owes its reputation and success to the quantity, quality, and diversity of each year’s program; the quality and relevance of exhibits sharing the latest in available technologies; leading experts speaking on a variety of timely topics; and special recognition of outstanding professionals and students for their contributions in the food safety field.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Foods (Leading journal)
• Microorganisms (co-leading)
• Nutrients
• Sustainability
• Safety
• Applied Sciences
• Antioxidants

If you are also attending this conference, feel free to stop by our booth (Booth #736). 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: http://www.foodprotection.org/annualmeeting/

As a leading Open Access publisher, MDPI is committed to fostering open scientific exchange in all forms across all disciplines. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, many researchers have to stay at home and many academic conferences have been cancelled or postponed. In light of these changes, MDPI has adopted numerous initiatives that may help accelerate scientific exchange and provide support to the academics during this period.

Scholarly Community—Encyclopedia

Encyclopedia is an online reference created and curated by active scholars. It aims to highlight the latest research results as well as providing benchmark information for researchers and the general public interested in accurate and advanced knowledge on specific topics.

Comprehensive and Free Literature Database—Scilit

Scilit is a comprehensive, free database for scientists that uses a new method to collate data and index scientific material. Our crawlers extract the latest data from CrossRef and PubMed on a daily basis. This means that newly published articles are immediately added to Scilit.

Display Academic Achievements—SciProfiles

SciProfiles is an innovative social network for researchers and scholars that is developed by MDPI. In line with our broad mission, the purpose of SciProfiles is to accelerate discovery and innovation by facilitating immediate access to research results and providing opportunities for academic networking.

Organize and Participate in Conferences Online—Sciforum

Sciforum is an event planning platform that supports open science by offering the opportunity to host and participate in academic conferences. It provides an environment for scholarly exchange, discussion of topics of current interest, building of networks, and establishing collaborations.

Post Early Versions of Research Outputs—Preprints

Preprints is a platform dedicated to making early versions of research outputs permanently available and citable. We post original research articles and comprehensive reviews, and papers can be updated by authors at any time. Content on Preprints is not peer-reviewed, and feedback can be received from readers.

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MDPI remains committed to open science and open data and has signed a statement, along with more than thirty scholarly publishers, showing our intention to facilitate sharing of new research findings as early on as possible. The initiative sees publishers collectively removing barriers to new research, in the face of a global healthcare crisis.

The world is currently suffering from a global pandemic of the corona virus COVID-19. MDPI expresses its sympathies for all of those affected by the virus and stands in solidarity with medical staff and researchers treating patients and searching for scientific solutions.

MDPI has previously published papers covering corona viruses in addition to new papers on the current outbreak, see all papers here. In particular, Viruses has published a number of Special Issues and papers on the topic (see here, here, and here) as well as a forthcoming Special Issue.

Alongside journal articles, MDPI has been a strong supporter of preprints, which are increasingly being used to rapidly disseminate the latest research, and we run the preprint server Preprints.org. Our database of research articles, Scilit, is free to use and covers all publishers including preprint servers. New papers are often in search results within hours of publication and users can set up alerts for new papers.

Our main priority during this period has been the health and safety of staff, and we continue to allow staff to work at home and closely monitor the situation in all locations in which we work. Despite the restrictions, we continue to provide a full publication service and, by close collaboration with our editorial boards and making use our in-house teams, ensure that there are no unnecessary delays in publishing vital research. Fast and open publication has always been at the core of MDPI values and is now more important than ever.

We hope that a solution to the current situation will emerge soon. In the meantime, we will do our best to continue communicating vital research in all fields.

MDPI will be attending SEBBM 2020, held in Barcelona, Spain, 20th–23rd July 2020.

La Sociedad Española de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular (SEBBM) is committed to promoting research links, encouraging years of study, promoting the dissemination of knowledge, improving teaching, and promoting young scientists among Spanish researchers for the international development of Spanish science and to contribute to scientific aspects of the public interest.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Genes (Leading journal)
• Biomolecules (co-leading)
• Brain Sciences
• Biology
• IJMS
• Applied Sciences
• Antibiotics
• Cancers
• Cells

If you are also attending this conference, feel free to stop by our booth (Booth #17). 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:

The advantages of the open access model of scientific publishing are being increasingly recognized in the scientific community. It allows new scientific evidence to be accessed from the moment of publication for free by anyone around the globe, boosting the impact of new research. In response, many funders, libraries and universities have been adopting new principles to accelerate the transition to open access.

Recently, “transformative agreements” have been negotiated between traditional publishers and various institutions. While increasing the number of open access papers, these agreements lack binding commitments to a full transition to open access, their conditions vary across different regions, and access is still limited for many users.

MDPI is a co-signatory of the recent position statement raising concerns about potential downsides of transformative agreements and how they may delay a full transition to open access. The statement highlights that these models “risk perpetuating current limitations on access, transparency and market competitiveness, while simultaneously facilitating excessive charges on the public purse”.

As a pioneering open access journal publisher, MDPI is the first to promote the importance of science being made available to everyone. Our peer-reviewed journals, covering diverse academic disciplines, are fully accessible to the public free of charge under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). This is why, along with other open access publishers, MDPI is a proud signatory of the position paper and is committed to contributing to the replacement of weak transitional agreements with “agreements with publishers that are already fully committed to open science and who offer full, immediate and transparent Open Access”.

