Since the beginning of November, the European Physical Society has had two secretaries general for the first time in its history.  David Lee who will retire as Secretary General in March 2023 and Anne Pawsey who has just arrived in Mulhouse and will continue to run the society after this hand-over period.

Anne Pawsey joins the society from the University of Göttingen, where she coordinated the teaching and e-learning of the Max Planck School Matter to Life. Dr Pawsey is a soft matter physicist who received her PhD from the University of Edinburg in 2014. Since then, she has worked at the interface between physics and industry as a researcher and in research management, coordinated the Scottish Universities Physical Alliance Graduate School and she spent the pandemic ensuring that the Matter to Life Network and the Göttingen Physics Faculty could continue to teach online and in a hybrid format with handwritten equations, and demonstration experiments viewable by all participants.

Dr Pawsey has been involved in physics societies since her undergraduate days, when she was the secretary of IAPS and one of the organisers of ICPS. A science communicator, she enjoys revealing the often surprisingly complex physics underlying everyday phenomena, and engaging adults who feel that physics is “not for them” by creating interactive shows designed for pubs, bars or music festivals.  After a fellowship at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology she has some experience in communicating with policy makers.

David would like to welcome Anne to EPS, she is looking forward to working with the EPS community.

Anne Pawsey in front of the EPS headquarters in Mulhouse