So what is e-Science? Presumably attending an entire conference on the subject would be enough to answer that, but unfortunately nobody was able to provide me with a robust definition. So I guess I'll answer with my own interpretation. e-Science seems to be a buzzword for inter-disciplinary science which involves computers in some form.
The plenary talks were good, although some seemed to drag a little bit. The highlight was a talk on the first day by the chairman of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, Prof. P. Nijkamp. Although specifically targeted at the conference audience his talk was easily applicable to any field of research in describing the dangers of overstating scientific results. He provided case-studies of technologies which had promised to solve the worlds problems which years later had turned out to be far from these claims. He talked about how technology firms talk about the paperless office, yet we are consuming more paper than ever before. Well rehearsed and well delivered it was an exceptional presentation.
Tim gave a somewhat jet-lagged performance with his presentation of Dynamic Problems and Nature Inspired Metaheuristics. Pretty good considering the time-zone he was operating in! My presentation was after lunch and went quite well. Some useful comments by colleagues in the following days provided me with some good material for future work.
The conference dinner was very nice taking place at the Westindisch Huis, quite special indeed. Overall I must say the conference was a very enjoyable experience of which I am very thankful to have been involved in.
