QSCP-XIII

For this thirteenth international workshop on Qnantum Systems in Chemistry and Physics (QSCP-XIII), the second to take place ont of Europe, Prof Piotr Piecuch has asked me to present an illnstrated overview of the origins and development of these now established yearly meetings. The presentation will necessarily be linked to my own personal memories, and no donbt that another member of our committee might have put the stress on different aspects of the stoiy. However it may help the historians to see how processes in the scientific world may develop also along subjective lines. In order to make the presentation less tedious I have used a variety of pictures as well as historical or philosophical anecdotes or insights. 

Janos Ladik (another Hnngarian), former post-doc of the Pullman s, created the International Society for Theoretical Chemical Physics (ISTCP), which holds congresses also every three years (there was one at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in July 2008, following arrd coordinated with the QSCP-XIII meeting). 

From this experience we reckoned that, if ISTCP and QSCP meetings were to take place again a few weeks apart on the same continent, it would be good to have them coordinated by the organizers. This was done very efficiently, in July 2008, between the QSCP-XIII (Lansing) workshop and ISTCP-VI (Vancouver) congress. 

The QSCP-XIII workshop, which was the first in the series held in North America, was truly international in namre. We welcomed more than 100 participants from 22 countries from North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The workshop was divided into 19 plenary sessions, during which a total of 64 scientific lectures were delivered in accordance with the usual QSCP democratic allocation of about 30 minutes for each lecture. These lectures were complemented by two 45-minute long keynote plenary talks which focused on science and relevant historical overviews, constimting a special session that was held on 6 July, as well as by a welcome presentation by Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at Michigan State University, J. Ian Gray, given on 7 July, and 36 poster presentations divided into two poster sessions. 

We are grateful to the participants of QSCP-XIII, not only for the high standard of the lectures and posters presented at the workshop, which is reflected in these proceedings, but also for the friendly and constructive atmosphere throughout the formal and informal sessions. Thanks to the participants, the QSCP workshops con-... 

QSCP-XI, by Oleg Vasyutinskii in 2006 at Pushkin (St Petersburg, Russia) QSCP-XII, by Stephen Wilson in 2007 near Windsor (London, England) QSCP-XIII, by Piotr Piecuch in 2008 at East Lansing (Michigan, USA)... 

QSCP-XIII, by Piotr Piecuch in 2008 at East Lansing (Michigan, USA) ... 

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