Why We Revised the Conference Format for SPIN 2025 Conference and What That Means for Scientific Progress
From Organizing Committee “SPIN-2025 Spin Exchange: Transition to a New Paradigm”
Scientific inquiry, at its core, is not static.
While past achievements provide a foundation, science advances by revisiting assumptions, re-evaluating models, and testing the limits of established understanding. Theories once considered robust may, with time and evidence, prove incomplete. Frameworks that guided previous decades of research may no longer inspire.
This is not a cause for concern. It is the essence of scientific progress.
However, adapting to these shifts is rarely straightforward. Established paradigms create the illusion of professional comfort and are often embedded in careers, curricula, and institutions. Changing them, even when necessary, requires more than evidence. It demands not only open dialogue, but also a willingness to explore the unfamiliar. Β
This conference, βSPIN-2025 Spin Exchange: Transition to a New Paradigm,β is organized to understand the origins of the new spin exchange paradigm and to evaluate the rationale for the transition based on theoretical and experimental evidence.
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Rationale for a New Conference Format.
Rather than replicate the standard conference format, we chose to reimagine it. Not for noveltyβs sake, but to enable the kind of engaged discussion about the current state of spin exchange and itβs transition to a new paradigm.
That is why there is the desire to hold a conference where:
- a discussion space has been created for rethinking spin exchange,
- there is an opportunity for careful study of results that challenge established views.
The purpose of the conference:
- to understand the shortcomings of existing views
- to move to a more accurate understanding of the physical processes associated with spin exchange
- to discuss theoretical predictions and experimental confirmations of the new paradigm
To this end, the intention is to allocate more time than in traditional scientific conferences for discussion of a specific problem, and not just for presentations of current results.
The New Conference Format is Aimed at Efficiency.
Despite the widespread use of online conferences and their undeniable advantage of saving effort and time, their drawbacks are widely known, especially when participants are scattered across different time zones.
The result? Attendance becomes a formality, and engagement is minimal.
Thus, convenience leads to the loss of the main purpose of the conference – to exchange results and ideas, to discuss and debate in search of truth.
Therefore, in the process of preparation of this conference, we set the task of creating conditions for more productive participation. Not for the sake of novelty – but in order to ensure the interaction that is required for serious discussion during the paradigm shift of spin exchange.
That's Why the Hybrid Format:
Speakers will have the opportunity to pre-record video presentations
Papers will be available the day before in the closed area in the cloud. Participants can watch the video presentation at their own time, and can re-watch from anywhere to really understand the presentation.
All discussions are held in real time
Daily sessions (maximum 2-3 hours) are reserved exclusively for open discussion. No presentations. No passive viewing. Only active exchange based on the video presentations watched. Recordings of the discussions will also be available to participants in the closed area.
This is not a workaround.
This is a new format created to allow more people to participate in the discussion during working hours.
Why This Model Works Better?
β Ability to get more out of your time without sacrificing quality
Scientists will be able to plan their participation around their professional schedule. More likely to find time to participate in a discussion β as little as 2-3 hours a day.
β Increased quality of discussions
Participants have time to reflect after watching the video and will be able to participate in the discussion with a deeper understanding.
β More time to present β ββless stress
Without the pressure of βpresenting liveβ and a strict time limit, presenters have the opportunity to provide greater clarity about their research and findings.
What About the Value of Interaction?
While live presentations have immediacy, they also overwhelm with ideas and leave no room for reflection, which is necessary to understand what is important.
By separating the presentation of information from the discussion, we create space for a better exchange of ideas to advance science:
- Fewer distractions
- More participants in the discussion
- Research results and new ideas are recognized
This conference model does not reduce interaction, it
- increases productivity,
- supports participants,
- improves the quality of the discussion to advance science.
From Presence to Understanding.
The idea of ββthis conference is primarily aimed at deepening the understanding of the paradigm shift that spin exchange is experiencing.Β This is not just a place for traditional presentations, it is mainly an invitation to a discussion based on theoretical and experimental results.
