The conferences are aimed at all those involved in and applying secondary ion mass spectrometry and related techniques. The conference covers work from the fundamentals to applications of the technique.

The conference will take place every two years in September, in the years when there is no international SIMS conference. The event location is always within Europe. The venue will be determined by the Advisory Board (AB) on the basis of written proposals.

 Since developments in the field of instrument technology form an important part of the conference alongside the fundamentals and applications of the technique, each organizer shall organize an industrial exhibition as part of the conference.

The conference should give scientists the opportunity to present their papers in the form of lectures or posters.

The conference facilities should allow for parallel oral sessions. In addition, sufficient space should be available for poster displays.

The conference language is English.

The conference starts with a day of short courses. This short course day shall give students and young researchers the opportunity to learn more about the fundamentals, applications and latest technical developments. The short course shall be free of charge for all conference participants.

The conference proceeds the following two days with oral and poster presentations.

The conference shall include a casual welcome reception on the evening of the short course day. This event shall give the community the opportunity for scientific discussion and networking.

In order to enable many young researchers and students to participate and to maintain the cost-effective format of the conference, the organizers shall offer low conference fees. Therefore, the conference fee for students ought to be half the regular conference fee. The recommended conference fee is 200,- Euro.

In order to maintain the cost-effective format of the conference, invited speakers can only have their conference fees waived.

The SIMS Europe conference has its own website (www.sims-europe.org). The website is hosted and managed by "AB". Future conference organisers can use the website for the conference.

SIMS Europe has used the commercially available Conftool for the management of conference participants, abstracts, program, invoicing, etc. Future organizers can also use this conference tool. The "AB" will support new users and also assist in setting up the tool for the respective conference. The costs for the tool (around 1000,- Euro per conference) must be covered by the conference.

The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is responsible for the finances of the respective conference. Profits or losses of the conference go to the guaranteeing organization, which has been selected by the Chair of the “LOC” in his proposal. However, previous “LOCs” have set aside profits for the SIMS Europe conference for future events to minimize the risk for subsequent organizers. If the “LOC” wishes to support this SIMS Europe Fund (SEF), it should inform the "AB" after the conference. The “AB” will maintain a separate account for the “SEF”. The "SEF" will also be used as repayable seed money for the next conference and to support the SIMS Europe website. A financial report for the conference showing costs, profit or loss should be submitted to the “AB” within 6 months of the end of the conference.