Pioneering IZEST international laser centre launched
The International Zetawatt-Exawatt Science Technology [IZEST] launching workshop was held at the Ecole Polytechnique, in Palaiseau, France on 28-29 November this year. The programme of the workshop involved a wide variety of lectures relating to the IZEST project – and the signature of the IZEST agreement by Xavier Michel, of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique [CEA], and Daniel Verwaerde, also of the CEA.
IZEST is to be the first international laser centre, which is designed to explore fundamental physics at the highest-energy frontiers. The European Physical Society – which was represented at the meeting by John Dudley – would like to…
Updated astroparticle roadmap welcomed
European funding agencies are welcoming the priorities for the future of astroparticle physics, which have been laid out in the update to the European roadmap for astroparticle physics which was published at the end of last month. The update follows on from the initial roadmap, released in 2008, which aimed to define the research infrastructures which are necessary for the development of this field.
“The update of the roadmap provides a better picture of what will come first on the menu,” said Christian Spiering, the chair of both the Astroparticle European Research Area [ASPERA] and the Astroparticle Physics European…
Science Europe launches to strengthen research ties
The launch of Science Europe was announced at a festive launch event held in Berlin on 21 October this year. The organisation, based in Brussels, will act to bring together 50 research and funding organisations from across Europe, to foster excellence in European research by promoting the interests of its members and streamlining the coordination of policies and activities.
The event, held following the final general assembly and dissolution of the European Heads of Research Councils the day before, was attended by around 150 prominent figures from the scientific and political community: including…
European Commission announces Horizon 2020
Horizon 2020, an 80 billion euro programme for investment in innovation and research, was officially announced by the European Commission on 30 November 2011.
For more information, please visit the new Horizon 2020 website.
Morning on the Open Access Gold model
A brainstorming session focusing on the Open Access Gold model for physics publications is being held at the Institut Henri Poincare, Paris, on 19 January, 2012. The European Physical Society president, Luisa Cifarelli, will be speaking at the event.
The event is being organised by the Société Française de Physique, with support from the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique, EDP Sciences and Centre national de la recherche scientifique.
Registration at the event is free, but required. For more information, please visit the event website.
APMAS 2012
The 2012 Advances in Applied Physics and Material Science Congress [APMAS 2012] is being held in the Kremlin Palace Hotel in Antalya, Turkey, from 26-29 April next year.
Topics which will be covered at the congress include: condensed matter physics; engineering and industrial physics, instrumentation metrology and standards; materials science & engineering; nanoscience and nanotechnology; optical Physics, quantum electronics and photonics; and quantum, atomic and nuclear physics.
The congress is also offering space in the conference area for companies and institutions to showcase their equipment…
CHEP 2012
The 2012 Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics [CHEP 2012] conference is being held at New York University’s Skirball and Kimmel Centers, in Greenwich Village, on 21-25 May next year.
The conference, which is being organised by Brookhaven National Laboratory and New York University, is also being sponsored by ACEOLE, Data Direct Networks, DELL and NEXSAN.
Advanced registration for CHEP 2012 is mandatory. Early registration closes on 31 January 2012. The is a discounted fee for students…
Altarelli and Parisi given prestigious physics awards
The European Physical Society would like to congratulate Guido Altarelli and Giorgo Parisi, who have recently been presented with prestigious awards for their work in the field of physics.
Altarelli – alongside Tornbjorn Sjøstrand and Bryan Webber – is one of the recipients of the 2012 J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics, which is given by the American Physical Society. He is being presented the award for his “key ideas leading to the detailed confirmation of the Standard Model of particle physics, enabling high energy experiments to extract precise information about quantum chromodynamics, electroweak interactions and possible new physics…”
CERN and Ars Electronica first digital art resident
The first Prix Ars Electronica Collide@CERN was awarded to Julius Von Bismarck, the noted German artist, at CERN, Geneva, on 6 December 2011. Winning 3 months as artist in residence at CERN and Ars Electronica, along with 10,000 Euros in prize money, Von Bismarck – a growing name in the artistic community – is known for taking inspiration for his from philosophic and scientific ideas.
The jury reportedly chose him for his ability to playfully combine the arts and the sciences, and “his proposal and work which manipulates and criticises our notions of reality in unpredictable ways, often with inventive use of video…”
