EPS and SIF launch school on energy
The first session of a new EPS-SIF joint International School on Energy will be held on 30 July – 4 August next year, at the Villa Monastero, Varenna, Italy. The school, which was recently approved by the EPS Executive Committee and the Council of Presidency of the Società Italiana di Fisica (SIF), will promote European research and technology competence in the field of energy.
The directors of this year’s school will be Luisa Cifarelli, of the University of Bologna, Italy; Friedrich Wagner, of the Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Germany; and Diederik Wiersma, of the European Laboratory for Non-linear…
Cosmic honour for former EPS president
Sir Arnold Wolfendale has been awarded the first IUPAP-TIFR Homi Bhabha Medal and Prize, for his work in the field of cosmic ray astrophysics. The prize will be presented at the 2011 International Cosmic Ray Conference in Beijing, China, in August this year.
The Homi Bhabha Medal and Prize – which consists of a certificate, medal, $5000 cheque and an invitation to give a public lecture at the TIFR in Mumbai – is awarded to active scientists who have made distinguished contributions to the fields of high-energy cosmic ray physics and astroparticle physics, across an extended academic career…
Information on the EPS Accelerator Group
The EPS Accelerator Group has published information on its activities and 23 year-long history.
The article – written by Christine Petit-Jean-Genz, the Executive Secretary of the Accelerator Group – can be downloaded here.
EPS proposes study into physics and the economy
The EPS is investigating the feasibility of launching a study into physics and the economy, on a European scale. Research will go ahead if it is deemed that such can be done in a timely and cost effective manner.
In 2007, the UK Institute of Physics (IoP) commissioned a similar study entitled ‘Physics and the UK Economy’ – which can be read on the IoP website. The report – which examined the role of physics-based sectors in generating employment – added value and support to other sectors of the economy.
Balkan Summer Institute 2011
The Balkan Summer Institute (BSI) 2011 will be held between 19 August and 1 September this year, in the Đerdap National Park, Serbia.
The institute will focus on high energy physics, with a special focus on dark matter – and related topics in astrophysics, cosmology and particle physics – and scientific outreach and education.
The two-week long event will include: the Cosmology and Particle Physics Beyond the Standard Models summer school…
Workshop on Biomolecules and Nanostructure
The ‘Workshop on Biomolecules and Nanostructure – Bedlewo 3’ is being organised by the EPS Division of Physics in Life Sciences (DPL), in Bedlewo, Poland, on 4-8 September this year.
The conference is also being organised by the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and the Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences – with support from the National Multidisciplinary Laboratory of Functional Nanomaterials – NanoFun…
Angela Bracco to be first female chairperson of NuPECC
Angela Bracco has been voted in as the chairperson-elect of the Nuclear Physics European Collaboration Committee (NuPECC), an Expert Committee of the European Science Foundation. Bracco, a member of NuPECC since 2007, will become the committee’s first female chairperson when she commences her three year term – taking over from Guenther Rosner – on 1 January next year.
Bracco, full professor of physics at the University of Milan, Italy, is a renowned expert in the field of nuclear structure. She has been the spokesperson of several experiments at a number of laboratories, including: Legnaro National…
Editorial
Dear Readers,
Good news for the EPS! This year the society has seen a sizeable increase in its membership, more so than in the past few years; with the numbers at 291, 220 and 407 new individual members (IMs) in 2009, 2010, and 2011 respectively. Note also that the 2011 additions have only been counted up to 24 June – thus, further recruitment in 2011 is, in principle, still possible. The total number of IMs today exceeds 3200…
EPS Energy Group October Meeting
The next EPS Energy Group meeting will be held on 6-7 October this year in Oslo. The exact venue is to be confirmed.
Four main items will be on the agenda: the general business of the Energy Group; information on the energy situation in Norway; a discussion of the national nuclear waste disposal issues, including concepts, technical matters, solutions, political situation and approval; and a study of the challenges and possibilities of an European Union-wide electricity grid, and the compatibility of national planning.
ESFRI releases new report on research infrastructures
The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) have released their Strategy Report and Roadmap Update 2010. The chair of ESFRI, Beatrix Vierkorn-Rudolph presented the roadmap to the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, in Brussels on 3 May this year.
“Pooling national and EU resources to build pan-European research infrastructures – rather than each Member State simply going it alone – is common sense and a key part of the EU’s Innovation Union plan,” said Geoghegan-Quinn. “These collaborative efforts create economies of scale, boost EU competitiveness and deliver better value for money for…
