Statistical Physics between East and West

18.02.2016

Earlier this week, about 170 scientists from all over the world gathered in Vienna, Austria, for MECO41, the 41st Conference of the Middle European Cooperation in Statistical Physics.

Held for the first time in 1974, this conference aims at bringing together researchers in the field of statistical mechanics across Central Europe.

Jointly organized by the University of Vienna, the Technical University of Vienna as well as the Medical University of Vienna, this edition of MECO was attended by participants from 25 countries, who had the opportunity to listen to 9 invited and 25 contributed lectures covering topics from the physics of networks to the properties of soft matter and the dynamics of socio-economic systems. In addition, about 100 poster presentations gave an overview of the latest research in statistical physics.

„The conference was attended by a particularly large number of young researchers, demonstrating how lively and vibrant our research field is“, says Marcello Sega, one of the organizers of MECO41. The financial contribution of the Central European Initiative (CEI) greatly helped to include many scientists of Central European countries, fostering scientific cooperation between them and laying the basis for future joint research activities.