In fact, it is an invitation to participate in the process of answering the question: “What happens when a long-standing theory no longer corresponds to experimental data?”
The prerequisites for the paradigm shift were formed over decades:
- some experimental results could not be explained,
- new theoretical justifications went beyond the established concepts.
It took time and research to spot the gaps, ask the hard questions, piece it all together, and understand the need to rethink what was once certain. This is science at its truest.
Following Descartes, scientists are prone to doubt. Doubt leads to debate.
This conference is intended to create space for productive debate, which requires real engagement based on a desire to understand, reflect, and to apply.
This means that we must be willing to rethink established ideas, to look at inconsistencies with experiment, and to abandon models β no matter how elegant β if they no longer fit the experimental data.
What We Expect from Conference Participants
We invite participants to show scientific curiosity and interest in helping to clarify the situation. Letβs actively participate:
- Don’t just listen, but hear and strive for real understanding,
- Don’t just agree, but ask questions until it becomes clear,
- Don’t memorize conclusions, but trace how they were reached.
Conferences often default to the usual organizational rhythm: polished slides, brief discussions, and polite closings.
But when our field of science is in the midst of a paradigm shift, real participation from everyone is important.
So, we remind you that in a scientific discussion:
- Seniority does not provide immunity from questions and doubts,
- Everyone, including undergraduates and graduate students, is encouraged to participate,
- There are no stupid questions on the path to understanding.
We believe that progress is achieved through shared learning, not silent acceptance.
And during a paradigm shift, participation is important.
Ask!
Think!
Disagree (constructively)!
Doubt, but without fanaticism!
Paradigm Shift is Timely
No new paradigm should be accepted without verification. But it should not be rejected just because it challenges what is already known.
Science develops not because it defends what is already known, but because it asks whether what we already know is still true.
The new spin exchange paradigm, formulated in 2019 by K.M. Salikhov in the book βFundamentals of Spin Exchange Story of Paradigm Shiftβ, is based on theoretical explanations of experimental data that go beyond established ideas. The time has come when the total volume of theoretical solutions has come together to form a holistic understanding of spin exchange at a new level.
A theory is only good when it not only explains an experiment, but also makes predictions that are realized. Since 2019, a number of predictions of the new spin exchange paradigm have already been confirmed. Many predictions are awaiting experimental confirmation.
More than once, spin systems have become model systems, equivalent models in the study of other systems. There is reason to believe that the paradigm of spin exchange in dilute solutions of paramagnetic particles and its manifestation in electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy may also appear in other scientific disciplines.
Indeed, the new paradigm of spin exchange offers a new look at such important issues as the formation of macroscopic quantum coherence in dilute systems, the shape of a single homogeneously broadened resonance line observed in spectra. Under the conditions of the so-called exchange narrowing in dilute solutions at room temperatures, a gas of bosons is formed – identical elementary excitations of spin magnetization, etc.
Join Us in the Evolution of Spin Exchange
The SPIN-2025 conference is designed to give impetus to the application of the new paradigm of spin exchange. That is why we propose to collectively discuss the experimental facts that have revealed the need to revise the existing paradigm, as well as recent experiments that confirm the new predictions.
We invite you to participate in the conference in order to
- Trace the origins of the new paradigm.
- Discuss its key, fundamental provisions.
- Discuss the prospects for its use.
This is an unusual conference, because not every day a paradigm shift occurs.
Such times require:
- Curiosity – not as a fleeting instinct, but as a disciplined habit.
- Openness – to reconsider established assumptions.
- Patience – painstakingly examine the details without rushing to conclusions.
What we are trying to achieve at this conference is more than just a consensus. We are trying to create a model of how science can develop with a view to the future, given that we live in changing times.
We invite you to contribute β not as a passive observer, but as an active participant, so that you can begin to practically use the new paradigm to advance your research from the standpoint of modern scientific knowledge that we are creating together, including at this conference.
It seems that this is how scientific progress develops.