On June 2 and 3, the EPS held its first Forum at the International Conference Center of Sorbonne University (SU) in Paris, France. Prepared for more than a year with our Member Societies and our Divisions and Groups, the EPS Forum welcomed 487 participants among whom 184 students coming from 30 different countries.   

The format of the EPS Forum (www.epsforum.org) included a series of conferences, round tables and workshops on the following topics: Energy and sustainability, accelerators, high-energy particle physics, nuclear physics, quantum technologies and photonics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, biophysics, technological sequencing of biomolecules and human health, condensed matter physics: from quantum materials to additive manufacturing.

The objective of the EPS Forum was to showcase the latest developments in the above fields of physics, both from their potential links with the industry and current opportunities of employment for the young physicists and from the most recent achievements in fundamental science. The EPS Forum, therefore, dedicated two days for each of these goals.

Thursday June 2^nd was devoted to “physics meeting industry”. This meeting fostered direct exchanges between physicists - with a majority of master, PhD students, postdocs and early-career researchers - and stakeholders and managers of physics-based industrial companies. This first day of the Forum was opened by a plenary conference given by Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth about filling the gap between science and innovation. More than 60 young researchers were able to present the results of their research during a long poster session.

Friday June 3^rd hosted a scientific colloquium highlighting the latest achievements in physics by the most outstanding physicists in Europe and beyond. The morning session welcomed three laureates of the Physics Nobel prize, namely, Prof. Barry Barish from Caltech, USA, who talked about gravitational waves and the LIGO collaboration, Prof. Serge Haroche from École Normale Supérieure & Collège de France in Paris, who surveyed the history of quantum physics to its latest developments in applied research, and Prof. Michael Kosterlitz from Brown University, USA, who addressed theoretical and numerical issues on the solving of nonlinear partial differential equations. All along this second day, several round tables dealt with various societal topics, such as physics training and the gap between schools and universities, strengthening the EPS Member Societies through structures for mutual support, or the European Research Council (ERC) and Widening Participation of Eastern and Southern States, for which Andrzej Jajszczyk, ERC Vice-President for physics, was invited to give a talk.

In parallel to these two days, three hands-on sessions dedicated to quantum computing and a masterclass on scientific writing trained our students on these different topics, while the patio of the Conference Center housed 25 stands that experienced fruitful exchanges with students looking for job opportunities.

Also, the EPS Young Minds held their annual Leadership Meeting, a very successful event full of participants from all over the world. 25 representatives from the International Association of Physics Students (IAPS) and 25 others from the 5 Universities of the SU 4Eu+ Alliance were moreover invited by the EPS to enjoy the different conferences and sessions of the Forum. Some of them helped our secretariat in the logistics of the event and we thank very much these student helpers.

The Forum was financially supported by several Member Societies of the EPS and by many sponsors for which a wall of logos was especially prepared: More than 70 research organisations, large industrial groups, medium and small-sized companies, leading start-ups and learned societies positively responded to our invitation to contribute to this event. In particular, several EPS Associate Members were directly involved in its organisation. The programme committee included 75 members from all the EPS constitutive bodies who met monthly to prepare the Forum and the EPS Secretariat managed the conference in highly professional manner.

In summary this first edition of the EPS Forum clearly demonstrated the possibility to make all the EPS components regularly work over a year in order to achieve all together a place and a while to promote the young generation of European physicists, to bridge the gap between academic research and industry, and to still advertise the latest developments in fundamental physics at the highest level.

The Forum allowed all our community to meet and share mutual interests in a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere. Installing this event over time is the next challenge for the EPS. 

A few photos extracted from the Forum, including Serge Haroche’s plenary talk in the auditorium, a hands-on session,
the lunch break at the patio of the Conference Center and the Young Minds Leadership Meeting.