Author : Barbara Pasquini

The conference series "Electromagnetic Interactions with Nucleons and Nuclei (EINN)" began in 1995, establishing a biennial tradition on Santorini and Milos Islands in Greece until 2009. In 2011, it was successfully relocated to Paphos (Cyprus), with an  online edition due to the COVID pandemic in 2021. The conference series delves into both experimental and theoretical facets of nuclear and hadron physics, serving as a dynamic platform for the exchange of ideas and the exploration of current and prospective advancements in these fields. The conference has unofficially been a counterpart to the US Gordon Conference on photonuclear physics and is held in alternate years. No proceedings are produced, in the tradition of Gordon and Euroconferences, in order to encourage the frank exchange of even tentative information.

The 15^th EINN conference took place in Paphos from 31^st October to  4^th November 2023, attracting approximately  100 participants from Europe, North America, and Asia. EINN 2023 was a recognized conference of the European Physical Society and of  STRONG-2020 within the European Union's Horizon2020. It covered a spectrum of theoretical and experimental developments in hadron physics, including the partonic structure of nucleons and hadron spectroscopy, the  muon magnetic moment, dark-matter searches, the electroweak structure of light nuclei, new experimental facilities and physics searches, lattice QCD, the integration of machine learning methodologies in QCD and the potential of quantum computing towards solving QCD.

A highlight of the conference was the evening plenary poster session, which drew a large attendance with lively discussions. The top three posters, selected  through a secret vote by all attendees, were authored by promising young researchers from the Cyprus Institute and Mainz University. Recognized with the prestigious EPS poster prize, these awardees presented their work in dedicated talks during the plenary session.

The conference was further enriched by two parallel topical workshops: one on the QCD analysis of nucleon structure and another on experimental opportunities and detector challenges anticipated at the forthcoming Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). These workshops featured selected contributions from submitted abstracts alongside invited presentations.

Preceding the conference, a two-day meeting on "Frontiers and Careers in Photonuclear Physics," attracted considerable interest. Tailored as a platform for Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers in nuclear and hadron physics, this event facilitated research presentations, discussions on career paths, and the establishment of professional networks. Approximately 30 students and postdoctoral fellows participated in the conference by receiving full support.

As Quantum Chromodynamics takes a central role in contemporary physics research worldwide, the EINN conference is poised to maintain its crucial role as a significant international forum, especially for young physicists, in the foreseeable future.

For more information, see https://2023.einnconference.org/ and https://einnconference.org/

Acknowledgements:

We thank the following institutions and agencies for supporting EINN2023 and the pre-conference on “Frontiers in Photonuclear Physics”: Jefferson Lab, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Center for Frontiers in Nuclear Science (CFNS) at Stony Brook U., Washington University, INFN, Mainz University, the European Physical Society, STRONG-2020  within the European Union's Horizon2020, the Cyprus Tourist Organization