International Liquid Crystal Society

The ILCS since its establishment in 1990 has attracted nearly 900 members in 43 countries and territories on six continents. The Society serves as a head of the organizations for regional societies established in recent years. The Society brings together scientists, engineers and students involved in the wider field of fundamental and applied aspects of different liquid crystal systems, that  includes thermotropic, lyotropic and polymer-modified liquid crystals. The Society harbour communication among its members and decides the venue of for its two annual international conferences. The ILCS is known for its two on-line publications on liquid crystals,of which one is our society newsletter called Liquid Crystals Today and other is our archive-style electronic liquid crystal communications platform e-lc. Liquid crystals are beautiful to study, foremost in the polarizing microscope. To promote the sharing of this beauty, the ILCS features a continuously on-going monthly liquid crystal art contest. Each month, the most striking liquid crystal-related picture or movie submitted to us is selected to be specially featured on the ILCS web site. The International Liquid Crystal Society has thrived over its 25 years of existence, but the scientific world is not static, its moulding itself rapidly even to the emergence of new display technologies. But liquid  crystal science still has important insights to offer to many areas of technology, and its abundant applicability makes the subject a mainstream one. This has implications for the ILCS as our core subject becomes divided or even separated into other areas of science or technology. As history proves, the great triumphs in liquid crystal science and in other fields have resulted from collaborations across disciplines, and the ILCS is one important forum that supports and encourages interdisciplinary interactions. This doesn’t mean that we can wait for new developments to come to the ILCS. The Society through its conferences and meetings must move with the times and identify and support through its conferences and meetings those new areas or topics of liquid crystal science that show promise.