The 201st International School of Physics “Enrico Fermi” addressed the fundamental features associated with the study of nuclear systems far from the valley of stability. Studies performed with stable beams and with radioactive ion beams produced at first generation facilities hint to a number of new insight in the way nuclei are built from their constituents. By studying the properties of the so-called exotic nuclei that possess an unbalanced number of protons to number of neutrons ratio, hidden aspects of the strong and weak force acting in the nuclear medium can be uncovered.

The field of radioactive ion beam research has evolved over the last three decades and several medium and large size facilities are currently undergoing a major upgrade or are under construction. In Europe, these include ISOLDE - CERN (Switzerland), SPIRAL2 - GANIL (France)FAIR - GSI (Germany)SPES (Italy) while RIBF - RIKEN (Japan)TRIUMF (Canada)FRIB - MSU (USA) are the major undertakings elsewhere. These facilities will create unprecedented opportunities to extend our knowledge in so far unexplored regions of the nuclear chart and to address key questions in nuclear physics, fundamental interactions and astrophysics, but also link to other fields of science including life science.

The lectures and seminars of the school focused on the structural and dynamical aspects from both a theoretical and experimental point of view. Recent advances in theoretical and experimental approaches were discussed. The former included advanced shell-model, density functional applications, and symmetry-based methods as well as cluster and reaction models. The latter dealt with state-of-the-art experimental themes covering reaction, decay and laser spectroscopy studies and Coulomb excitation experiments. On the occasion of the 90th birthday of Professor R.A. Ricci, a dedicated session was organized including a number of topical seminars. During this session, the pioneer work of Prof. Ricci in nuclear structure was recalled, together with his important contribution in the evolution of nuclear physics in Italy. He was especially one of the founders of heavy-ion-induced reaction studies in Italy devoted to deepen the knowledge on nuclear structure and dynamics coordinating the efforts at the Legnaro National Laboratory for the advent of the Tandem XTU in the 80’s and suggesting the development and installation of the LINAC ALPI in the 90’s.

The organization of the school with participants from ten different countries was a success thanks to the excellent lecturers and seminar speakers and to the highly appreciated work of the school’s administrative staff. The directors would like to express on behalf of all participants their sincere gratitude.

F. Gramegna, P. Van Duppen, A. Vitturi and S. Pirrone