Editorial – Advising on Science
One essential question today is how much responsibility must scientists take in advising politicians on science policy issues and other society challenges.
In an article that appeared in EPN45/3 in 2014, entitled ‘Climate change can we afford to wait longer?‘ I expressed my personal view on the need to communicate on important and timely environmental issues. This was an easy process since this opinion was that of a single author. In the meantime, the EPS has published a position paper written by its…
EPS Historic Site: Institut für Radiumforschung Wien
The Institut Radiumforschung (Institute for Radium Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences), in Vienna is the first Historic Site of the European Physical Society in Austria. In a ceremony on 28 May 2015, a commemorative plaque was unveiled by Luisa Cifarelli, Chair of the EPS Historic Site Committee and former President of EPS, and Anton Zeilinger, the President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in front of the building in Boltzmanngasse 3, which was originally constructed for the Institute for Radium Research.
Spring 2015 EPS Emmy Noether Distinction for Anna Fontcuberta i Morral
It is a great pleasure to announce that the Spring 2015 EPS Emmy Noether Distinction for Women in Physics goes to Prof. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, Institut des Matériaux, EPFL, Switzerland. Prof. Fontcuberta i Morral has made pioneering contributions to the physics of semiconductor nanostructures and their applications in mesoscopic physics and energy harvesting.
After a PhD in Materials Science at the Ecole Polytechnique (France), and a postdoctoral contract at the California…
International Year of Light news
International Year of Light at IEEE AFRICON 2015 Conference in Ethiopia
LIGHT2015 – Careers in Photonics Video
FIAT LUX Conference: Let There Be Light
Magic Optics
LIGHT2015 Project at CLEO®/Europe-EQEC 2015
The LIGHT2015 Project -ccordinated by the EPS – was present at the LASER World of PHOTONICS Congress and Trade Fair 2015 that was held in Munich from 21 to 25 June supporting a high-profile event and organizing several events to promote careers and entrepreneurship in Photonics.
The events organized and supported by the LIGHT2015 project started on Sunday 21 June with a Networking Event with Light Refreshments that took place before the ECBO-CLEO/Europe 2015 International Year of Light…
An incredible week of light!
From the 21st to the 25th of June 2015, the International Congress Center of Munich, Germany, welcomed the European Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO®/Europe) and the European Quantum Electronics Conference (EQEC). These two meetings belong to a series of conferences co-organized for over 20 years by the European Physical Society, the Optical Society (OSA) and IEEE Photonics Society. Hosted by LASER 2015 World of PHOTONICS, the world’s largest trade fair on Laser Technology, this 13th edition of CLEO®/Europe-EQEC was announced as the major European event of the International Year of Light.
EPS Energy Group Position Paper
The European Physical Society (EPS) publishes its Position Paper “European Energy Policy and Global Reduction of CO2 emissions: Towards an effective sustainable electricity production in Europe”.
One of the greatest global challenges of our times is climate change. Addressing it requires policies fostering the transition to low-carbon societies and economies which, at the same time, will ensure the availability of sustainable, secure and affordable energy.
The Position Paper prepared by the Energy Group of EPS focuses on electricity production by non-fossil sources. It discusses the leading role of Europe in the broader context of the world energy problem and provides various policy recommendations.
In the context of the Energy Union Strategy and in the run-up to COP21, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Paris in December 2015, the European Physical Society hopes that this document will contribute to stimulating discussions in order to arrive at a farsighted and effective EU and world energy policy.
Retain Hungary in the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility!
Hungary has been member of Europe’s most powerful synchrotron light source, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble (ESRF, http://www.esrf.eu/) since 2000. The research infrastructure serving, in the first line, material structure and analytical studies is being used by about 20 groups from Hungarian universities and research institutes mainly in the field of engineering and physical sciences as well as life sciences. The annual membership fee of Hungary to ESRF is 245 thousand euros for which, however, presently no funding body can be identified. This practically…
CSIC Golden Medal awarded to Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
On 11 June 2015, Dame Jocelyn Bell was awarded the Golden Medal of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) for her fundamental role in the discovery of pulsars.
The medal was presented by the President of CSIC, Emilio Lora-Tamayo. The ceremony took place at the main hall of CSIC in Madrid (Spain) and was followed by the conference “Reflections on the discovery of pulsars” presented by Professor Bell.
The power of physics: physics as myth-buster
The Young Minds Valladolid section is included in the non-profit association Physics League which has engaged in several outreach activities in 2015. One of them is a show to demystify some of the most common beliefs of pseudo-science called “The power of physics”. In this show some apparently ‘paranormal’ tricks or “superpowers” are easily explained with physical laws. For instance:
- Levitation: We have constructed the same levitating system with steel rods used by ‘yogis’ in…
Winners announced in Learning with Light Competition 2015
The winners of the Inspiring Science Education [ISE] Competition entitled Learning with Light were announced this afternoon at the Awards Ceremony of the Science on Stage 2015 Festival in London.
The two winners are …
Recommendations for evaluation of experimental particle physicists
The European Committee for Future Accelerators [ECFA] and the High Energy and Particle Physics Division of the European Physical Society [EPS-HEPP] have jointly prepared a document to help professional committees to assess the achievements of individual particle physicists from large experimental collaborations. The document is motivated by the need to explain to scientists from outside the community of experimental high-energy physics the way these collaborations, of few hundred to few thousand members, are organized in order to design, build and carry out the scientific program of large-scale experiments.
