In April 2022, the Lisbon Young Minds section organised the event “Mental Health @ Técnico”, at their home institution, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), with the goal of discussing the very important topic of mental health, with a particular emphasis on academic contexts. This event comprised two different moments, a workshop and a round table.

The first session, which took place on 5^th April, consisted of the workshop named “Academy diploma? Yes, but don’t forget your mental health!” given by Dr. Isabel Gonçalves, psychologist and head of the Academic Development Office of IST. During this workshop, the participants were invited to share their ideas and personal experiences concerning mental health in general and from the point of view of a student getting their bachelor’s, master’s or PhD diploma.

The second session, which took place on the 7^th of April, consisted of the round table titled “Mental Health in Academia — Let’s Talk About It!”, also moderated by Dr. Gonçalves. The panel of this event was quite diverse, to represent several points of view within the academic community. More specifically, it was comprised by Prof. Luís Oliveira e Silva, full professor at the Physics Department of IST and president of the School Council; Dr. Daniela Magalhães, psychiatrist; Mariana Moreira, PhD student and member of the IST Student Club for Mental Health and Inclusion; and Marta Bárbolo, MSc student and member of the IST Student Support Unit. Moreover, the participants themselves also played a major role in the discussion, either by asking questions to the panel, or by sharing their own points of view. The plurality of ideas thus promoted a very interesting, thoughtful and enlightening debate, which contributed not only to identify some of the main issues related with mental health that exist within the IST community — not only among the students, but also among the professors and the staff —, but also to discuss and propose solutions to address and mitigate them.

In brief, this event fully achieved its intended goal: promoting a fruitful discussion on the topic of mental health at IST. The participants’ feedback was very positive: both the audience and the round table panel agreed that it was definitely a successful event that encouraged an ongoing open debate on this important matter, and contributed to the personal development of the participants.

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image: EPS Young Minds

Gender bias in STEM areas is a palpable reality that we cannot ignore. To face this challenge, the involvement of institutions and scientific societies is vital. The Spanish Optical Society (SEDOPTICA) is committed to being inclusive, striving to provide an environment where all people feel valued and respected, and also have access to the same opportunities. The Women in Optics and Photonics Area started working in 2018 with the following activities:

MENTORING PROGRAMME

This programme aims to connect women researchers to offer a professional support network:

Connected women scientists
Connected Women Scientists is a series of periodic meetings where we invite women scientists to give technical talks grouped by topic. From May 2020, the format was moved to webinar format, reaching a total attendance of 330 users (visit: SEDOPTICA-Youtube channel).

Count on them
Count on them initiative compiles short reviews of women researchers in optics and photonics to promote and facilitate the organisation of gender equal, peer-to-peer events. The objective is to create an open database for anyone who wants to use it when looking for speakers for their events. This initiative also enhances the visibility of their scientific work to other people, such as journalists or people required for counselling on these areas of expertise.

MEET THE WOMEN RESEARCHERS

The 'Meet the Women Researchers' programme was launched in January 2019, with the aim of disseminating the work and experiences in their careers at all levels, from predoctoral to emeritus professors. The women participating in this activity belong to both academia and industry. So far we have 34 interviews with different researchers/teachers/technologists/disseminators of Optics and Photonics.  Written and video interviews have received about 6700 and 500 views, respectively.

DISSEMINATION PROGRAMME AND SOCIAL MEDIA 

Quantitative analysis of the situation of women in optics and photonics in Spain
We are currently collecting quantitative data about the situation of women researchers in the field of Optics and Photonics in Spain. We are performing a statistical study of the doctoral theses defended in Spain in the last five years. To do so, we are using the Ministry of Education's TESEO database, and classifying them according to UNESCO codes. The theses were classified separating whether these descriptors had been chosen by men or women. This study will be presented in the IEEE EDUCON2022 (March, Tunisia), and published as proceeding.

We continue working in these kinds of studies to offer more detailed analysis.

