Editorial – The light shines on!
The International Year of Light Closing Ceremony took place in Mexico from 4-7 February 2016, bringing together diplomats and decision-makers, Nobel laureates, and science and industry leaders to both review the many successes of the International Year, as well as to look at concrete steps to ensure a lasting impact and legacy.
I had the great honour in the Opening Session to provide an overview of the year’s activities, and in preparing for this in January, it was remarkable to learn just how much had been achieved.
Inspired by light: close of the International Year of Light
The International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 [IYL 2015] celebrated its closing ceremony on 4-6 February 2016 in the city of Mérida, Mexico. During three days, over 300 participants reviewed the activities and major outcomes of the IYL 2015 as well as discussed potential legacies of the Year.
The Highest French civil award for Sydney Galès
The highest French civil award “Chevalier de la legion d’honneur” was conferred on Sydney Galès for his lifelong excellent achievements in science and his great service to the community. He received the honour on November 9, 2015 from the French secretary of state for Higher education and research. The ceremony took place at the ‘Frederic and Irène Joliot-Curie’ auditorium of the institute of Nuclear Physics of Orsay (IPN-Orsay) in the presence of a large number of French, European and Japanese colleagues. It was an excellent opportunity to reminisce about and contemplate Sydney’s contributions to science and to the community of Nuclear Physics in Europe and worldwide.
The Dutch Journal of Physics released a special issue on light
With the Dutch Journal of Physics the NNV aim to reach out to the community of physicists with an interest in developments in physics research, industry and education in the Netherlands, but whose knowledge of Dutch is not sufficient for comfortably reading the printed journal. In 2016, the NNV decided to start publishing an English version of the Society’s Journal four times a year under the name Dutch Journal of Physics (DJoP).
Wendelstein 7-X fusion device produces its first hydrogen plasma
The Wendelstein 7-X fusion device at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald produced its first hydrogen plasma on 3 February 2016. This marks the start of scientific operation. Wendelstein 7-X, the world’s largest fusion device of the stellarator type, is to investigate this configuration’s suitability for use in a power plant.
ACFA – IPAC’16 Accelerator Prizes
Asian Committee for Future Accelerators (ACFA), IPAC’16 Accelerator Prizes awarded.
The EPS Young Scientist Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 2016
Applications are sought for the Young Scientist Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics [AMOP], which will be awarded, for the first time, in 2016 by the Divisional Board during the 12th European Conference on Atoms, Molecules and Photons [ECAMP-12] to be held on September 5-9, 2016, in Frankfurt, Germany.
Call for expressions of interest to host EuNPC2018
The Nuclear Physics Division [NPD] of the European Physical Society [EPS] is calling for expressions of interest to host the European Nuclear Physics Conference 2018 [EuNPC2018].
ESA announcement for new science ideas
Through this Call the Director of Science solicits from the broad scientific community proposals for the competitive selection of new “Science Ideas”, to be investigated in terms of feasibility and needed technology developments.
Interested parties planning to submit a proposal are required, as indicated below, to send a mandatory Letter of Intent by 9 May and will be invited to attend a briefing meeting on 8 June (date TBC).
The present Call is open to science ideas in all areas of Space Science. No limitations to the science goals addressed are imposed on the proposals.
Letter of Intent for KM3NeT 2.0
On 28 January 2016, scientists of the KM3NeT Collaboration have publicly announced KM3NeT 2.0, their ambition for the immediate future to further exploit the clear waters of the deep Mediterranean Sea for the detection of cosmic and atmospheric neutrinos. The published Letter of Intent details the science performance as well as the technical design of the KM3NeT 2.0 infrastructure.
IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 2016
Nominations are sought for the Young Scientist Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical [AMO] Physics, which will be awarded in 2016 by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics through Commission C15 [AMO Physics]. The prize will be awarded during the 25th International Conference on Atomic Physics [ICAP] to be held on 24-29 July 2016 at Seoul, Korea. The Prize includes a certificate, a medal, a EURO 1,000 award and an invited presentation at ICAP.
IUPAP/IUPAC Joint Working Party on the Discovery of Elements Validates Claims for Four New Elements
The claims for four new elements have been validated in two new reports from the IUPAC/IUPAP Joint Working Party (JWP) and accepted for publication in Pure and Applied Chemistry. The addition of the four, namely elements 113, 115,117, and 118, represents a significant milestone because it completes the seventh row of the Periodic Table. The new elements add to the remarkable progress in extending the periodic table following 114 and 116 validated in 2011, and element 112 validated in 2009.
