Consultation on the future of European Union Research

The outcome of the consultation on European Union research and innovation funding was discussed, at a major conference in Brussels, on 10 June this year. The consultation – which the EPS contributed to – was based on a European Commission Green Paper, which was published earlier this year, on 9 February.

The Green Paper proposed major changes to EU research and innovation funding, in order to increase the scientific and economic impact, to make participation easier and to provide better value for money…

Physicists encouraged to consider carbon footprint

Physicists are being encouraged to take a look at the size of their carbon footprint. In the October issue of Physics World, University of Oxford astrophysicist Phil Marshall calls on his colleagues worldwide to be an example in the fight against climate change.

Not only must one consider the impact of large scientific facilities – such as ground-based telescopes and particle accelerators, which can often have considerable energy demands – but also the effects on an individual scale. Marshall’s research shows that – in the field of astrophysics alone – researchers themselves average 23,000 air miles each year…

Passion for Light workshop

The Passion for Light workshop was held on the 16 September in the Villa Monastero, in Varenna, Italy. The event – which was jointly organised by the European Physical Society and the Italian Physical Society – saw the official launch of an initiative by the EPS Quantum Electronics and Optics Division to declare 2015 the International Year of Light, under the auspices of the United Nations.

Following the opening addresses, a comprehensive series of light-themed lectures followed, covering a wide variety of topics from ‘Passion for precision’, by Theodor Hänsch; ‘Trapping the light fantastic’, by Diederik Wiersma…

Call for nominations for EPS CMD Europhysics Prize

Nominations for the 2012 EPS CMD Europhysics Prize are now open. The prize – one Europe’s most prestigious awards in the field of condensed matter physics – is awarded every two years, in recognition of excellent work in the field, by one or more individuals.

The prize will be given at a ceremony during the 24th EPS CMD General Conference, which is being held on 3-7 September 2012 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, in the United Kingdom…

‘The Antikythera Mechanism’ at ECHO PHYSICS

The ‘The Antikythera mechanism – an astronomical and calendrical computer’ exhibition will be showing for two months this year at the European Centre for History of Physics (ECHO PHYSICS), Poellau Castle, Austria.

The exhibit focusses on the mechanical parts discovered by Greek divers, off of the coast of Antikythera, in the wreck of an ancient Roman Ship, in 1900. The so-called ‘Antikythera mechanism’, which has been dated to 100 BC, is believed to be the oldest known scientific calculator, used to calculate astronomical positions…

Israel a CERN Associate Member State

Israel has been made a CERN Associate Member State, following the signing of an admission document by the Director General of CERN, Rolf Heuer, and the Israeli Ambassador to Geneva, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, on 16 September.

Following ratification of the document by the Knesset – the legislative branch of the Israeli government – Israel will assume Associate Member status with CERN for a minimum of two years. At the end of this period, the CERN council will decide on the admission of Israel into full Membership…

EU Whoiswho Directory

The European Union publishes an online directory, Whoiswho, which gives giving contact information for individuals working at the various European institutions. The directory can be searched in three ways: by individual, by hierarchy and by organizational entity.

This latter feature may be useful for EPS Member Societies; who, for example, might wish to contact their representative to the Council of the European Commission…

Rudolf Mößbauer

The European Physical Society would like to pay tribute to one of its former members, Rudolf L. Mößbauer, who passed away, at the age of 82, on 14 September this year.

Mößbauer, who was born in Munich in 1929, worked with the Technical University of Munich, the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, the California Institute of Technology and the Institut Laue–Langevin during his career.

He is perhaps most well-known for his PhD work, in which he detailed and explained the recoilless nuclear fluorescence…

EPS’s Caterina Biscari interviewed in El País

The EPS’s Caterina Biscari has been featured in the Spanish daily newspaper El País. Biscari, a member of the EPS Executive Committee, was interviewed at the 2011 International Particle Accelerator Conference as part of the paper’s “Breakfast with…” column – where she discussed the role of women in science.

The full interview can be read, in Spanish, on the El País website. Alternatively, an English translation can be viewed through Google Translate.

2011 Nobel Prize in Physics

The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Saul Perlmutter, Adam Riess and Brian Schmidt for their discovery, in 1998, of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae. The prize, given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, was presented on 4 October this year.

While a surprise to the scientific community of the time, the notion that the universe’s expansion is accelerating is now a well-grounded foundation in modern cosmology. The discovery, which addressed Einstein’s cosmological constant, both constrained the ultimate fate of the universe to never-ending cooling and expansion…

Forum Physics and Society

The fifth EPS Forum Physics and Society – looking at Physicists in the marketplace – will be held at CERN, in Switzerland, between 28-29 March next year. The meeting will focus on the challenges experienced by physicists who pursue alternative careers in the marketplace, outside of teaching and university based research.

The first part of the meeting will revolve around the invited keynote contributions, defining the issues concerning physicists who enter the global marketplace. The forum will then split into groups to discuss the different aspects and to draft reports…

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…