Nominations are now open for the EPS Early Career Prize. The EPS has two Early Career prizes to be awarded each year – one each for achievements of a mainly theoretical or experimental nature. Those eligible for these awards should have made a substantial contribution to the development or reputation of physics in Europe. "Early Career" is defined as those individuals in the first 12 years of their career in physics following their first degree or equivalent, with allowance for any career breaks.

More information on what is needed to make a nomination can be found here.

The deadline to submit a nomination is 15th February 2022.

Author: Kevin Kröninger

The University of Bologna (Italy), the University of Clermont Auvergne (France) and the Technical University Dortmund (Germany) are launching a new Master program starting in the upcoming winter semester. The International Master of Advanced Methods in Particle Physics (IMAPP) is a joint degree program offered by the three universities and supported by internationally renowned partner institutions including CERN, DESY, KEK, MIT and NIKHEF. The main focus of the program is on experimental and theoretical particle physics and in teaching scientific methods. The program is based on three pillars, each of which is associated with one of the three universities. These are machine learning and statistical data analysis, instrumentation and detector physics as well as large-scale scientific computing and programming. The language of the courses is English. The students of one year study as a cohort, who attend courses together at the University of Clermont Auvergne (1st semester), TU Dortmund University (2nd semester) and the University of Bologna (3rd semester) during the first three semesters. In the fourth semester, the students will conduct research and write a Master thesis, which can be carried out at one of the three universities or at one of the associated partner institutions. The enrollment for this Master degree program is now open.

• Further information: https://imapp.eu
  
• Contact: info@imapp.eu
  

On 7 May 2021, the EPS Young Minds Leadership Meeting took place as an online event. It was the first gathering of the whole YM community since the last leadership meeting 2019 in Erlangen. 55 section delegates, representing 21 countries and vastly different career levels ranging from bachelor students to postdocs, attended the meeting and made it a large success.

The event included two parts, the first taking place on Zoom and the second on the virtual interaction platform Gather Town. On Zoom EPS YM programme manager Ophélia Fornari welcomed the participants and provided an overview of new functionalities for section management on the EPS website to the participants. Her presentation was followed by Richard Zeltner, YM Action Committee Chair, who gave a wrap-up on the years 2020 and 2021 from the YM perspective and highlighted the numerous section activities that were carried out despite the ongoing pandemic. He also gave an outlook on the plans for the rest of the year and 2022 and thanked the members of the Action Committee that left the programme over the course of the last two years, in particular Petra Rudolf who handed over the EPS presidentship, and thus the position in the YM Action Committee, just in April. As the third speaker, Luc Bergé, current EPS president, presented his agenda and his plan to establish the EPS Forum to the YM community. The first part of the meeting was concluded by panel discussion on career advice for young scientists. The open discussion on topics ranging from the role of professional media platforms for personal branding over the difference of working in academia and industry to the importance of aligning career choices with individual aptitudes and talents was very much appreciated by the young minds and certainly a highlight of the event.

After the panel discussion, the meeting transitioned to Gather Town, where the participants could engage in more informal activities. During a speed networking event, the participants had the opportunity to refresh old connections and to establish new ones within the YM community. This was followed by a Physics Quiz, in which the participants teamed up in small groups and tested their knowledge, not only on physics but also on Trivia and on questions of popular science.

Considering the large number of participants and the very positive feedback that we received during and after the meeting, the event was a large success. Moreover, for the sections that started their activity in 2020 and 2021 the meeting was a great opportunity to gain more insights into the programme and to connect with the network. Even though, we are very much looking forward to connect with the YM community physically again in 2022.

Finally, we would like to warmly thank our panelists Gabrielle Thomas, Lucia Santamaria, Luc Bergé, Chang Kee Jung and Petra Rudolf for their contribution to the panel discussion. We also thank Florian Schorn and Dominik Rattenbacher from the Erlangen section hBar Omega for providing the Gather Town Environment and their contribution to the Physics Quiz.