Author: Amy Walker

EDP Sciences physics archives demonstrate enduring influence

As the year rapidly draws to a close and planning for next year’s resources begins, we are delighted to be answering queries about our multiple physics archive collections including Annales de Physique archives (1914 to 2009), The European Physical Journal - Applied Physics (EPJAP) archives (1998 to 2015) and, notably, our most substantial archive collection, the Journal de Physique archives (1872 to 1997). The latter contains 125 years of excellence - including seminal papers by Marie and Pierre Curie, Henri Becquerel and Louis de Broglie – and is still being cited frequently by modern day researchers, demonstrating the enduring influence of the science published within.

Find out more about our archives, including the most cited articles in the Journal de Physique archives collection. 

Congratulations to Dr. Daniel Lincot, Awarded the 2024 Alexandre Edmond Becquerel Prize

EPJ Photovoltaics extends heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Daniel Lincot, our Honorary Editor-in-Chief, on being awarded the 2024 Alexandre Edmond Becquerel Prize. On September 23, 2024, at the 41st European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, both Editors-in-Chief of EPJ Photovoltaics, Prof. Pere Roca i Cabarrocas and Dr. Jean-Louis Lazzari,  joined in celebrating Dr. Lincot’s achievement. Together with the EDP Sciences Team, they commend Dr. Lincot for his well-deserved honor and his significant contributions to the field of solar energy.

Dr Daniel Lincot is awarded the Becquerel Prize- image credit: EDP Sciences

FLTR: Jean-Louis-Lazzari (EiC of EPJ Photovoltaics), Veronica Bermudez (Associate Editor of EPJ Photovoltaics),
Daniel Lincot (Honorary EiC of EPJ Photovoltaics), Pere Roca (EiC of EPJ Photovoltaics), Christophe Ballif, Chair Becquerel Committee

EPJ Web of Conferences now indexed in Scopus.

We are thrilled to announce that EPJ Web of Conferences has been accepted for indexing in one of the world’s largest abstract and citation databases of peer-reviewed literature, Scopus.

EPJ Web of Conferences is an open access publication series focused on publishing high-quality conference proceedings in the fields of Physics and related sciences. Read more about what the indexation means for the journal. 

Discover recently published proceedings from EPJ Web of Conferences

• EOS Annual Meeting (EOSAM 2024), Naples, Italy, September 9-13, 2024
  L. De Stefano, R. Velotta and E. Descrovi (Eds.)
  
• 11th EPS-QEOD Europhoton Conference on Solid-State, Fibre, and Waveguide Coherent Light Sources (EUROPHOTON 2024)
  

Vilnius, Lithuania, August 25-30, 2024
A. Michailovas, J.I. Mackenzie, F. Pirzio and E. Cormier (Eds.)

 EPJ Special Topics updates

The latest special topic in EPJ Special Topics is a 246-page technical design report presenting a detailed description of all aspects of the LUXE (Laser Und XFEL Experiment). This is published in open access, read it here.

Europhysics Letters news

In 2024, the journal EPL sponsored cash prizes again to the Best Activity Awards of the EPS Young Minds. See the article in the September issue of EPN.

EPL benefits from one of the largest collections of “transformative agreements” in the world. Many authors can therefore publish in open access in EPL free of charge, ensuring maximum dissemination of their work. Check the latest Editorial for details.

BOOK: 40 expériences de physique élémentaire issues des leçons de Marie Curie

It would be remiss of us not to mention a new book about one of our founders, Marie Curie.

This title presents lessons given by Curie to student Isabelle Chavannes, sourced directly from her notebook which was discovered in 2003. Published in French, the book reproduces the experiments taught to Chavannes using modern techniques, and includes related experiments which provide students and the science-curious with an easy way to understand essential concepts such as pressure, density, the weight of air, and more.

Discover a fun and progressive introduction to experimental physics by one of its most eminent figures, available in our Bookstore.

The European Physical Society launched the Emmy Noether Distinction to recognize noteworthy women physicists who have a strong connection to Europe through their nationality or work.

