Motivation and History
The “Encontro de Física 2016” (Physics Meeting 2016) will be a special edition of the official meetings organized by SBF, grouping all areas in which they are held, in commemoration of its fiftieth anniversary. The Society was founded in 14th July 1966, in an assembly held at the XVIII annual meeting of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science, in Blumenau. The assembly, chaired by Professor José Goldemberg, was attended by many pioneers of physics research in Brazil, Mário Schenberg, Jaime Tiomno, Elisa Frota-Pessoa, Suzana Vilaça, Iuda Goldman Vel Lejbman, Emiko Okuno, Igor Pacca, Jesuína Pacca, Thereza Borello, and others.
Along these past fifty years, SBF has played an influential role on the promotion of scientific research in the country, always taking an independent and constructively critical position in important issues that dominated the Brazilian scientific and technological scene. Currently it has around twelve thousand members, being the largest scientific association in Brazil; some of them have provided outstanding services to the Nation, as the former ministers José Goldemberg, José Israel Vargas and Sérgio Rezende.
SBF holds a series of regular scientific events, some annual and others bi-annual. In the occasion of Encontro de Física 2016, some of them will be congregated in just one, not only in commemoration of its fiftieth anniversary, but also to stimulate collaboration between researchers of different areas. Specifically, the normal meetings that will be associated in this event, with their average number of participants indicated in parenthesis, are listed in the sequel.
• National Meeting on Particles and Fields (200)
• Workshop on Nuclear Physics in Brazil (200)
• National Meeting on Condensed Matter (1000)
• National Meeting on Research in Physics Teaching (300)
• National Meeting on Plasma Physics (150)
This experience of grouping events of different areas in only one meeting was already once tried successfully by SBF, in 2011. Shall this occur again, the SBF will probably repeat it every 5 years.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to hold the meeting in July, as it would be desirable, because of the Olympic Games in Rio this year. Indeed, many travel agencies that have been consulted suggested not to hold any large event in the country close to the Olympic Games. The chosen venue was Natal because of its good infrastructure, the presence of the International Institute of Physics, and the great commitment of the local organizing committee.
Venue and Date
Natal, Rio Grande do Norte
(A shot description of Natal is given in the section “Brief Information for Visitors”)
Praia Mar, Rifoles, and Pontalmar Hotels
http://www.praiamarnatal.com.br/
http://www.rifoles.com.br/en/
http://www.pontalmar.com.br/
3 to 7 September 2016
