About the ICG
Annual Meeting

Glassmaking emerged over 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Initially reserved for royal ornamentation, it transitioned into everyday objects and monumental art through inventions like glassblowing, extended to the whole Roman Empire, followed by Venetian craftsmanship. In the 1960s, the Studio Glass Movement transformed glass into a recognized medium for sculptural fine art.

The new goals of XXI century are glass art merging ancient craft with modern sustainability challenges, to reduce the heavy carbon footprint related to melting and creation of glass art. To balance creative expression with eco-responsibility, the artistic community is actively shifting toward renewable energy sources and circular economy practices. Education in glass art is a key issue to get these new goals to be addressed in the first session, presenting a historical perspective of main Brazilian workshops.

The second session will be focused in design, and contemporary art in Brazil.

The mechanical properties of glass and glass-ceramics are important for a wide range of advanced technological applications. These include tough dental materials, scratch-resistant transparent displays, and high-thermal shock-resistant glass-ceramics. In response to the growing demand for materials with enhanced properties, new characterization and simulation methods are required, as well as a better understanding of the mechanical properties and the impact of composition, microstructure, and processing.

This Symposium will provide a comprehensive overview of the recent developments in the field of mechanical properties of glass and glass-ceramics. We welcome submissions on fundamental properties, including fracture, mechanical strength, and elasticity; on complex phenomena such as crack resistance, fatigue, ion exchange, thermal shock resistance, indentation, hardness, and residual stresses; and on new mechanical characterization tools and the atomistic and/or macroscale simulation of mechanical properties.

The Symposium is intended to bring together glass scientists, materials engineers, and researchers from academia and industry for an up-to-date picture of the mechanical properties in glass and glass-ceramics and foster collaborations among the participants.

Crystallization is a central keyword in glass science and technology, encompassing nucleation, crystal growth, glass-forming ability, glass stability, and glass-ceramic development. Its importance stems from a fundamental duality: spontaneous devitrification must usually be avoided to produce stable glasses, whereas controlled crystallization is essential for designing functional glass-ceramics with tailored properties.

This symposium will bring together experimental, theoretical, and simulation studies addressing crystal nucleation and growth, overall crystallization kinetics, glass stability, and the mechanisms governing the transformation of glasses into glass-ceramics and their properties.

Emphasis will be placed on both fundamental understanding and practical strategies for controlling crystallization in advanced glass-based materials.

This symposium is devoted to bioactive and biocompatible glasses and glass-ceramics for medical and dental applications, aiming to bridge cutting-edge materials science with clinical needs. The thematic areas cover key topics including scaffolds for bone and soft tissue regeneration; polymer-based composites; multifunctional coatings for orthopedic and dental implants; additive manufacturing and digital processing; therapeutic ion or drug delivery systems; wound dressings; and antibacterial activity, along with other biologically relevant functionalities.

This symposium will focus on recent advances in glass materials and their fundamental role in modern photonic technologies. Contributions addressing the relationship between glass composition, structure and optical functionality will be highlighted. Topics include rare-earth-doped glasses for optical amplification and lasing, luminescent and nonlinear optical glasses and magneto-optical glass systems for photonic devices.

The symposium covers the design of advanced glass compositions, including, but not limited to heavy-metal oxides, borates, phosphates, fluorides, chalcogenide glasses, glass-ceramics and nanostructured glasses with tailored spectroscopic and optical properties. Contributions on photonic integration, optical sensing, and broadband light generation are encouraged. By combining advances in glass chemistry and physics and device engineering, this symposium aims to provide a comprehensive overview of emerging directions in photonic glass materials.

Its goal is to bring together researchers and professionals at the intersection of glass science, computational modeling, simulation, and machine learning. Advances in atomic and mesoscale modeling, numerical simulations, and data-driven approaches applied to the structure, dynamics, processing, and properties of glass will be discussed.

Topics include structure-property relationships, glass formation and relaxation, mechanical and thermal behavior, transport phenomena, and optimization of compositions and processes. The symposium highlights the growing role of artificial intelligence in accelerating glass discovery, with predictive models and inverse design strategies. The integration of physical models and data-driven methods seeks to improve prediction and connect simulations, experiments, and industry. It is intended for scientists, students, and engineers from academia and industry interested in glass.

his session explores glass melting and high-temperature processes, focusing on the fundamental physicochemical principles governing molten glasses across a wide range of scientific, technological, and natural contexts. We focus on how glasses and melts behave under these conditions, from their physicochemical features at high temperature to their evolution once vitrified, including long-term stability and irradiation effects.

The key topics of this session include: (1) viscosity and multiphase rheology of glasses and melts; (2) gas solubility, bubble formation, and foaming; (3) redox control and melt chemistry; (4) electrical behavior at high temperature; (5) in-situ and high-temperature characterization techniques; (6) long-term durability and stability of vitrified materials; (7) effects of irradiation on glass structure and their properties.

The session aims to bring together glass scientists, physicists, chemists, materials scientists, and geoscientists. It fosters dialogue across disciplines united by the study of glasses and melts, and highlights shared mechanisms and challenges in high temperature processes. These span both industrial settings (e.g., nuclear waste vitrification and glass production) and natural setting (e.g., magmatic
and volcanic systems), from melt processing to long-term performance.