Emmy Noether, with her fundamental and revolutionary work in the abstract algebra and on conservation laws in theoretical physics, is an exceptional historical figure for all generations - past, present and future - of physicists.

The laureates of the Emmy Noether Distinction are chosen for their capacity to inspire the next generation of scientists, and especially encourage women to pursue a career in physics. Attribution criteria therefore focus on the candidate’s: 

• research achievements
• endeavours to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women in physics
• coordination of projects and management activity
• service to the scientific community and research administration

Nominators are encouraged to address these four points in their proposal.

Commencing 2022, the EPS Emmy Noether Distinction for Women in Physics is to be awarded once a year, to two distinguished women physicists. Namely, the Emmy Noether Distinction will be awarded to an early- and mid–career laureate, as well as to a more advanced candidate, as a Distinction for her full career.

To make a nomination,  apply via this site or submit the following documents to the EPS Secretariat:

• A cover letter, detailing (in no more than 3 paragraphs) the motivation for awarding the EPS Emmy Noether Distinction to the nominee;

• The nominee’s name, institution and email

• The nominee’s CV

• The nominator’s name, institution, and email

• Optional: No more than 3 support letters 

Download the distinction charter

Read more about the EPS Emmy Noether Distinction on the EPS website

FLTR: Monika Ritsch-Marte, Petra Rudolf and Ilaria zardo - images: Gina Gunaratnam/EPS

Author: Gina Gunaratnam

The award ceremony of the joint meeting of the Swiss Physical Society (SPS) and the Austrian Physical Society (ÖPG) took place in early September at the University of Basel. Started with several awards of the SPS, the event continued with the prizes attributed by the ÖPG and with the distinction of the European Physical Society (EPS) dedicated to female physicists.

Prof. Petra Rudolf, chair of the EPS Equal Opportunities Committee and former president of the Society, handed over the EPS Emmy Noether Distinction 2022 to Prof. Monika Ritsch-Marte (full career) and to Prof. Ilaria Zardo (mid-career).

Monika Ritsch-Marte, from the Institute of Biomedical Physics, Dept. of Physiology & Medical Physics, the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, was awarded " for exceptional contributions to optical microscopy and manipulation methods and for the promotion of women’s careers in physics. "

Ilaria Zardo, researcher at the Department of physics of the University of Basel, Switzerland, was awarded "for her contributions in the methodology of characterizing nanoscale materials and the consequent discovery of their new functional properties. "

The ceremony was followed by an interview of both EPS laureates by Prof. Rudolf and a group photo with laureates of all the presented prizes in the beautiful botanical garden of the Swiss university.

More info

• EPS Emmy Noether Distinction
• SPS-ÖPG meeting 2023
• A complete report of the meeting will follow in the next issue of SPS Communications
  

Petra Rudolf presenting the EPS Emmy Noether Distinction to the SPS-ÖPG audience at the University of Basel

Group photo with all laureates of SPS, ÖPG and EPS prizes in the university's botanical garden

The European Physical Society launched the Emmy Noether Distinction to recognize noteworthy women physicists having a strong connection to Europe through their nationality or work.

Emmy Noether, with her fundamental and revolutionary work in the areas of abstract algebra and on the conservation laws in theoretical physics, is an exceptional historical figure for all generations - past, present and future - of physicists.

The laureates of the Emmy Noether Distinction are chosen for their capacity to inspire the next generation of scientists, and especially encourage women to pursue a career in physics. Attribution criteria therefore focus on the candidate’s:

• research achievements
• endeavours in favour of gender equality and the empowerment of women in physics
• coordination of projects and management activity
• service to the scientific community and research administration

Nominators are encouraged to address these four points in their proposal.

Commencing 2022, the EPS Emmy Noether Distinction for Women in Physics is to be awarded once a year, to two distinguished women physicists. Namely, the Emmy Noether Distinction will be awarded to an early- and mid–career laureate, as well as to a more advanced candidate, as a Distinction for her full career.

