Minutes of the 19th AONSA Executive Committee Meeting
Date: 09:00-14:30, November 26 (Sunday), 2017
Place: TINT, Bangkok, Thailand
Participants: 25[Board Members]
Sung-Min Choi (President; KNBUA; KAIST)
Kazuyoshi Yamada (Vice-president; JSNS; KEK)
Chris Ling (Secretary; ANBUG; U. Sydney)
Hsiung Chou (Public Relations Officer; TWNSS; National Sun Yat-Sen U)
Saibal Basu (Member-at-Large; NSSI; BARC)[Members]
Yoshiaki Kiyanagi (JSNS; Nagoya U)
Jae-Ho Chung (KNBUA; Korea U)
Darminto (INSS; Institute of Technology, Surabaya)[Observers]
Wen-Hsien Li (Past President; TWNSS; NCU)
Toshiji Kanaya (J-PARC)
Masayasu Takeda (on behalf of Mitsuhiro Shibayama, JRR3/JAEA)
Jamie Schulz (ANSTO)
Sungil Park (HANARO)
Fangwei Wang (CSNS)
Abdul Aziz Mohamed (Malaysian Community; UNITEN)
Roppon Picha (Thai Community; TINT)[Special Observers]Brendan Kennedy (ANBUG)
Hideki Seto (KEK)
Nipavan Poramatikul (TINT Deputy Director)
Kanokporn Boonsirichai (TINT)
Suthipong Boonmak (TINT)
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Kanchalika Dechates (TINT)
Sorada Chanintayuttavong (TINT)
Jatechan Channuie (TINT)
Apichate Maneewong (TINT)[Apologies]
Dongfeng Chen (Treasurer; CNSS; CIAE)
Evvy Kartini (Member-at-Large; BATAN; Indonesian community)
Ya-Sen Sun (TWNSS; National Central U)
KG Suresh (NSSI; IIT Bombay)
Guang-ai Sun (CMRR)
Kookheon Char (KNBUA; Seoul National U)
Ian Gentle (ANBUG; U Queensland)
Mitsuhiro Shibayama (JRR3)
Hesheng Chen (CNSS; IHEP)
Chang-Hee Lee (HANARO)
Yuntao Liu (CARR)
Iwan Sumirat (BATAN)
Deleg Sangaa (Mongolian Community)
SM Yusuf (NSSI; BARC)

Group photo of the 19th AONSA Executive Committee Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand

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Minutes
1. Report from the AONSA Office (Appendices 2 and 3)
H Seto presented the AONSA Office report (Appendix 2). He noted that there has still beenno progress on determining the future location and ongoing funding arrangements for theAONSA Office. SM Choi noted that this has remained unresolved for too long.
H Seto subsequently presented a proposal for sharing the responsibilities of the AONSA
Office (Appendix 3). He began by noting that many of the tasks of the AONSA Office aredone primarily by AONSA Board members. He then proposed formalizing this, by assigning
the preparation of the Newsletter and email updates to the membership to the PR Officer;
preparation and management of the documents for the YRF and AONSA Prize selection
processes to the VP; and management of the schedule to the Secretary.
The only tasks that would still need to be done by the Office are managing the bank accountand handling money (including disbursing funds for the Prize, YRF, AOCNS etc.).
This proposal was accepted unanimously by the EC and Board. SM Choi proposed that aschedule of tasks be assembled with the help of C Doda, and this be made available to theBoard members, for examples as a Google Calendar.
2. Process matters
No items were reported at this meeting.
3. Formal matters
The following nominations were received for the next EC members and observers:
ANBUG

CNSSINSS(1) Tracy Rushmer (Macquarie University)(2) Ian Gentle (University of Queensland)(Observer) Jamie Shulz (ANSTO)(1) Dongfeng Chen (CIAE)(2) Hesheng Chen (IHEP)(Observer 1) Yuntao Liu (CARR)(Observer 2) Fangwei Wang (CSNS)(Observer 3) Jian Gong (CMRR)(1) Darminto (Institute of Technology, Surabaya)
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JSNS

KNBUA

NSSI

TWNSS
Thailand
Malaysia(2) Evvy Kartini (BATAN)(Observer) Iwan Sumirat (BATAN)(1) Yoshiaki Kiyanagi (Nagoya University)(2) Taku Sato (Tohoku University)(Observer 1) Mitsuhiro Shibayama (JRR3)(Observer 2) Toshiji Kanaya (J-PARC)(1) Jae-Ho Chung (Korea University)(2) Sungkyun Park (Pusan National University)(Observer) Sungil Park (HANARO/KAERI)(1) SM Yusuf (BARC)(2) D Pandey (IIT BHU)
(Observer) PU Sastry (BARC)(1) Hsiung Chou (Nat. Sun Yat-Sen University)(2) Ko-Wei Lin (Nat. Chung Hsing University)(Observer) Apichate Maneewong (TINT)(Observer) Abdul Aziz Mohamed (UNITEN)

