Featured in EPN

Featuring in the upcoming issue of EPN:

Einstein’s witches’ sabbath: the first Solvay council on physics
by F. Berends & Franklin Lambert

‘One hundred years ago, on 29 October 1911, a very special event took place in Brussels: the opening of the first Solvay Council, a meeting which would become a milestone in the history of modern physics…’

Nominations open for Plasma Physics Innovation Prize

Nominations are now open for the 2012 EPS Plasma Physics Innovation Prize. Supported by the EPS Plasma Physics Division, the prize exists to promote and recognise innovation stemming from this field. A broad spectrum of nominations is encouraged.

The award, established in 2008, is given annually and consists of a certificate and a 3000 euro prize.

Any existing work derived from the field of plasma physics – such as a product, process or a tool…

Call for Innovation Award Laser Technology

Nominations are now open for the Innovation Award Laser Technology. Candidates may be either individuals or project groups.

The 10,000 euro prize, which is awarded every two years in recognition of outstanding European innovations in laser technology, is being sponsored by Arbeitskreis Lasertechnik e.V. and the European Laser Institute.

The deadline for nominations is 20 January 2012…

Seminar on Computational and Statistical Physics

The 12th Granada Seminar on Computational and Statistical Physics will be held in La Herradura, Spain, on 17-21 September 2012.

The latest in a series of seminars, the 2012 edition will host a discussion on the advances and challenges at the interfaces between physics, computation and the mind.

For more information, and registration, please visit the conference website.

Interview with Michèle Leduc

The first in a series of features, e-EPS has posed some questions, on the state of physics today, to the Honorary Members of the European Physical Society. This month, we interviewed Michèle Leduc.
 

Please describe what, in your opinion, are the main challenges in physics research. This can include discoveries to be made, questions to be answered, contributions to society and the economy…

Call for abstracts for 2nd European Energy Conference

Abstract submission is open for the 2nd European Energy Conference, which will be held in Maastricht, on 17-20 April next year. Experts from the fields of chemistry, engineering, environmental science, material science and physics are invited to attend.

The conference aims to bring together experts, from various disciplines and background, to develop a vision on the future of energy in Europe. It will generate cooperation and communication across disciplines and will contribute…

Passion for Light webcast

Passion for Light, the Joint EPS-SIF International Workshop which will launch the idea of an International Year of Light (IYOL) in 2015, will take place on 16 September. For the first time with any EPS conference, proceedings will be simultaneously available in a webcast.

The live, streamed video of the event, direct from the beautiful venue of Villa Monastero – at Varenna, Lake Como, Italy – will be provided by the INFN CNAF service. The opening addresses and all the scientific lectures will thus…

John Mather wins Daniel Chalonge Medal

The Daniel Chalonge Medal 2011 was awarded to John C. Mather, at the 15th Paris Cosmology Colloquium on 22 July this year, in recognition of his contributions to modern cosmology. The award was presented by the Ecole Internationale d’Astrophysique Daniel Chalonge.

Mather, who won a Nobel Prize in physics in 2006 for his work with the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) – notably measuring the black body form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation – is presently the senior…

Conseil de Physique Solvay centenary

One hundred years ago the celebrated first Conseil de Physique Solvay took place in Brussels, with the participation of the leading physicists of the time. It marked a profound rupture between the old classical physics and the new quantum physics that described the strange behaviour of nature at the microscopic level. The conference was one of the most important events in the advent of the quantum revolution; no such physics conference since has acquired the same legendary status…

5th Ukrainian semiconductor conference

The 5th Ukrainian Conference on physics of semiconductors will take place in Uzhgorod, Ukraine, on 9-15 October this year.

The conference – which will include cultural excursions to sites of importance in Zakarpatie folklore – is being organized by the Ukrainian Physical Society. Over 400 participants are expected, from an international background of over 20 different countries…

Physikzentrum Bad Honnef being refurbished by DPG

The Physikzentrum Bad Honnef is the conference centre of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG), the German physical society. This meeting place, for scientists from all over the world, is currently being extensively renovated and modernised. The construction, which began in the summer of 2010, will be mostly finished within the coming weeks.

The DPG, with a history extending back to 1845, is the oldest physical society in the world – as well as being the largest, with more than 60,000 members. The Physikzentrum Bad Honnef was founded as a conference centre…

Call for submissions for Paul Drude Medal in ellipsometry

A prize for up-and-coming young scientists, the Paul Drude Medal, will be awarded by the German Association on Ellipsometry at the next Workshop Ellipsometry, which will be held at the University of Leipzig, on 5-7 March next year. The medal will be given for an exceptional contribution to the field of ellipsometric metrology or spectroscopy.

The prize winner will be selected at the workshop by the members of the international advisory board and the program committee. Young scientists are encouraged to apply for this award before the workshop by sending an abstract…