EPS Fellows

EPS Members are invited to nominate EPS Individual Members as EPS Fellows. Individuals whose achievements in physics, whether in research, industry or education and/or through commitment to the EPS warrant specific recognition are eligible to become EPS Fellows. Nominations should be sent to EPS Secretary General, David Lee, by 15th January 2023.

More information about EPS Fellows, including the list of current EPS Fellows and the rules for nomination, is available on the EPS website.

Honorary Members

EPS Members are invited to nominate outstanding individuals as Honorary Members of the EPS.
Distinguished persons whose outstanding achievements in physics or a related science whom the European Physical Society especially desires to honour can be elected EPS Honorary Members. In addition, distinguished individuals whom the EPS may desire to honour for exceptional service to the Society in furtherance of its aims and objectives shall also be eligible to become Honorary Members.

Nominations should be made no later than 15th January 2023 to EPS Secretary General, David Lee.

More information, including the list of current EPS Honorary Members and the rules for nomination, is available on the EPS website.

Gero Thomas medal

The Gero Thomas Commemorative Medal was created in 2000 to honour the memory of G. Thomas, who was the Secretary General of the EPS from 1973 to 1997 and played an essential role in the growth and the development of the Society. The Commemorative Medal is awarded to individuals for their outstanding service to the Society. More information about the award, and a list of recipients can be found here: http://www.eps.org/?page=distinction_prize_gt 

EPS Members (Member Societies, Individual Members, and Associate members) are invited to make nominations for the 2023 Gero Thomas Commemorative Medal. 

Nominations should be made no later than 15th January 2023 to EPS Secretary General, David Lee.

Please note that The Medal may not be awarded to any person currently member or having been member of the Executive Committee in the past three years.  To complete the nomination, the nominator is asked to provide the following documents:
(i) The references of the nominee (Name, first name, full postal address, email address, phone and fax numbers)
(ii) A description of the services of the individual to the Society (maximum & A4 page)
(iii) A suggested citation (maximum 250 words)
(iv) Nominee's academic and professional background, and professional honours
(v) Three supporters statements 

All proposals will be treated in confidence. Although they will be acknowledged there will be no further communication.

The EPS Achievement Award

The EPS Achievement Award is given annually by the European Physical Society for excellent contributions to the promotion and development of: EPS Divisions or their Sections; EPS Groups; EPS Committees. This award recognises activities, and achievements, which have favoured EPS internal collaboration and effectively promoted the image and the impact of the EPS within the scientific community, policy makers and other stakeholders

More information about the award can be found here: https://www.eps.org/page/distinction_prize_AA

Nominations should be made no later than 15th January 2023 to EPS Secretary General, David Lee.

The award ceremony as EPS Historic Site of the Institute of Complementary Physics of Milan University took place in the hall of the Department of Physics “Aldo Pontremoli” on 16^th September 2022. The award plate was unveiled by the EPS President Luc Bergé and the Director of the Department of Physics “Aldo Pontremoli” Giovanni Onida after their institutional greetings, at the presence of Luisa Cifarelli, of the EPS Historic Site Committee. A further greeting was given by the President of the Italian Physical Society Angela Bracco, and a short historical talk by Leonardo Gariboldi.

The ceremony was attended by physicists and students, who were attending the 108^th National Congress of the Italian Physical Society hosted by the Department of Physics “Aldo Pontremoli”.

The Institute of Complementary Physics was the first physics institute established at the foundation of Milan University in 1924. The Institute was established by Aldo Pontremoli, its first director, and was immediately characterised by the extreme modernity of its research topics. The teaching of complementary physics (i.e. contemporary experimental physics), as highlighted by Pontremoli’s lecture registers, introduced the students to the most recent achievements in quantum physics, in addition to the theoretical and experimental aspects of advanced classical and relativistic physics.

The research laboratories were equipped by Pontremoli for spectroscopic and radiological studies. His laboratories were among the most important in Italy in particular for the close links with hospitals and industries with analysis and radiological controls of materials. The laboratories were also involved in the preparation of the scientific expedition to the Arctic onboard the “Italia” airship in 1928.

After Pontremoli’s tragic death during the polar expedition, the Institute of Complementary Physics continued its activities until Giovanni Polvani was called by Milan University for the teaching of Experimental Physics, a fact that marked the transformation of the Institute of Complementary Physics into the new Institute of Physics (the nowadays Department of Physics “Aldo Pontremoli”).

