The Network | Summary | Conference theme | Key dates | Venue | Training school | Call for abstracts | Registration | Programme | Contact info | Sponsorship | Edinburgh | Travel tips | Scottish Forestry Trust ECR conference travel fund
The Network
The Northern European Network for Wood Science and Engineering started in 2004. After 19 successful meetings in 10 different partner countries, WSE has become a well-established platform for researchers from various fields of wood science and engineering. To sign up to the network’s mailing list, go to this page. This network is supported by SNS Nordic Forest Research funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.
We look forward to welcoming you to Edinburgh for 20th meeting of the WSE in Autumn 2024!
Summary
The training school: 22 October 2024 (subject – engagement) [more]
The meeting: 23 and 24 October 2024 (theme – time) [more]
Venue, Edinburgh Napier University’s Craiglockhart campus [map | more]
For travel tips see this page.
Conference theme
As usual, the conference will cover the interests of the network, including:
- Wood physics and mechanics
- Wood protection, durability, degradation and service life
- Wood chemistry and modified wood
- Timber engineering and wood technology
- Engineered wood products & composites
- Application of wood-based materials
- Drying and wood-water interactions
- Processing, machining, manufacturing, the timber resource and value chains
- Environmental impact and circularity of wood and wood-based materials
- Education, training and skills
The overarching theme of the meeting will be “time”. This includes:
- Looking back on the previous 20 years of the network
- Time in relation to wood behaviour
- Looking forward to the next 20+ years
We will be looking forward to needs of future society – for wood and for forests
And the coming challenges: wood demand, climate change, pests and diseases, biodiversity collapse…
There will be a pre-conference doctoral training workshop on the subject of engagement – with the public, industry, policy makers and the media. This will not just be about communicating the results of research, but how to actively engage these groups in the planning and undertaking of research.
We will also have a focus on engaging with the youth, and their perspectives on the future of forests and wood. This year, expect to be asked to write an additional short abstract understandable to a 16 year old.
Key dates
Active volcanic system at conference location: 350 million years in the past
Trees we recognise today evolve: 250 million years in the past
Human ancestors begin using wood: half a million years in the past
Last ice age ends and trees and humans return to conference location: 10 thousand years in the past
Registration deadline for people intending to present papers (15 July 2024)
Short abstract submission (15 July 2024)
Notification of acceptance and initial programme (29 July 2024)
Deadline for submission of extended abstracts (26 August 2024)
The training school: 22 October 2024
The meeting: 23 and 24 October 2024
Venue
Edinburgh Napier University’s Craiglockhart campus 219 Colinton Road, Edinburgh, EH14 1DJ, Scotland
The conference presentations will be held in the “Egg” (Lindsay Stewart Lecture Theatre) – a timber gridshell built the same year the WSE network started – 2004. This elliptical ovoid is a triangulated single-layer near geodesic grid with LVL ribs and titanium cladding onto OSB4, lined inside with birch plywood. You can see inside here.
University webpage with map and local travel information
Location on Google maps
What3words ///pirate.jazz.swan
AccessAble information about accessibility for the Lindsay Stewart Lecture Theatre and campus generally
For travel tips see this page.
The pre-conference training school
A full day training school on Tuesday 22 October is intended for doctoral students and early career researchers. This year’s subject is engagement – covering not just communicating research with the various categories of public (including the youth), industry and policy makers, but also actively engaging these groups in the planning and undertaking of research. There will be online activities in the lead up to the conference to help with research poster design.
The training school will also be at the Craiglockhart Campus – in the Rivers Suite.
Call for abstracts
We encourage scientists and engineers, in particular early stage researchers (including Masters and PhD students) to submit a paper that covers the meeting’s themes.
The conference will have oral presentations and poster papers. Oral presentations need a short one page abstract and an extended abstract (max three pages + references). Poster papers need only the short abstract.
Template and instructions for the short abstracts (deadline 15th July 2024) [MS Word docx 65kb] [OpenDocument odt 53kb]
Template and instructions for the extended abstracts (deadline 26 August 2024) [MS Word docx 217kb] [OpenDocument odt 207kb]
Registration
You can register to participate in the conference by completing the form on this page.
Programme
The programme will be announced closer to the conference, but expect the overall timing to be:
Tuesday 22.10.2024
– Pre conference training school (9:00-17:30)
– Welcome reception (18:30-23:00)
Wednesday 23.10.2024
– Conference day 1 (8:30-17:30)
– Conference dinner (19:00-23:00)
Thursday 24.10.2024
– Conference day 2 (8:30-16:30)
Contact information
The conference email address is WSE-Edinburgh@outlook.com
The local organisers are Dan Ridley-Ellis (d.ridleyellis@napier.ac.uk) and Marlene Cramer (m.cramer@napier.ac.uk)
The lead of the WSE network is Erik Larnoy
For the list of National Coordinators see the WSE network website
Sponsorship
The conference is mostly funded by SNS, but we are also in need of some additional sponsorship to enhance what we can do – so if you think you might be interested in supporting the conference in exchange for some visibility we are keen to discuss! Sponsorship support could be for the conference generally, be a prize for best student contribution, support the welcome social or conference dinner, or the pre-conference training school. To explore ideas, contact Dan Ridley-Ellis d.ridleyellis@napier.ac.uk.
Edinburgh
For information about Edinburgh and what you can do here visit https://edinburgh.org/
Please do not forget that the UK uses Type G plugs for electricity so you may need to bring a travel adaptor. Since Brexit it is also no longer possible for normal visitors to enter the UK with a European Identity Card – you will need to bring your passport. There is information about current border rules here.
The Scottish Forestry Trust Researchers Conference Fund
If you are UK-based early career researcher from the forestry side of wood science and you need a bit of funding to support attendance at the conference / training school then take a look at the Scottish Forestry Trust funding.