Since their conception in 1999, the Nanotube Conferences attempt to provide an informal setting to exchange the most current information in the rapidly evolving Nanotube research field.

During the initial years, the number of registered participants exceeded the planned capacity by a factor of two. This was manageable at NT'99 in East Lansing, with 120 instead of the planned 60 participants. The following conference, NT'01, was planned to accommodate 140 participants at a beautiful location in Potsdam. The large number of applications, close to 300, turned from a blessing to a headache for the organizers. Only half of the applicants could be admitted due to the hard limit, imposed by the hotel capacity at the somewhat remote location. The strong interest in the topic and the conference format held on at NT'02 at Boston College. Since then, the number of participants has increased gradually, strongly exceeding 500 at NT'06 in Nagano.

To reflect the international nature of the research field, the NT'03 conference was held at Seoul National University in Korea. By that time, the Asia-Europe-Americas "continent swapping mode" emerged as a pattern. The NT'04 conference was held in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The NT'05 conference has been brought back to Europe. NT'06 is talking place in Japan. The demographic origin of NT'06 participants is shown graphically in the following chart (click on chart for large-scale version):

Common to all conferences is a venue located close to a strong center of Nanotube research activity, and a local organization team active in Nanotube research. Contributions, presented in oral "Poster+" and Poster sessions, have traditionally been treated with a high priority, taking up about half of the total conference time, with no parallel sessions. Other features common to the conferences include an emphasis on quality, originality, and informality. Many of these desirable commonalities have been captured in the "Charta of the Nanotube Conference Series".

Locations of Previous Nanotube Conferences:

NT'99: Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA

NT'01: Potsdam, Germany

NT'02: Boston College, USA

NT'03: Seoul National University, Korea

NT'04: San Luis Potosi, Mexico

NT'05: Göteborg, Sweden

NT'06: Nagano, Japan