The nominations were all unanimously approved. It was requested by Masayasu Takeda(JRR3/JAEA) that a representative of JRR3/JAEA is included as a special observer of theAONSA EC. It was noted that according to the AONSA Articles special observers can be
included as needed by the EC, and we don’t see problem including the representative ofJRR3/JAEA as a special observer.
The following nominations were received for the next Board members, after noting that thecurrent Vice President, K Yamada, has decided not to continue on the AONSA Board for
personal reasons, necessitating the nomination of a new President:
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Public Relations Officer
Member-at-Large
Member-at-Large

Brendan Kennedy (University of Sydney)
Dongfeng Chen (CNSS; CIAE)
Jae-Ho Chung (Korea University)
Hsiung Chou (National Sun Yat-Sen University)
Taku Sato (Tohoku University)
Evvy Kartini (BATAN)TBD (from NSSI)The nominations were all unanimously approved. It was noted that there was no nomination4

of a second Member-at-Large, following the replacement of Saibal Basu by Pandey as theNSSI representative. The current Board undertook to contact NSSI on this matter.
3. Financial matters (Appendix 4)
The AONSA Annual Fee and Budget Plan, and the AONSA Prize Fund and Budget Plan,
were presented by C Ling on behalf of D Chen (not in attendance). The annual fee accountcontinues to accumulate, and is anticipated to accumulate further in 2018. The prize fund isapproximately neutral, due to the Prize having been awarded and donations called for in 2017.
It was pointed out that we should find a way to make good use of AONSA Annual Fee Fundrather than accumulating it in bank account.
4. AONSA Prize
No items were reported at this meeting.
5. AONSA Young Research Fellows (Appendix 5)
K Yamada reported that three nominees for the AONSA Young Research Fellowship 2018
have been accepted, plus one reserve. All nominees are from China, and all wish to visit JPARC and/or ANSTO. K Yamada explained the process, and also noted that the standard of JPARC proposals from AONSA YRFs was generally below the cutoff for being awardedbeamtime. J Shulz added that this was also the case with ANSTO proposals from AONSAYRFs. This risks putting pressure on the facilities to accept poor proposals, and creates extra
work for beamline scientists. More consideration will need to be given to this in the selection
process in the future – e.g., beamline scientists should have the chance to see the applications
and decide whether they agree to assist the YRF. It was pointed out that applicants’ precommunication with the facility of their 2nd choice is required. For this purpose, it was agreed
that the application form will be revised to include this requirement.
As a bridging program between the AONSA Neutron School and the YRF program, a scheme
for short-term visits for experiments or training scientists from developing countries wasproposed (airfare support by AONSA and local expense by hosting facilities). This possibility
will be discussed further at the next EC meeting. Such a scheme could potentially be eligiblefor IAEA funding assistance.

56. Asia-Oceania Conference on Neutron Scattering (Appendix 6)
H Chou reported on the status of TWNSS preparations to host AOCNS-2019. The website islive at https://sites.google.com/view/aocns2019/. The meeting will take place from Nov 11-15,
2019. There will be a call for abstracts in 03/19, with a deadline in 06/19; registrations will
open in 06/19, with an early bird deadline in 09/19. Early bird registration planned to be
US$620 (approximately half this for students). Final organizational decisions will be made atthe 2nd EC meeting of 2019.
IAEA etc. support will be sought for delegates from developing countries, with priority given
to students. B Kennedy reminded the organizing committee of the need to allocate enoughkeynote and plenary talks to women, and that the process of securing enough abstracts fromsuitable candidates needs to start as early as possible.
SM Choi reminded the organizing committee that AONSA would provide US$5000 support
for student travel, prioritizing developing countries, and the possibility of a special session
for AONSA YRFs during the AOCNS as it was discussed when AONSA YRF was formed.
Note: During the informal dinner after the EC meeting, it was discussed and agreed among
the attendants that we should have a special plenary session during the 3rd AOCNS tocelebrate the 10th anniversary of AONSA (or beyond the decade of AONSA). A formal
decision and planning will be discussed at the next EC meeting.
7. AONSA Neutron School (Appendix 7)
Y Kiyanagi reported on the 9th AONSA school held at J-PARC in December 2017. 13
countries were represented at this School – the most for any AONSA School so far.
The venue for the 10th and 11th AONSA Neutron Schools was discussed. J Shulz proposedthat ANSTO host the 10th School in conjunction with the next ANBUG User Meeting in late
2018. S Park stated that he hoped HANARO will be back on line and able to host the 11th
School in 2019.
8. ICNS2017 (Appendix 8)
J-H Chung presented the final report from the organizers of the ICNS2017 in Korea. There6

