New insights in accelerator-driven systems
As part of EUCARD2 activities, and co-sponsored by EPS Technology and Innovation Group (TIG), a workshop on the status of new developments in Accelerator-Driven Systems or ADS was held at CERN on February 7-9.
EPS Executive & Staff activity for July 2016
The EPS works to support its members. Find below the list of activities of the EPS Executive Committee and staff last month:
Editorial – BREXIT: What’s next?
What a summer! After the Brexit referendum of June 23 the international events rolled in at an incredible pace: killing of police officers on July 7 in Dallas (TX-USA) followed by another one in Baton Rouge (LA_USA) on July 17 (without mentioning Orlando (FL-USA) mass shooting a month before), the truck attack in Nice, FR on July 14, the Turkish military coup on July 15, etc., and this is only a small excerpt of what has happened in that month. Not easy to write an editorial under such an avalanche of negative events, reported and amplified over the normal and social media. Under such circumstances it looks to me that the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union was a long time ago. This is certainly the consequence of all the news that we collect worldwide and integrate over a short period of time. Even the European Football championships already long gone.
EPS awards former Institute of Physics “Historic Site”
Great honour for the Würzburg science: The European Physical Society (EPS) has distinguished the institute where in 1895 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered the radiation later named after him. The building is now the third “Historic Site” of the EPS in Germany.
Call for the Research into the Science of Light Prize 2017
The Quantum Electronics and Optics Division (QEOD) of the European Physical Society is presently soliciting nominations for their biennial prize Research into the Science of Light. Details of the required material to provide are given below.
Statement by Christophe Rossel, President of the EPS, after UK’s decision to leave the EU
Mulhouse, 24 June 2016 – The European Physical Society (EPS) regrets the outcome of the vote by the British people and their decision to leave the European Union. In spite of all possible consequences that might arise from this choice, the popular decision must be respected like in all democratic processes. The result of the UK’s referendum will certainly bring the leaders to start a wider discussion on the future of the union.
Nobel Prize Serge Haroche in Mulhouse for a “conférence exceptionnelle”
The Université de Haute-Alsace in Mulhouse (France) received the visit of the French Nobel Laureate Serge Haroche on 10 June 2016. During his visit, Prof. Haroche gave a lecture as the final event of the European project LIGHT2015, a project coordinated by the European Physical Society that have organized around 120 events in 30 European countries during the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 (IYL 2015).
ALMA Observes Most Distant Oxygen Ever
A team of astronomers has used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to detect glowing oxygen in a distant galaxy seen just 700 million years after the Big Bang. This is the most distant galaxy in which oxygen has ever been unambiguously detected, and it is most likely being ionised by powerful radiation from young giant stars. This galaxy could be an example of one type of source responsible for cosmic reionisation in the early history of the Universe.
CERN – Statement about UK referendum on the EU
Dear Colleagues,
Many people have expressed their concerns about the consequences of the 23 June vote in the UK for CERN, and for the UK’s relationship with CERN. CERN is an intergovernmental organisation subject to its own treaty. We are not part of the European Union, and several of our Member States, including Switzerland, in which we are headquartered, are not EU Members. Britain’s membership of CERN is not affected by the UK electorate’s vote to leave the European Union. We look forward to continuing the very constructive relationship we have shared with the UK, one of our founding members, long into the future.
Hommage to José Mariano Gago – Science and Europe
On June 29, a conference in honour of the life and legacy of the late José Mariano Gago (1948-2015) took place in the European Parliament in Brussels. The event was organised by Ciência Viva (http://www.cienciaviva.pt/). At this occasion government leaders, policy makers, international experts and friends came together to highlight José Mariano’s achievements and their impact on shaping science policy and moving Europe towards a knowledge-based society. JM Gago was a remarkable experimental high-energy physicist, science educator, and one of the most influential European science policy makers in the last couple of decades. Professor of Physics at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, he acted for many years as Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal. JM Gago was also a fervent supporter of the European Physical Society (EPS).
Creation of an Expert Group on Altmetrics and Contribution of the EPS
DG Research and Innovation has established an Expert Group on Altmetrics which will conduct its work over the whole of 2016.
NASA’s Juno Spacecraft in Orbit Around Mighty Jupiter
After an almost five-year journey to the solar system’s largest planet, NASA’s Juno spacecraft successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit during a 35-minute engine burn. Confirmation that the burn had completed was received on Earth at 8:53 p.m. PDT (11:53 p.m. EDT) Monday, July 4.
