“Opening Ceremony of Mössbauer Effect Data Center (MEDC) and International Symposium on Mössbauer Spectroscopy” were held at DICP on 23-25 June, 2010. More than 70 Mössbauer scientists from abroad and China participated in this event. On the opening ceremony, welcome speech was made by Prof. ZhANG Tao, Director of Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) within Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Congratulation messages were separately given by Prof. BERRY Frank, Past Chairman of International Board on the Applications of the Mössbauer Effect (IBAME), Prof. REISSNER Michael, General Secretary of IBAME, Prof. STEVENS John, Past Director of MEDC, Prof. SAITOVITCH Elisa Baggio, Past Vice-Chairman of IBAME, Prof. CHAI Zhifang, Member of CAS and from Institute of High Energy Physics within CAS and Prof. ZHU Shengyun, General Secretary of Chinese Nuclear Physics Society.

Among others were included the following distinguished guests and specialists: Vice-Director of DICP (Prof. LIU Zhongmin), three Academicians of CAS from DICP (Prof. LIN Liwu, Prof. LI Can, and Prof. BAO Xinhe), Chairman of Chinese Mössbauer Community (Prof. LI Fashen),  Vice-Chairmen of Chinese Mössbauer Community (Prof. ZHANG Guilin and Prof. YANG Xielong), Members of IBAME separate representative of Japan (Prof. YOSHIDA Yutaka) and Spain (Dr. MARCO J. F.), Prof. WYNTER Clive from New York and Dr. ENGELMANN Horst representative of the WissEl Company.

The mission of MEDC is to provide information needs to the international scientific community in the field of Mössbauer spectroscopy. It is well known that the role of MEDC within the international Mössbauer community is vitally important. MEDC was founded in 1969 at the University of North Carolina at Asheville in the United States. Since the founding of the Center, headed by Prof. STEVENS John, it has made great achievements. Presently, MEDC is the world’s sole central repository for the more than 50,000 published papers on the Mössbauer effect, dating back to 1958.

MEDC is relocated in DICP since 1 July 2010. Prof. ZHANG Tao, present director of DICP, will take the responsibility of Director of MEDC. Prof. WANG Junhu is appointed the Executive Secretary of MEDC. In view of their great achievements to host and operate MEDC and reputation within the international Mössbauer community, Prof. STEVENS John and Prof. BERRY Frank will be recommended as two Honorary Directors of MEDC.

Essentially, the new Center at DICP will keep firmly the existing mission of present MEDC headed by Prof. STEVENS John. It will as always aim to provide the international Mössbauer research community with a variety of information needs, including the maintaining of bibliographical and data computer databases. Data and information are routinely disseminated via Internet-accessible databases, printed handbooks, a monthly data journal, the Center’s Web pages and e-mail. In addition, MEDC will continuously assist the organizers of international, national, and regional Mössbauer conferences in their planning and communications and provides support to the IBAME, the governing body of the international Mössbauer research community. The Center also continuously acts as an information center for international Mössbauer researchers on a regional basis, such as those groups working in Latin America, Europe, Russia, Japan and China. The Center’s objectives are as bellows: we will listen very carefully to the international Mössbauer community for their suggestions, fully develop and promote the international Mössbauer community, timely update the database, create innovative tools and resources, and reach a more global audience – all toward the goal of ensuring that scientific knowledge relating to the Mössbauer effect is available to all scientists, students, and research groups.

For more details on MEDC, please access the Center’s webpage: http://www.medc.dicp.cas.cn/ and also the Mössbauer Community’s webpage: http://www.mossbauer.org/