Read the position paper here

We are pleased to announce that Encyclopedia will be awarding five Outstanding Contributor Awards for researchers in 2020. The nominations and applications will be assessed by an Evaluation Committee consisting of senior scholars from the Encyclopedia Editorial Board.

Prize for Winners

1. An official certificate;
2. A cash award of 500 CHF or an MDPI discount voucher of 800 CHF.

Application Deadline

31 December, 2020 (Please send your application email with a list of all entries you contributed to our office before the deadline: office@encyclopedia.pub)

Candidate Requirements

1. Have a Ph.D. degree;
2. Have more than three qualified entries published in Encyclopedia in 2020.

Evaluation Standards

1. Number of entries published in Encyclopedia in 2020;
2. Quality of entries online (including length, figure quality, and novelty);
3. Impact of entries (including the number of likes, discussion contents, views, and downloads).

If you are a researcher and have not yet contribute entries to Encyclopedia, please do not miss this chance to highlight your research results.

MDPI will be attending the CLEO Laser Science to Photonic Applictions, San Jose, California, USA, May 12-14, 2020

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics to generate quality face-time with world renowned industry leaders and help achieve your annual sales and marketing goals. Special industry offerings make this event a magnet for executives and scientific equipment users throughout the buying channel. Exhibitors will have extensive, targeted opportunities for exposure and in-depth interaction with key prospects and customers. These high-level buyers are looking to you—the leading product experts, manufacturers and service providers—for the most innovative, cost-effective solutions to support their missions.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Applied Sciences (leading journal)
• Photonics (co-leading)
• Electronics
• Fibers
• Materials

If you are also attending this conference, please feel free to stop by our booth (Booth #2607). Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person to answer any questions you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit: https://www.cleoconference.org/home/.

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Travel Awards, sponsored by MDPI and Applied Sciences. The awards were granted to six outstanding young researchers working in thematic areas:

Travel Award in Earth Sciences and Geography 2020

Nicolò Giordano holds post-doc fellowship at Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) focusing on evaluation of themthermal energy storage potential for buildings and greenhouses in Nunavik, Québec; development of a methodology for oscillatory thermal response tests in borehole heat exchangers to evaluate the subsurface heat capacity; and use of near surface geophysical surveys to image permafrost, monitor the thermal plume of underground storage systems, and characterize the subsurface thermal properties.

Travel Award in Energy 2020

Alfonso González Briones holds a Ph.D. in computer engineering from the University of Salamanca. In 2018, his thesis was second place in the 1st SENSORS+CIRTI Award for the best national thesis in Smart Cities (CAEPIA 2018). Alfonso González Briones is a project manager of Industry 4.0 and Internet of Thing projects at the AIRInstitute. He is also a lecturer for Master of Industry 4.0 at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR).

Travel Award in Environmental and Sustainable Science and Technology 2020

Marco Vocciante joined University of Genoa (UniGe) as Ph.D. student in 2013. He has been involved in projects dealing with mathematical modeling, process data reconciliation and optimization, energy efficiency, and environmental protection. After his Ph.D. appointment in early 2016, he was the holder of a two-year postdoc grant on issues of environmental interest and is currently working as assistant professor at the University of Genoa. He is actively involved in teaching activities of the Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry (DCCI).

Travel Award in Nanotechnology and Applied Nanosciences 2020

Daniel M. Balazs is a postdoctoral research associate from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, U.S. He work includes understanding the growth of single-crystalline colloidal quantum dot arrays, developing scalable techniques for the formation of ordered, electronic-quality quantum dot assemblies, and managing students working on the project.

Travel Award Optics and Lasers 2020

Kayn Forbes is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the School of Chemistry at the University of East Anglia. He obtained his M.S. degree in chemistry in 2014 and Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 2018. He began his independent research fellowship in September 2019, where he has been theoretically studying optical light–matter interactions and photonics.

Stefano Signorini is a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Trento. His research topics include: integrated nonlinear optics and quantum photonics and near- and mid-infrared heralded single photons on a silicon chip. Stefano Signorini is a scientific consultant for Indivenire srl, Trento. His projects include developing a solution to the gas nozzle dripping problem and optimization of the laser cavity of a laser welding machine.

This has certainly been a difficult decision, with such a collection of high quality applications for the awards. We would like to thank all of the applicants for submitting such a range of diverse and fascinating research topics and congratulate the winners for their accomplishment.

For more information about Applied Science awards, please see this page.

MDPI will be attending the 45th International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, Barcelona, Spain, 4–8 May 2020.

ICASSP is the world's largest and most comprehensive technical conference focused on signal processing and its applications. The 2020 conference will feature world-class presentations by internationally renowned speakers, cutting-edge session topics and provide a fantastic opportunity to network with like-minded professionals from around the world.

ICASSP 2020 will feature a mix of national and international speakers, tutorials, workshops and exhibits. Featuring contemporary research, highly regarded presenters and a focus on translating research into practice the conference is sure to be an exciting event for all who attend.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Applied Sciences
• Applied System Information
• Information
• Journal of Imaging
• Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks

If you are also attending this conference, please feel free to stop by our booth (Booth #23). Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person to answer any questions you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit: https://2020.ieeeicassp.org/.