Nominations open for Plasma Physics Division election
Nominations are now open for six positions on the board of the European Physical Society Plasma Physics Division. The duties of the Plasma Physics Division board members are “to promote excellent in research by rewarding researchers who have achieved outstanding scientific or technological results; to coordinate activities with other physical societies; to regularly attend board meetings; and to become individual members of the European Physical Society.”
These elections follow on from the appointment, last December, of Sylvie Jacquemot as the upcoming chair…
Belgium centre unveils safer nuclear reactor design
A new, safer method of operating lead-cooled nuclear reactors has been demonstrated at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre. The operational model, Guinevere, uses a particle accelerator to control nuclear reactions.
As the new reactor design – referred to as an Accelerator Driven System [ADS] – requires an external neutron source to operate, an immediate shutdown can be brought about by simply turning off the particle accelerator. This makes Guinevere both much safer and easier to control…
NPAE-Kyiv2012
The 4th International Conference on Current Problems in Nuclear Physics and Atomic Energy [NPAE-Kyiv2012] is being held from 10-14 September this year, at the Institute of Postgraduate Education of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, in, Ukraine.
Topics being covered at the conference include: applied nuclear physics, experimental facilities and detection techniques; collective processes in atomic nuclei; high-energy physics; neutron and reactor physics, nuclear data; nuclear reactions…
ICSFS16
The 16th International Conference on Solid Films and Surfaces [ICSFS16] is being held on 1-6 July 2012, at the of the University of Genoa’s Faculty of Architecture, in Italy.
Topics under discussion include: bio-functionalization and sensing; carbon based nanostructures and grapheme;catalysis and surface reactions; films for photovoltaic applications; film growth; fuel cells and hydrogen storage; insulator and oxide surfaces and films; magnetism and spintronics; mechanical characterization and tribology; metallic films…
Call for 2012 IUPAP C11 Young Scientist Prize
Nominations are now open for the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize for the Commission of Particles and Fields (C11). The prizes, of which there are two given each year, are presented in recognition of outstanding young experimental or theoretical particle physicists.
The awards, consisting of a medal and 1000 euros in prize money, will be presented at the 36th International Conference on High Energy Physics, which is being held in Melbourne, Australia on 4-11 July this year…
Appeal for 2012 Student Grant Programme sponsors
The European Physical Society Accelerator Group [EPS-AG] is appealing for sponsors for the 2012 Student Grant Programmes, to send European students to the IPAC’12 conference.
The Student Grant Programmes from the last two years were hugely successful; over 50 students attended IPAC’10, and the combined sponsorship programmes involved with IPAC’11 enabled over 107 students worldwide to attend – around a tenth of the total number of participants…
Call for new Landau-Spitzer plasma physics prize
Nominations are now open for the first Landau-Spitzer award for outstanding contributions to plasma physics. The award, which is being given jointly by the American Physical Society and the European Physical Society, celebrates the long-standing collaboration between the societies in the field of plasma physics.
The prizes, which may be given to individuals or teams of up to four people, will be presented at the opening session of the 16th International Congress on Plasma Physics, which is being held in Stockholm on 2 July this year…
Core of fusion experiment completed
The last major part of the Wendelstein 7-X fusion experiment was installed on 21 December last year. The addition of the 14 tonne final part of the device – the lid of the thermally insulating outer shell – sees the completion of the ring-like base machine, at the Greifswald branch of the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics, which will begin operation in 2014.
Fusion research aims to draw energy from the fusion of atomic nuclei – the same power source which drives the sun. To achieve this, hydrogen plasma must be superheated to temperatures above 100 million degrees, within the confines of…
Serbia to be CERN Associate Member
The CERN Council unanimously voted to admit the Republic of Serbia as an Associate Member State of CERN, during their 161st council meeting, on 16 December last year. The final step in this process will involve the signature of the related agreement, and ratification by the Serbian Parliament. Following a five year maximum period of Associate Membership, the council will decide on the admission of Serbia to full membership.
“It’s a pleasure to welcome Serbia back into the family,” said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer…
Nicolae-Victor Zamfir new Nuclear Physics Division chair
Nicolae-Victor Zamfir is the new chair of the European Physical Society’s Nuclear Physics Division. Zamfir, from Bucharest, took up the role on the 1 January this year.
“I am sure with his scientific reputation and management experience, Victor [will be] an excellent chairman for the next two years,” said Zsolt Fulop, the outgoing chair.
Zamfir, who is the Director General of the National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering in Bucharest…
Record number UK physics teachers in training
The number of physics teachers in training in the United Kingdom has reached a record high, according to census data published at the end of last month. The statistics from the Training and Development Agency for Schools [TDA] – which have been taken since 1979 – report that 864 people are in training to become physics specialists this year, and increase of 30 per cent from 2010.
“We hope that these very impressive numbers represent the beginning of the much-needed sea change in recruitment to physics teaching,” said Peter Main, the Director of Education and Science at the Institute of Physics…
EPL article highlighted in French newspaper Le Monde
An article published in EPL was featured in the French daily newspaper Le Monde on 29 November. The piece, ‘Comment la goutte d’eau lévite sur le fil de la scie’, concerns the article ‘Viscous mechanism for Leidenfrost propulsion on a ratchet’, by G. Dupeux, M. Le Merrer, G. Lagubeau, C. Clanet, S. Hardt and D. Quéré, which was published in volume 96, issue 5 of EPL.
“An evaporating drop placed on a ratchet self-propels, as discovered by Linke et al. in 2006. Sublimating platelets do the same, and we discuss here a possible viscous mechanism for these motions. We report that the flow of vapor below…
