Editorial – I have worked for a learned society
The EPS hired me during the very cold winter 2012 and I am going to leave my position of communication coordinator by the end of this summer. I already cast a wistful eye on my desk. Amongst other fancy items that are arranged on the wall, my collection of badges best summarises my 38 months at the EPS. In particular, it reminds me of the early time, when I nervously asked myself: What is a learned society? Concretely, what does the EPS do?Badges are souvenirs of the people I have met during the many events that I attended. The EPS allowed me to meet a lot of people: my co-workers -of course-, physicists -of course again-, policymakers, teachers…
E-ELT gets off the ground
On June 2014, an explosion disturbed the silence of the Acatama Desert in Chile. Part of the 3000-metre peak of Cerro Armazones was blasted away in order to prepare a level platform that will host ESO’s European Extremely Large Telescope [E-ELT], the largest optical/infrared telescope in the world.
The Atacama Desert is one of the favourite places for astronomers because of its exceptional conditions: the extremely arid mountain region, that is far away from any source of light pollution, offers a clear sky most of the time. This environment, chosen as the location for the future E-ELT, will also present new…
Portuguese research re-evaluated
To grant 322 scientific proposals for the next 5 years, the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation [FCT] worked together with the European Science Foundation [ESF] for the first time. The distribution of funding raises questions concerning the future of some active physics groups.
The FCT, which is the primary funding body in Portugal, conducted an evaluation of research units across the country in all science fields and announced the first results this summer: 22% of the Portuguese units evaluated were…
International Year of Light News
SIF launched an IYL 2015 webpage
On the occasion of the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies in 2015 [IYL 2015], the Italian Physical Society [SIF] is acting as “contact hub” for a number of national learned societies and of national research…
Dark Skies awareness activities
The IAU will promote 5 cornerstone projects (namely Quality Lighting Teaching Kits, Cosmic Light EDU, Light: Beyond the Bulb, Cosmic Light Awareness, and the Galileoscope) to promote the dark skies awareness (as mentioned in..
The LHC is waking up
Many theories consider sleeping as a boost in human performance. This is exactly what is happening at the LHC at CERN. After almost 2 years of silent signal, sections of the LHC are reactivated one by one with upgraded performance. The wake-up period will last for the next few months until the 13 TeV physics programme can fully begin in 2015.
Even if no data measurements are currently underway in the LHC, many things have happened during the 18-month shutdown that began in 2013. Indeed, major upgrades have been undertaken, in particular regarding the proton synchrotron and the super proton synchrotron. Incredible efforts have been deployed to upgrade…
Rosetta has arrived at the comet
“We are delighted to announce finally ‘we are here’,” says Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General. After 10 years of travelling through the solar system, the ESA’ Rosetta spacecraft began its manoeuvre to orbit the Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on 6 August 2014. The first images of the Rosetta’s rendezvous with the comet were presented during an event held at ESA’s Space Operations Centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany, on the same day.
Named after the Rosetta Stone, which was discovered in 1822 and whose engravings have helped to understand hieroglyphs, the Rosetta spacecraft was launched in 2004. The trajectory to reach…
SCOAP3: more than 2000 Open Access articles online
Two thousand Open Access articles have been published with SCOAP3 funding since January 2014 in 10 journals from 11 publishers and learned societies. These articles are released under a CC-BY license, and available on the SCOAP3 repository in several formats. Scientists from over 80 countries have freely published in SCOAP3 journals so far.The Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics [SCOAP3] is operated at CERN in Switzerland and managed by an international consortium of thousands of libraries in 35 countries that redirects funds previously used for subscriptions to instead support Open Access. All articles are published under…
M. Meedom Nielsen and L. Börjesson elected by and for the European XFEL
The European XFEL welcomed Martin Meedom Nielsen as its Council Chairman, and Lars Börjesson as Council Vice Chairman. The two newly appointed persons begin their mandates during a period crucial to the success of the facility.
To manage the European XFEL, which is a non-profit company, 2 governance bodies have been set up. First, the Management Board is comprised of 5 directors who are working to implement and coordinate efforts for the completion and the operational running of the facility. Secondly, the Council, which is a supreme organ of the company, meets twice a year and decides on main issues of the construction or activities of…
Is scientific integrity threatened by US sanctions against Iran?
Scientific activities are not isolated from the societal activities. Economic crisis, wars, support grants, policy etc. can influence working conditions for scientists.
Recently, the US strengthened its trade restrictions with Iran, stemming from the US policy against “targeted foreign countries […], those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” The restrictions recommend US publishers of scientific journals to avoid the publication of scientific papers submitted by Iranian scientists…
EPS supports your events
The EPS Conference Department is open to organise and manage events for the EPS divisions and groups. With over 10 years of experience, the conference team can manage all aspects of your conference or event – ensuring that it runs smoothly, looks professional and stays within budget.
Services available include the branding, and logos for your conference; website design and maintenance; marketing and promotion within the physics community; on-site registration and support; packs and badges for conference…
Prize for Research into the Science of Light call
The European Physical Society [EPS] Prize for Research into the Science of Light is awarded on behalf of the EPS through its Quantum Electronics & Optics Division [QEOD]. The prize is awarded every 2 years in recognition of recent work by one or more individuals (no more than three) for scientific excellence in the area of electromagnetic science in its broadest sense, across the entire spectrum of electromagnetic waves.
The first Prize for Research into the Science of Light was awarded during Nanometa 2013 on 3 January 2013 in Seefeld. Austria, to Philip StJ Russell, from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light…
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