EDGE 2024 marks the 9th edition of this esteemed conference series, held every four years, with an exception in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year, it adopts the Gordon Conference-style format, blending scientific sessions with ample free time for informal discussions and networking.
Originating at a time when electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in electron microscopy was an emerging technique, utilized in roughly 30 laboratories globally, the EDGE series has been instrumental in shaping the field. Its foundational goals were to summarize progress, onboard new practitioners, explore synergies with related disciplines, and set future directions. In its early editions, nearly half of the speaker slots were allocated to experts from diverse areas like X-ray spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation, high-resolution surface EELS, and STM.
The naming evolution of the conference reflects the growing scope of EELS. It began as the “Workshop on Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy”, evolving through names like “Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy and Imaging (EELSI 94)”, “Towards Atomic Resolution Analysis (TARA 98)”, and “Strategies and Advances in Atomic Level Spectroscopy and Analysis (SALSA 2002)”. The EDGE acronym was introduced in 2005 at the Grundlsee meeting, initially standing for “Enhanced Data Generated by Electrons”. Over time, it has fittingly come to symbolize the conference's commitment to being at the very forefront, or the 'cutting EDGE', of analytical technology and methods. Previous meetings were held in Banff (2009), Sainte-Maxine (2013), and Okinawa (2017).
