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Fabrizio Nestola
The International Diamond School - 2026
The International Diamond School - 2026 will take place in beautiful Bressanone, Italy at the Hotel Elephant from January 26 - 31st. This year's program includes several workshops and practical sessions, talks by many of the world's foremost experts in diamonds and diamond geology and several social events hosted at the Hotel Elephant.
The 2026 Diamond School is sponsored by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) and the INHERIT and MADAM - ERC projects.
Program
The full day-to-day program is still under construction and will be available here soon!
Participants of the 2023 International Diamond School
Submit an abstract for an oral presentation
Oral presentations will take place on January 29th and 30th, presentations are 15-minutes (12 minute talks with a 3-minute Q&A period).
If you wish to give an oral presentation, please indicate this in the submission form below and attach your abstract. Alternatively, you can register and then submit an abstract later (by October 31st, 2025) by emailing it directly to Fabrizio Nestola at fabrizio.nestola@unipd.it.
Abstract Format:
In general, there are no strict formatting requirements. However, abstracts must not be longer than one page including title, author list, affiliations, text (10-12 pt. font), figures and references.
Please submit your abstract in PDF or .docx format.
Important:
Available time slots for oral presentations are limited, submitting an abstract for a presentation does not guarantee you will be approved to give a talk.
After registration has been confirmed and your abstract has been reviewed by the organizing committee, you will be notified if your abstract has been approved and a time slot will be assigned for your presentation.
Abstract Deadline: October 31st, 2025
Practical Sessions
The practical sessions are designed to teach (under)graduate students about some of the analytical techniques that are commonly used in diamond research.
All participants are welcome to sign-up for the practical sessions however, as space is limited, priority will be given to (under)graduate students for sessions that reach capacity.
[1] Observing inclusions in diamonds using optical microscopy
(instructors: Jeff Harris & Suzette Timmerman)
[2] Micro-Raman spectroscopy of inclusions in diamonds
(instructor: Evan Smith)
[3] Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy of diamonds
(instructors: Maxwell Day and Karen Smit)
[4] Orientation and diffraction of inclusions in diamonds
(instructor: Ross Angel)
Please indicate the practical sessions you would like to attend when registering below. We recommend registering as early as possible to ensure you can attend the practical sessions you want.
Venue
Hotel and Restaurant Elephant
Via Rio Bianco 4
39042 Bressanone, South Tirol (Italy)
+39 0472 832 750
Costs
Registration includes:
- Full access to all talks and lectures.
- Admission to selected workshops.
- A 5-night stay at the Hotel Elephant (includes breakfast, lunch and dinner and two coffee breaks per day).
Important: If the number of participants exceeds the capacity of Hotel Elephant, late registrants will be assigned to alternative hotels in Bressanone nearby the school venue. If you wish to stay at the Hotel Elephant we suggest registering as soon as possible.
If staying at an alternative hotel, participants can still attend lunch, dinner and coffee breaks at the Hotel Elephant.
Registration costs:
- Academic and non-academic - 1500€
(high and middle income countries)
- Academic - 1300€ (low income countries)
- Ph.D. and M.Sc. students - 900€
(high and middle income countries)
- Ph.D. and M.Sc. students - 700€
(low income countries)
Registration
To register, please complete the form below. Once your registration has been confirmed, you will be contacted to complete the registration payment.
Note: You will not receive official confirmation of registration until the payment has been completed in full.
Important (Please Read):
- Accompanying participants must register as normal and pay the normal registration fee.
- Registration covers a five-night stay at a hotel (Hotel Elephant or an alternative hotel if capacity at Hotel Elephant is exceeded). We cannot offer discounted rates for participants that want to attend the school for only a couple days
- Conference capacity is limited, please indicate in the form below if you are willing to share a room with another participant. We are not offering a discount to those who share a room.
- Registration costs will NOT be reimbursed in the event that a participant cannot attend the school. For this reason, participants should purchase insurance for registration costs.
If you have any questions about the school or registration please contact Fabrizio Nestola at fabrizio.nestola@unipd.it.
Organizing Committee
Fabrizio Nestola, Maxwell Day, Francesca Innocenzi, Mattia La Fortezza, Martha Pamato, Davide Novella - University of Padova
Graham Pearson & Thomas Stachel - University of Alberta
Steve Shirey & Michael Walter- Carnegie Institution for Science
Karen Smit - University of the Witwatersrand
Suzette Timmerman - University of Bern
Evan Smith - Gemological Institute of America (GIA)
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