A workshop on spectroscopy of neutron-rich nuclei was held from 16th to 21st of March 2008 in Chamrousse to honor the career of Jean-Alain Pinston (formerly ILL, then CEN Grenoble and finally ISN/LPSC Grenoble) and Janine Genevey (ISN/LPSC) who made important contributions to nuclear physics in Grenoble and retire this year. Enthusiastic presentations were given about recent experiments, results and ideas for future work on exotic nuclei at existing facilities such as the ILL, ISOLDE (CERN, Geneva), JYFL (Jyväskylä), GSI (Darmstadt), GANIL (Caen), LISOL (Leuven), ALTO/PARRNe at IPN Orsay, INFN Legnaro, IKP Cologne, Florida State University, HRIBF Oak Ridge and NSCL Michigan using beta-decay, isomer, in-beam, mass and laser spectroscopy, as well as lifetime and magnetic moment measurements.
Sessions were focused on the current status of experimental and theoretical studies in particular regions of the nuclear chart, such as those around the nuclei 208Pb, 132Sn, 78Ni and 48Ca with "magic" proton and neutron numbers. The workshop also provided time to reinforce current collaborations, and discuss new ones in different areas. The participants were impressed by the ILL's facilities during their guided tour on one afternoon of the workshop.

The workshop was sponsored by the ILL, LPSC, UJF, INPG and Heinzinger Electronic and was attended by 52 participants from 26 different institutes and universities. Hopefully this number of 52 will really prove to be "magic" by creating enough momentum to bring a large gamma detector array to the ILL for a measurement campaign.