were 758 registrants in total, and 734 papers submitted, of which 288 were awarded oralpresentations. 107 papers were submitted to the Physica B special issue. SM Choi thanked JH Chung and the entire organizing committee for making the meeting such a success, andrecalled that the idea of hosting the meeting in the region was first floated over 10 years ago
at an AONSA EC meeting.
9. AONSA Newsletters and Homepage (Appendix 9)
H Chou presented the report of the Public Relations Officer. He is aiming to have this issue(Vol 9 No 2) ready for distribution by 21/12/17. The article submission deadline is 01/12/17.
10. Activities Related to SE Asia and Other Non-member Countries
SM Choi reported that he attended the Malaysian national meeting at the invitation of A
Mohamed, and ICONSTA in Indonesia at the invitation of E Kartini. He gave presentations
about AONSA at these meetings. A number of other AONSA EC Members and Observers
also attended the latter meeting.
11. Neutron Facility Directors Meeting (Appendix 10)
T Kanaya presented a report on the 14th AONSA Facility Directors Meeting, held the day
before the EC Meeting.
12. Cooperation with ICSU, IUCr and IAEA
SM Choi referred to Item 5 above, in which the possibility was raised of shorter training
visits to facilities by scientists from developing countries. The IAEA would be approachedfor possible funding assistance if this goes ahead.
13. Cooperation with NSSA and ENSA (SM Choi)
SM Choi reported that a productive meeting took place at ICNS in Korea between theleadership of AONSA, NSSA and ENSA. It is hoped that this tradition, which was initiatedby John White when he was President of AONSA, will continue. The next such opportunity
will be at AOCNS-2019.

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14. Cooperation with AOFSRRNo items were reported at this meeting.
15. Calendar of AONSA Activities (Appendix 1)
16. Venues for the next EC Meetings- A Mohamed undertook to investigate the possibility of hosting the 20th EC Meeting inMalaysia in mid-May 2018.
- J Shulz stated that ANSTO can host the 21st EC Meeting in Australia in late November orearly December 2018.
- The 22nd EC Meeting will take place in Korea in the first half of 2019, in conjunction withthe AONSA Neutron School.
- The 23rd EC Meeting will take place in Taiwan in November 2019, in conjunction with the3rd AOCNS.
17. Reports from Neutron Associations
The following reports were presented.
-ANBUG (C Ling for I Gentle, not in attendance) (Appendix 11)
CNSS (F Wang for H Chen, not in attendance) (Appendix 12)
INSS (Darminto) (Appendix 13)
JSNS (Y Kiyanagi) (Appendix 14)
KNUBA (J-H Chung) (Appendix 15)
TWNSS (Y-S Sun) (Appendix 16)
Malaysian community (A Mohamed) – Verbal reportThai community (J Channuie) (Appendix 17)

18. Meeting close
Outgoing AONSA President SM Choi thanked the Thai hosts for organizing an excellent
meeting, and looked forward to seeing Thailand form a neutron users’ society and join
AONSA as a formal member in the near future. He then thanked all the Board and ECmembers and observers for their service over the last two years of his presidency, and8

expressed confidence that AONSA would continue to grow in influence and stature over thecoming years under its new leadership.
Incoming AONSA President B Kennedy thanked SM Choi for his exemplary service toAONSA and to all neutron scattering scientists in the region. He noted that the Asia Oceania
region is now leading the world in neutron scattering science and facilities, and he looked
forward to the challenge of trying to follow in the footsteps of previous AONSA Presidents.

9Appendix 1: Calendar of AONSA Activities
Year 2017
Date

EventsthNov 25

13 AONSA Facility Directors’ Meeting (TINT, Bangkok, Thailand)Nov 2619th AONSA EC Meeting (TINT, Bangkok, Thailand)Nov 27

TINT Neutron Symposium (TINT, Bangkok, Thailand)

Dec 2-3

17th JSNS Annual Meeting (Fukuoka, Japan)

Year 2018
Date

EventsthMay

14 AONSA Facility Directors’ Meeting (Malaysia)

May

20th AONSA EC Meeting (Malaysia)

Nov

15th AONSA Facility Directors’ Meeting (ANSTO, Sydney, Australia)

Nov

21st AONSA EC Meeting (ANSTO, Sydney, Australia)

Year 2019
DateEventsMay

16th AONSA Facility Directors’ Meeting (HANARO, Daejeon, Korea)

May

22nd AONSA EC Meeting (HANARO, Daejeon, Korea)

Nov

17th AONSA Facility Directors’ Meeting (Taiwan)

Nov

23rd AONSA EC Meeting (Taiwan)

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