The Gordon Research Conference organises over 300 Conferences (GRCs) each year at locations around the world, spanning topics across the sciences. Founded in 1931, the GRCs are prestigious meetings with a strict off-the-record policy and philosophy towards cutting-edge research: any form of recording or picture-taking during sessions is strictly prohibited, and presentation of published work is frowned upon. The “Spirit of the GRC” is that of collegiate behaviour, copious discussion, and ample socialising – the latter facilitated by afternoon free time between sessions and a wide range of activites and excursions.

The high-pressure GRC was first held in 1955, making it one of the longest-running GRCs, as well as one of the longest-running conferences dedicated to the field of high-pressure research.

Over the past six decades, the scientific community has evolved and expanded from the traditional high-pressure areas of earth interior, phase diagrams of the elements and the synthesis of ultra-hard materials, to planetary science, chemistry beyond the traditional rules, pushing materials properties to new limits and quantum behavior at high density.

Since the turn of the 21st century, we have witnessed our capacity to discover new materials and novel phenomena enhanced by a much stronger interaction between experiment and computation – the 2020 GRC will provide a forum to address the latest advances and discoveries in high pressure research, with emphasis on the ways in which the combination of theory, advanced computational methods and experiment may shape the future of our field.

With the GRC runs the Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), a two-day symposium held before the Conference begins and focusing entirely on the research of young scientists. The Research at High Pressure GRS has been running alongside the GRC since 2012, and welcomes early career researchers from around the world to an environment of lengthy discussion, interaction with senior members of the high-pressure community, and the opportunity to present their work to their peers.

It is our goal to further increase interaction between the early career attendees of the GRS and GRC and the senior high-pressure community. Some attendees of the GRS will be invited to provide a short oral presentation of their work before the audience at the GRC, based on their poster presentations at the Seminar. Additionally, sessions at the GRC be led by a pair of chairs – one junior and one senior, to encourage junior participation in questioning and discussion.

Funding for junior scientists to attend the conference and seminar will be available, and will be awarded on a case-by-case basis.

The 2020 GRC on Research at High Pressure will take place in Holderness, NH, USA, on 19^th-24^th July 2020. The corresponding GRS will take place 18^th-19^th July.

Further information can be found online at:

• grc.org/research-at-high-pressure-conference/2020/
• grc.org/research-at-high-pressure-grs-conference/2020/