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The lectures
given at this conference are now available online.
This NATO Advanced Study Institute was held at the Ettore Majorana Centre
for Scientific Culture as the 32nd Course of the International School
of Solid State Physics.
The purpose of this Course is to provide students/participants
with a comprehensive overview of fundamental principles and relevant technical
issues associated with the behavior of solids exposed to high-energy radiation.
These issues are important to the development of materials for existing
fission reactors or future fusion and advanced reactors for energy production;
to the development of electronic devices such as high-energy detectors;
and to the development of novel materials for electronic and photonic applications
(particularly on the nanoscale).
Though the subject of radiation effects in solids is an important one, it
is a subject that worldwide, receives only limited attention in modern day
science and engineering curricula. Students need additional training and
exposure to the important topics listed above. The topic of radiation effects
was addressed at a previous international school held at the University
of Illinois in 1993. The NATO-ASI Course in Erice will be the next such
international  school
to educate students in the principles of radiation damage, coming more than
a decade after the school in Illinois.
The scheduling for this course is timely, as a number of countries worldwide
have recently espoused renewed interest in nuclear energy production technologies.
Moreover, knowledge regarding radiation damage effects also benefits the
development of advanced materials. Specifically, radiation damage is one
of the most novel and proficient means to produce metastable phases of solid
materials.This often results in materials with new and unusual properties
that, in turn, can be exploited in technological applications.
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