Call for EPS Fellows, Honorary Members and Gero Thomas Medal 2016
EPS Members are invited to nominate EPS Individual Members as EPS Fellows. Individuals whose achievements in physics, whether in research, industry or education and/or through commitment to the EPS warrant specific recognition are eligible to become EPS Fellows. Nominations should be sent to EPS Secretary General, David Lee, by 31 January 2016.
Editorial – The how and the why
Democracy relies on an educated population. High quality schools and teachers, classrooms open for all and interesting and exact teaching materials help to teach successive generations. The western world has known 70 years of peaceful co-existence. And although there is considerable turmoil in the world, parts of Asia, Africa and South America are also experiencing unprecedented growth. There are more people that are receiving a high quality education than ever before.
Call for nomination of EPS president-elect
A number of vacancies will arise on the European Physical Society [EPS] Executive Committee in 2016, including the position of President-elect. According to the EPS bylaws, a Selection Committee has been created to establish a list of candidates for the replacement of outgoing members, and for the President-elect.
EPS Distinctions 2015
The 2015 Gero Thomas Medal for outstanding contribution to the European Physical Society was awarded to Gerardo Delgado Barrio, from Madrid, Spain for commitment to the EPS in the fields of international scientific cooperation, outreach and education, and physics for development.
As a member of the EPS Executive Committee from 2001 until 2006, G. Delgado Barrio opened up communications channels to Latin America, notably through the creation of the Federation of Latin American Physical Societies. This allowed the development of EPS activities for physics for development. G. Delgado Barrio
EPS Historic Site – the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory and the Instituut-Lorentz
On 9 February 2015, the European Physical Society [EPS], the Nederlandse Natuurkundige Vereniging – the Netherlands Physical Society [NNV] and the University of Leiden unveiled a plaque commemorating the former location of the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory and the Instituut-Lorentz as an EPS Historic Site. A series of talks preceded the unveiling ceremony, preside by Johannes Maria van Ruitenbeek, the President of the NNV.
Dirk van Delft, the Director of the Boerhaave Science Museum in Leiden gave an overview of the life work of Professor Kamerlingh Onnes, as well as the achievements of the University of Leiden. Carlo Beenaker from the Lorentz …
The new team of the Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics commission (C15) at IUPAP
At the 28th general assembly of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, held in Singapore November 5-7 2014, the new teams of the different IUPAP Commissions have been elected, and complete information can be found at http://iupap.org/.
In the new Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics commission (C15), a few members belong to European Union and the chair of the EPS Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Division [AMOPD], Dominique Vernhet, has been nominated as Secretary. Dominique Vernhet is also the new chairperson of the EPS Conference Committee. They started their …
EPS Council 2015
The annual meeting of the EPS Council took place on 27-28 March 2015 at the Physik Zentrum in Bad Honnef, Germany. It was attended by around 50 delegates, representing EPS Member Societies, Associate Members, Individual members, Divisions, Groups and Committees.
The review of the activities of the EPS in 2014 demonstrated that it is active and lively in federating the European Physics Community. The EPS also contributed to many policy debates throughout the year.
Workshop on physics education at ICTP, Trieste
The International Center of Theoretical Physics [ICTP], the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO Office Venice], the European Physical Society- Committee of European Integration, the Southeastern European Network in Mathematical and Theoretical Physics [SEENET-MTP], the European Science Education Academy organised a workshop on Science Education to discuss and organise future actions and initiatives in the framework of the International Year of Light 2015 mainly focusing in Balkan countries. The workshop was held at the ICTP in Trieste, Italy, from and supported by the Central European Initiative (CEI Trieste) …
Editorial – Hitting the nail on the head
The Opening Ceremony of the International year of Light took place in Paris on 19-20 January 2015. It was a wonderful event, full of exciting science, inspiring uses of technology for social progress, and beautiful artistic representations. Since then, I have been in a number of conversations where people have asked “what is the lasting impact”?
Actually, this question gets asked a lot in any context where the scientific community in general, and the European Physical Society [EPS] in particular becomes involved in outreach or policy initiatives. While it is a good question, and requires a reply, it can be misleading. When it gets asked, the questioner wants to know what this one event (this …
Season’s greetings from the European Physical Society
The European Physical Society would like to take this opportunity of thanking you for your interest and support throughout 2014. It was a year full of activity, from the European community, policy makers and the EPS. We hope that you spend a peaceful and restful holiday season, to prepare for 2015, the International Year of Light and Technology. We look forward to regularly providing you with content of interest to and about the physics community in Europe.
The former position of Chief Science Adviser of the European Commission
On 2 occasions duringthe past year, the European Physical Society has had the opportunity to meet with Prof. Anne Glover, the former the Chief Science Adviser to the President of the European Commission. Our goal was not to promote a specific political agenda, but to ask how we could demonstrate and/or explain how physics contributes to policy objectives of the EC. Our discussions were fruitful, allowing us to better understand the role that the EPS could play in providing information to the EC for evidence based policy making.
CERN Council selects Fabiola Gianotti as next Director-General
At its 173rd Closed Session on 4 November in Geneva, CERN Council selected the Italian physicist, Dr Fabiola Gianotti, as the Organization’s next Director-General. The appointment will be formalised at the December session of Council, and Dr Gianotti’s mandate will begin on 1 January 2016 and run for a period of five years. Council rapidly converged in favour of Dr Gianotti.
“We were extremely impressed with all three candidates put forward by the search committee,” said President of Council Agnieszka Zalewska. “It was Dr Gianotti’s vision for CERN’s future as a world leading accelerator laboratory, …
