This international ICTP conference, extending the series of previous ones on "Trends in Nanotribology" (2009, 2011, 2013, 2017) is co-sponsored by the University of Basel and Tsinghua University Beijing. It will collect the world community -- including researchers from emerging countries -- active in nanoscale friction and dissipation, with a mix of theory, simulation and experiment. Supplementing about 25 invited speakers, a number of shorter contributed talks will be selected among applications that will upload an abstract. A poster session will also be held on one of the afternoons.

The Conference has no registration fee and the organization will cover a welcome reception, coffee breaks, and a social dinner. A very limited number of grants are available to support the attendance of selected participants, with priority given to participants from developing countries.

Online application (mandatory for all) :  http://indico.ictp.it/event/9032/

Deadlines:

15 January 2020 -- For applications requesting financial support and/or visa.

15 February 2020 -- For applications not requesting financial support and/or visa.

Accommodation requirements will be met on a first ask first serve basis, and should therefore be specified very early on. We suggest arriving on Sunday 5 April and leaving on Thursday 9 afternoon. Please note in that respect the Conference, narrowly preceding Easter holidays (10-14 April 2020), will close by Thursday 9 noontime.

Narrative:

The physics of nanoscale mechanical dissipation is relevant to sliding nanofriction, to technological themes such as lubrication or finger-touchscreen friction, to soft and granular matter, to nanofrictional emulation in optical lattices, to active matter, to quantum and classical processes in noncontact AFM, and to classical and quantum simulation and theory. Between condensed matter physics, nanomechanics, materials science and engineering, this interdisciplinary area is of considerable conceptual value as a modern subject in non-equilibrium physics, and of the potential relevance of neighbouring fields such as fatigue, wear, lubrication, rheology, and biomechanics. 

Topics:
From dissipation to superlubricity
Atomistic friction of 2D layered materials
Nanomanipulation and dynamics of nano-objects at surfaces
Tribology of confined systems and lubricants under shear
Frictional dynamics in soft and active matter
Friction in powders and granular systems
Fundamentals of friction theory
Electronic, magnetic and quantum friction
Surface and bulk processes and transitions detected by noncontact AFM dissipation
Tribochemistry, triboelectricity, biotribological effects
Trends in experimental and computational techniques