A summary of the CALPHAD XXXVIII conference

CALPHAD XXXVIII was held in Prague on 17–22 May 2009, organized jointly by Masaryk University and the Institute of Physics of Materials ASCR. There were 149 active participants who presented 63 oral contributions and 87 posters. A “Young Scientists Session” was organized on the evening of 18 May with L. Kaufman and Y.M. Muggianu as invited speakers. The presentations and posters covered a broad spectrum of topics: besides CALPHAD-type thermodynamic modeling and related experimental work, a significant number of contributions on first-principles calculations were presented. The use of the information that can be obtained by first-principles calculations using different techniques, together with traditional thermodynamic and phase diagram data was highlighted in the first sessions. Important advances in the calculation of magnetic properties were also presented. Phonon spectra, all-electron and other vibration/relaxation calculation techniques that include dynamic features and temperature effects were themes of presentations, together with ab initio modeling of diffusion processes. Hydrogen-containing systems were discussed and databases for specific problems were presented. During the presentations, several examples of CALPHAD predictions compared with experimental results confirmed the power of the CALPHAD method for industrial applications. A cultural program (including a concert in Aula Carolina, sponsored by the Charles University, and an excursion to the medieval Karlštejn castle) completed the program of the conference. stracts of all oral contributions and titles of posters are also listed in the present Summary.