Young Ceramics Networks

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Feb 24, 2026

YCN Newsletter 30 - 10th Anniversary of the YCN Committee - A short history of YCN by Louis Winnubst

As “founding father” of YCN, I am pleased to see that YCN's activities continue to grow.

It all started with the foundation of JECS Trust (The Journal of the European Ceramic Society Trust), which was formally set up in December 2007. At the founding meeting in 2008, it was made clear that one of the main focuses in the expenditures of JECS Trust money is to support activities for students and young researchers.

Early first examples of this included support for organizing workshops and providing opportunities for students to perform a part of their research in a laboratory in another ECerS country. At that time, I also made a proposal to JECS Trust to set up a social network for students and young researchers working in the field of Ceramics: YCN.

The first YCN evening was held in 2009 during ECerS XI organised in Krakow. With the support of JECS Trust, a get together was organized for young researchers participating in the ECerS conference. Since then, these YCN events were held during all ECerS biennial conferences.

In addition to snacks and drinks, presentations were given in Krakow on how to submit a good article to the ECerS Journal. After the success of Krakow the second YCN event was organized in 2011 at ECerS XII in Stockholm, where we had as theme: “How to start your own company”.  During this evening, a small group of students was formed, who launched a  LinkedIn and a (first) Facebook page.

Since 2011, ECerS PEC (Permanent Executive Committee) also welcomes the chair of the ECerS "Young Ceramists and Training" working group to its meetings. From 2011 till 2017 I chaired the YC&T working group.

YCN further grew steadily, with the creation of a website (www.young-ceramic.org) and, since 2013, YCN evenings were also organized during the biennial conferences for Young Scientists in Ceramics (CYSC) in Novi Sad, Serbia

In 2016, at the initiative of ECerS, an enthusiastic group of young researchers founded the YCN committee, resulting in a significant increase in YCN activities for young ceramic researchers.

So much for a brief history of YCN, which also inspired other ceramic societies, such as our American ACerS friends, to organize (and sponsor) activities specifically for young ceramic researchers.

I wish YCN a bright future!

Louis Winnubst

University of Twente - The Netherlands

Fellow of ECerS 

a.j.a.winnubst@utwente.nl

LinkedIn - Louis Winnubst

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