Beyond spectral range – Welcome to join NIRITALIA 2020

After the great success of the 8th Italian Symposium of Near-infrared Spectroscopy, NIRITALIA 2018,1 SISNIR decided to cross the border and hold the next biennial conference in Slovenia. The 9th National Symposium of NIR Spectroscopy, NIRITALIA 2020, organized by the Italian Society for Near Infrared Spectroscopy (SISNIR), in collaboration with the InnoRenew CoE and University of Primorska, will bring together important players from the world of research and industry working with NIR spectroscopy. Conference topics include implementation of NIR spectroscopy in the following fields: agriculture, food, biomedical, pharmaceutical, imaging, chemometrics, PAT/process monitoring, portable instruments, cultural heritage, environment, industry 4.0, aquaphotomics, forestry and wood and functional NIR. The conference topic, “beyond spectral range,” can be interpreted threefold: to search for new research and industrial connections out of Italy, not to narrow investigation only to NIR range while using new equipment and to think about NIR spectroscopy in new perspectives regarding its application, implementation and exploitation. SISNIR promotes scientific knowledge of NIR spectroscopy in Italy. Every two years, SISNIR organizes the National Conference (Symposium NIRITALIA) to gather the scientific NIR community and stimulate debate on current issues and future challenges and their applications. SISNIR also offers to its members theoretical and practical courses as well as training and support for participation of young researchers in international conferences in order to promote the Italian contribution in the scientific community. Since its inception in 2006, SISNIR, in collaboration with various Italian research institutions, has organized eight national conferences allowing networking, scientific discussions and further collaboration between researchers, academic teachers, industrial partners and instrument distributors. Local organizers of NIRITALIA2020 are the InnoRenew CoE and University of Primorska. The InnoRenew CoE is a new research centre established with funding from the Horizon 2020 WIDESPREAD2-TEAMING programme (Grant #739574). The InnoRenew CoE’s research work is focused on improving and expanding sustainable building beyond minimising harm to create positive impacts ecologically, socially, economically and for building users. The centre employs over 50 top researchers from 15 countries who are developing innovative approaches in wood modification and restorative environmental and ergonomic design. To advance the state of the art in these areas, the InnoRenew CoE performs interdisciplinary research work in six key areas: sustainable building engineering, information and computer technologies, human health, renewable materials composites, data science and renewable material modifications. University of Primorska (UP), the smallest public university in Slovenia, was established in 2003 as a centre of knowledge, implementing European educational strategies. This vibrant university carries out high-quality study and research programmes that promote the area’s natural and cultural heritage while integrating and developing these programmes with global educational, intellectual and research opportunities. UP supports the integrated development of research work, based on two fundamental pillars: (i) mathematics, natural sciences and technology and (ii) humanities and social sciences. UP offers study programmes in English as Bachelor’s, Master’s or doctoral studies. Over 20% of UP’s Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies (UP FAMNIT) staff and 40% of its students are from abroad (representing over 30 countries). In 2019, UP received an important acknowledgment: in the latest results of U-Multirank 2019, an international university ranking programme, UP was named as a Global Top 25 performer in the field of international orientation in study programs. This excellent performance was achieved thanks to UP FAMNIT’s study and research areas of mathematics, computer science and biology