From left to right: Leonardo Gariboldi, Giovanni Onida, Angela Bracco, Luc Bergé, Luisa Cifarelli - image credit: L. Gariboldi

Group photo - image credit: L. Gariboldi

The 71^st annual meeting of the Austrian Physical Society (ÖPG [1]), held at the Montanuniversität Leoben (MUL) in Leoben / Austria from September 26^th to September 30^th, 2022, will go down in the annals of the Austrian Physical Society (ÖPG) as a very successful conference. The activities of the ÖPG Young Minds, with sponsorship of the EPS Young Minds, were a particular highlight to attract younger participants. Over 200 participants attended on site a very successful program [2], the main organization having been carried out by the Institute of Physics at the MUL and the Erich Schmid Institute (ESI) of the Austrian Academy of Science (ÖAW), the local organizing committee being headed by Prof. Christian Teichert, presently also vice-president of ÖPG. The program was composed of topical sessions of all ÖPG divisions, as well as the annual award ceremony for ÖPG prizes, which this year also included the celebration of two new ÖPG honorary members, Prof. Walter Kutschera and Prof. Anton Zeilinger [3].

The plenary speakers covered a wide range of topics, including the EPS Young Minds program, joint aspects of mathematics, physics and acoustics, symmetry breaking, magnetic adatom chains, quantum field theory, and bioinspired materials. Aspects dealing with physics and education were also successfully presented, in particular how to perform enjoyable and meaningful physics lessons.  The conference was also devoted to sustainability, in particular in connection with integration of renewable energy, e.g., in the steel production, with waste as energy, and with exergy, and the repercussion on the climate and with quality of life. 

A public evening lecture about climate, freedom and science, the movie "The Class of ‘38" with an introduction by Prof. Anton Zeilinger [3], and a lecture by Prof. Walter Kutschera on Otto Robert Frisch and its co-discovery of nuclear fission rounded up the week. Both Prof. Anton Zeilinger and Prof. Walter Kutschera were awarded with honorary ÖPG membership during the award ceremony.

Stimulated by the talks given in the plenary session and in the topical sessions, and by the personal exchange during the poster sessions, it was indeed again possible to show what the advantages of a personal exchange are.  When new contacts are made, when informal conversations spontaneously arise building up mutual trust, then the glue is formed to do further improved research, allowing trying out new ideas in physics, which are the base for the proposition and realization of new projects. It is this inspiring vibe that motivates young members to stay long-term members of the society and thus allows to actively shape the future activities of the society, being then also constructively reflected by the associated activities of the EPS.

Winners of the prizes of the Austrian Physical Society [1], awarded during the 71st annual meeting of the Austrian Physical Society in Leoben/Austria from 26th to 30th September 2022 [2], together with new honorary members Walter Kutschera and Anton Zeilinger (Nobel prize winner 2022 [3]), the president and vice-president of the Austrian Physical Society, and the chairman of the division physics and school.

[1] Austrian Physical Society http://www.oepg.at/ 

[2] Program of the Annual Meeting 2022 of ÖPG https://oepg2022.unileoben.ac.at/program  

[3] The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022, Anton Zeilinger Facts   https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2022/zeilinger/facts/, Physikertagung in Leoben mit Nobelpreisträger Anton Zeilinger (in German)

As early as January 2020, the old building of the Zagreb-Grič Observatory was accepted as an EPS Historic Site. The observatory was originally a meteorological station, founded at this site in 1861 and has been continuously operating ever since. In 1906, a seismological station was also established within the observatory. In 1908 Andrija Mohorovičić succeeded in acquiring new and improved seismographic equipment, making the Croatian observatory in Zagreb one of the most advanced in Europe. From the readings of data recorded on a destructive local earthquake the following year, Mohorovičić discovered the boundary between the Earth’s crust and its mantle in 1910. The inauguration of the memorial plaque took place on 23rd September 2022, in the presence of Dr. Luc Bergé, EPS president, members of Croatian Physical Society and Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service, representatives from Faculty of Science of University of Zagreb, from Croatian Academy of Science and Arts, from Rudjer Bošković Institute and Institute of Physics, from the City of Zagreb and from the media.

The welcome address on behalf of Croatian Physical Society was given by Prof. emeritus Ivica Picek, who had also made the nomination of the site. He expressed his belief that this recognition enabled to increase the visibility of the intellectual heritage of Mohorovičić, important as a breakthrough in the understanding of our planet.  He recalled that the ceremony had to be moved forward from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent earthquakes that had made serious damage on the Grič 3 site building. A generous support by the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service (DHMZ) has been essential to proceed with the final ceremony event.

Director General of Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service, Dr. Branka Ivančan-Picek, recalled the 75^th anniversary of establishment of the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service at this very site. While DHMZ had to be displaced to a new temporary location, Grič 3 building will be restored as Croatian History Museum. Thereby the meteorological measurements will be preserved there, and Mohorovičić’s memorial office will be kept within the museum.  

