21st DYMAT technical meeting
The 21st DYMAT technical meeting, “High speed imaging for dynamic testing of materials and structures”, will be held on 18-20 November 2013 at the Institute of Physics [IOP], London.
Topics under discussion at the conference will include: applications, camera/equipment assessment, constitutive behaviour, failure/fracture, full-field measurements data processing, high and ultra-high speed full-field thermal measurements, innovative test design, methodology, metrology…
Physics Students in UK Higher Education report
The Institute of Physics has published a new statistical report, ‘Physics Students in UK Higher Education Institutions’. The document provides an overview of students in undergraduate, masters and doctoral programmes, in physics and a select number of other subjects, in the United Kingdom.
The report – the third in a series aiming to provide comprehensive data on all higher education and research matters – is based on data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the central source for the statistics on publicly funded…
IoP report benchmarks physics research in the UK
The Institute of Physics has published a report on the “Bibliometric evaluation and international benchmarking of the UK’s physics research”.
The publication reports a decline in the United Kingdom’s share of physics paper publications over the last decade – a trend seen across most G7 countries, following an increase in the output of Chinese research. Despite this, the UK’s contribution was regarded as still having a significant impact…
24th EPS Condensed Matter Division Conference
The 24th Conference of the European Physical Society Condensed Matter Division [CMD-24] is being held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre between 3-7 September this year. The conference is being held in parallel with the 11th European Conference on Surface Crystallography and Dynamics [ECSCD-11], the 29th European Conference on Surface Science [ECOSS-29] and the 2012 UK Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Conference [CMMP-12]…
Institute of Physics appoints Palmer temporary CEO
The Institute of Physics Council has appointed Stuart Palmer as temporary CEO, following the vacation of the position by Bob Kirby-Harris, who has stepped down due to health issues. A full-time replacement will be appointed by the council – which is headed by current president Peter Knight – in the summer.
Palmer, who has been honorary secretary since October 2009, has a long standing relationship with the institute. In addition, Palmer was also the pro-vice-chancellor for research at Warwick University, from 1995 to 2001…
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…
IoP publishes new booklet on ‘The age of the qubit’
‘The age of the qubit – A new era of quantum information in science and technology’ is a new booklet published by the UK’s Institute of Physics, which examines the innovative research being undertaken in the field of quantum information processing.
The behaviour of physical systems at the quantum level is being used to process and transfer information in a new and powerful way, which could potentially lead to the creation of a new type of information processing device – the quantum computer – with many applications for society…
Physics World: reporting from the frontiers of science
e-EPS spoke with Matin Durrani, the editor of Physics World, the membership magazine of the UK Institute of Physics.
Who is Physics World aimed at?
The readers of Physics World, and its sister website physicsworld.com, all have one thing in common: a love and passion for physics – whether they’re using CERN’s Large Hadron Collider to search for the Higgs boson or building a new…
EPS proposes study into physics and the economy
The EPS is investigating the feasibility of launching a study into physics and the economy, on a European scale. Research will go ahead if it is deemed that such can be done in a timely and cost effective manner.
In 2007, the UK Institute of Physics (IoP) commissioned a similar study entitled ‘Physics and the UK Economy’ – which can be read on the IoP website. The report – which examined the role of physics-based sectors in generating employment – added value and support to other sectors of the economy.
Executive Committee Meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria
The EPS Executive Committee travelled to Sofia over 20-21 May, to meet with representatives from the Balkan Physical Union and the Union of Bulgarian Physicists.
Our Bulgarian colleagues demonstrated impressive levels of activity; with the organisation of various schools, publications and workshops – in spite of their struggles with a very tight context for research and teaching…
