Nobody asked for this conference

In 2019, single-molecule sensors and nanosystems had no home. Engineers, physicists, biologists, chemists and photonics people were chasing the same problem in different rooms.

So we built one room for all of them.

Today the Single-Molecule Sensors and NanoSystems International Conference (S3IC) is in its 6th Edition and brings together 200+ researchers and world-class speakers.

What we learned

Find a partner for everything except the science.

Your job: topics, speakers, quality. Theirs: everything involving a spreadsheet and money ;-)

Invite plenary speakers a year ahead.

Prolific speakers fill their diaries early. Once a few say yes, others follow and soon you have an established conference series.

Keep updating the scope.

Write down what the conference is about, and what it isn't. Revisit it every edition. Quantum biology & sensing joined S3IC in the 4th and 5th edition, and AI is the latest arrival.

Advertise many months ahead, as soon as a core programme exists.

Calendars, sponsors and the mailing list that grows with every edition. Yes, this post is part of the campaign. 👍

Give value beyond the talks.

Prepaid lunch tickets, a small breakfast, coffee breaks, and about two hours after lunch to mingle and visit posters, admin support for travel and accommodation, a nice location!

Make the social events count.

A Paris comedy night on how to become a Parisian. A Barcelona mansion party, as if somebody had opened their beautiful home. An Oktoberfest-style keg in Munich. People who laugh together build bonds that last: collaborations, mutual support, joint grants.

Invite new co-chairs, keep the brand.

Fresh perspectives, same standards.

Next up: Lisbon, 19-21 May 2027.

Working on Single-Molecule Spectroscopy, Imaging, and Forces; Micro/Nanofluidics/Chemical control at the Nanoscale; Molecular Machines, Synthetic Biology, DNA Origami and Cells; Single-Molecule Sensors and Sequencers; Molecular Electronics; From Quantum Sensors to Quantum Biology; Nanothermodynamics in experiments and theory; Computational approaches, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning? Come and join us.

If not: Which topic in your field deserves its own conference?