President of Croatian Academy of Science and Arts, academician Velimir Neidhardt, noticed that the recent local earthquakes brought to light the importance of the criteria and rules which Mohorovičić introduced for building in seismic active regions. In this way Mohorovičić’s heritage became a vivid part of world’s science and our everyday lives.

President of EPS, Dr. Luc Bergé, recalled a memorable scientific biography of Andrija Mohorovičić. After introducing the public into the EPS projects and activities, he stressed that the Grič 3 site would be remembered as the first Croatian Historic Site of EPS.

On behalf of the Major of Zagreb, Ms Madeleine Wolf expressed a satisfaction that in year which marked the 165^th anniversary of Mohorovičić’s birth, besides installing Mohorovičić’s monument at the same location, now the EPS’s plaque placed him on the map of the major world discoveries.

After the unveiling ceremony, a lecture was organised in the building of National Hall of Croatian Academy of Science and Arts. Academician Mirko Orlić gave a talk on the life and work of Andrija Mohorovičić (Volosko, 1857 – Zagreb, 1936).  After study of mathematics and physics in Prague (1875 – 1879), for next twelve years Mohorovičić taught at high schools in Zagreb, Osijek and Bakar, where he established a meteorological station in 1887.  In 1891 he became a professor at the Main Technical School at Zagreb, and he was named director of the meteorological observatory there in 892. From 1901 Mohorovičić’s major scientific interest was seismology, spurred from 1906 by installation of a modern seismological station. Turning point in his career, that led to one of the important breakthroughs in seismology, was an earthquake on October 8, 1909, with epicentre near Pokupsko, 39 km south of Zagreb. Seismographs of that and subsequent earthquakes were shared to Mohorovičić from 30 seismographic stations all around Europe. The most distant one was 2,405 km away from the epicentre (Tbilisi, Georgia). From the seismographs Mohorovičić created ‘hodochrones’, a set of curves that graphically represent time passed from the earthquake event versus station distance from the epicentre. Analysis of ‘hodochrones’ showed that the earthquake onset times for stations being between 300 and 720 km away from the epicentre are represented by two longitudinal and two transverse waves rather than a single longitudinal and a single transverse wave. The stations being closer than 300 km and farther from 720 km recorded a single pair of longitudinal and transverse waves. This observation, published in 1910 in “Annual Report of Zagreb Meteorological Observatory for 1909”, has been the first report of such phenomenon at all. In the same publication, Mohorovičić set hypothesis of earthquake wave propagation within the Earth’s interior that had excellently explained observed data. Until the depth of 50 km, wave velocity smoothly increases with depth with inverse cubic law. At the depth of 50 km, there is “…a sudden change of material making up the interior of the Earth…” (cite from the “Annual Report…”). The “change of material” modern seismology recognizes as ‘Mohorovičić discontinuity’.

During the lecture we learned that all the important things that happened to Mohorovičić occurred on Fridays – including the present celebration. After the lecture, a reception arranged by DHMZ for some 60 guests was hosted in the building of National Hall of Croatian Academy of Science and Arts to perform and conclude this memorable Friday.

Unveiling of the plaque making Zagreb-Grič Observatory the first EPS Historic Site of Croatia.
From left to right: V. Neidhardt, B. Ivančan-Picek, M. Wolf, L. Bergé and Ivica Picek.

1- Imagination in Science by Art in different Cultures Olympiad

Imagination in Science by Art in different Cultures (ISAC) Olympiad is an online international Art and Science competition which the 2nd edition is held on 28th-30th December 2022. It is essentially an individual competition or a team work (2-3 students) on the presentations of artistic projects with the science behind them. Ariaian Young Innovative Minds Institute (AYIMI) and ADIB Artistic and Cultural Institute jointly in Iran, are the main organizers of this Olympiad. Students compete in identified groups in various offered categories every year. More info at: http://www.ayimi.org and http://ayimi.org/en/international-olympiads/isac-international-olympiad-in-science-and-art.

2- 16th Persian Young Physicists' Tournament
The tournament will be held in two steps:

• The 1st step is online: from 24th-25th November 2022
• The second Step is onsite among the four selected teams: 15th December 2022

All participants are awarded international certificates and best selected teams get medals. Selected participants are registered as team Iran in IYPT 2023, Pakistan.

3- 11th PYNT
The PYNT will be held on 26th-27th Januanry 2023. All participants are awarded certificates and the best selected teams according to their scores get medals. All the best teams are registered in IYNT 2023.

All details related to our events can be found on the AYIMI website.