“Multifunctional glasses” lie at the heart of a new generation of materials that simultaneously perform structural, optical, electrical, mechanical, chemical, and bioactive roles. This symposium will showcase the latest advances in the design, processing, and application of glasses and glass-based composites that integrate multiple functions within a single, robust platform.

The program will cover compositional design strategies that enable the concurrent tailoring of optical, electronic, magnetic, and mechanical properties, including oxide and non oxide systems, glass ceramics, and hybrid organic–inorganic materials. Processing and fabrication methods— including additive manufacturing, laser patterning, sol-gel routes, tape casting, as well as advanced sealing, coating, and joining techniques—will be addressed with a focus on how they support the incorporation of multifunctional glasses into complex devices and hybrid systems, where one glass can simultaneously fulfill multiple roles for simultaneously providing mechanical support, optical guidance, electrical transport, chemical reactivity, or biological interaction.

Bringing together researchers from academia, industry, and research institutes, the symposium aims to define the state of the art in multifunctional glasses, identify key scientific and technological challenges, and stimulate collaborations that accelerate the translation of multifunctional glass concepts into impactful technologies.

In the context of rising global energy demand, glass and glass-based materials have become a key area in energy harvesting, storage and transformation. This symposium aims to gather all actors interested in the scientific and technological aspects of glasses, glass-ceramics and thin films for all kinds of applications in the broad field of energy. A strong focus will be placed on the fundamentals of ionic, electronic, and mixed transport, including theoretical aspects on bulk properties and at surfaces/interfaces. Furthermore, application areas to be addressed include, but are not limited to, materials for photovoltaics and thermoelectrics, solid electrolytes and electrodes for batteries, and glass seals for fuel cells.

We encourage all colleagues to participate in the symposium on Glass for Energy and be part of the discussions that will allow us to address the future challenges that can make Glass be the material of choice.

Applications and be part of the discussions that will allow us to address future challenges that can make glasses be the material of choice.

This symposium is designed to guide attendees through the complex and rapidly evolving landscape of sustainability, circularity, and technological innovation within the glass industry.

These sessions will bring together experts from across research, manufacturing, and policy. Attendees will be taken on a journey that connects fundamental science to practical solutions, explores how the challenges of sustainability can be embedded into glass production, recycling and use, and highlights the latest technological developments shaping the future of industry. Looking at the glass recycling industry as a whole, featuring all types of glass including container glass, pharmaceutical, flat and fiber and the importance of carbon in developing and implementing a more dynamic sustainability strategy.

The goal is not only to deepen understanding but also to inspire action, create networks, and equip participants with the insight and tools needed to make informed, impactful decisions in their own work.

The glass transition remains one of the most interesting open problems in condensed matters, physics and materials science. As inherently non-equilibrium materials, glasses exhibit properties that continuously evolve through structural relaxation processes, occurring over timescales from fractions of a second to geological eras. Deciphering these complex phenomena requires a synergistic approach.

This symposium will bring together students and researchers to discuss the fundamental and applied aspects of the glass transition and structural relaxation in inorganic, metallic, organic, and hybrid glass-forming systems. The symposium aims to provide a forum for discussing recent experimental, theoretical, and computational advances, fostering interactions among researchers and promoting a deeper understanding of the mechanisms governing glass transition and long-term relaxation phenomena.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, experimental, theoretical, and computational studies of glass transition and structural relaxation, spatially heterogeneous dynamics, fictive temperature, physical aging, relaxation kinetics, relaxation time distributions, fragility, dynamic arrest, viscous flow, evolution of physical properties, behavior under extreme or varying temperature and pressure conditions, novel experimental probes and high-precision characterization techniques, and fundamental unresolved questions concerning the nature of the glassy state and the origin of relaxation processes.

The symposium Glass Structure and Chemistry of Glasses focuses on the fundamental relationships between composition, glass structure, and ensuing properties across a wide range of glass systems.

Topics include but are not limited to the short- and medium-range order, structure–property relationships, spectroscopy or diffraction, redox chemistry, phase separation, structural changes under external forces (irradiation, mechanical, heat or pressure) and the influence of composition and processing on glass performance.

Contributions spanning traditional, functional, optical, bioactive, and nuclear glass systems – to name just a few – are encouraged, with emphasis on advancing the understanding of glass chemistry and structural design. Submissions are welcome for oxide and non-oxide systems, such as chalcogenide, halide, MFO, organic or metallic glasses.

This symposium addresses the critical intersection of glass science and environmental sustainability, moving beyond conventional paradigms of melting and recycling to explore disruptive, eco-conscious innovations. We invite leading researchers and industry pioneers to discuss advanced glass technologies engineered for targeted ecological benefits. A primary focus will be dedicated to the design, dissolution kinetics, and field deployment of engineered glass fertilizers capable of smart, controlled nutrient release. Beyond agrilogistics, the session may explore unusual, high-impact environmental applications, like hazardous waste immobilization, heavy-metal bioremediation, and specialized porous glasses for carbon capture. Participants will debate the thermodynamic modeling, structural characterization, properties, performance, and scalability of these non-traditional glass compositions. By bridging fundamental glass science with novel ecological engineering, this symposium aims to understand, discuss, and identify paths for research cooperation on the role of vitreous materials in global sustainability.