To make a nomination, please email the following information to the EPS Secretariat:

• A cover letter, detailing (in no more than 3 paragraphs) the motivation for awarding the EPS Emmy Noether Distinction to the nominee;
• The nominee’s name, institution and email
• The nominee’s CV
• The nominator’s name, institution, and email
• Optional: No more than 3 support letters
  

Download the distinction charter 
Read more about the EPS Emmy Noether Distinction on the EPS website

Author: Andrius Juodagalvis, Lithuanian Physical Society

On 2nd July 2022, Lithuanian enthusiasts of history of physics gathered in Žeimelis, Lithuania, where the first EPS Historic Site in the three Baltic states was inaugurated. Having reviewed contributions of Theodor von Grotthuss (1785-1822), a scientist who lived in the region in the beginning of the XIX century, the EPS Historic Sites committee agreed that his laboratory in Gedučiai, near a small town of Žeimelis, has influenced the development of physics to a comparable extent as other scientific centres in Europe.

Theodor von Grotthuss work gained world-wide recognition in 1806, after he published an article on his theory of electrolysis of water, proposing to base the electrolysis process interpretation on physical-chemical phenomena. In his view, the electric field was polarizing molecules in a solution, and continuous dissociation and recombination of molecules resulted in the electrolysis effects visible only at the electrodes, where the chain of pairs was broken. Since 1808 he worked in a laboratory at his mother's estate in Gedučiai, which is currently a small village close to Žeimelis in Pakruojis municipality district, Lithuania. Electrolysis research was supplemented by various studies of interaction of light with matter, which included phosphorescence and photochemical reactions. Around 1817 he discovered regularities, that were later called the Grotthuss-Draper first and second laws of photochemistry. Attempting to create a unified concept of physical and chemical phenomena based on charge and molecular constituents, in 1818-1819 Teodor von Grotthuss concluded that interaction of opposite charges (positive and negative), depending on conditions, manifests as light, heat, and electricity. The same publication also proposed that water liquid contains molecules and their elementary parts even in the absence of an external electric field. The collective action of molecules that leads to the electric conductivity of solutions due to proton jumping from one molecule to another is still called the Grotthuss mechanism.

The EPS Historic Site sign was placed in a central square of Žeimelis, where the statue of Teodor von Grotthuss by a sculptor Kęstutis Balčiūnas was erected earlier this year, in March. The recognition ceremony in Žeimelis was opened by the chair of the EPS Historic Sites Committee, Karl Grandin. His speech was translated into Lithuanian by a scientific secretary of the Lithuanian Physical Society, Andrius Juodagalvis. The chairman of the EPS selection committee for historic sites congratulated the participants who witnessed inauguration of the first EPS historic site in the three Baltic states. He also explained the meaning of distinction as "a historic site," and highlighted Teodor von Grotthuss' achievements that contributed towards his recognition by physicists, and challenged chemists to weigh his influence, since his research topics are on the borderline between physics and chemistry. Had the Nobel Prizes been awarded when Grotthuss lived, he might have been awarded one. Karl Grandin also gifted the local museum with a copy of the last Theodor von Grotthuss' letter to his colleague in Sweden, Jacob Berzelius. The president of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Jūras Banys cherished that a small town of Žeimelis joined the league of other famous places in Europe, where the foundations of modern physics were laid. Other speakers of the official ceremony were the president of the Grotthuss' Foundation at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Aivaras Kareiva, the initiator of the EPS historic site application and a former president of the Lithuanian Physical Society, Juozas Vidmantis Vaitkus, the president of the Lithuanian Physics Teachers' Asociation, Rigonda Skorulskienė, the dean of the Faculty of Physics at Vilnius University, Juozas Šulskus, and the mayor of the Pakruojis municipality district Saulius Margis. At the end of the ceremony, Karl Grandin declared the EPS historic site in Žeimelis to be officially inaugurated. The entire ceremony was started and finalized with live saxophone melodies.

The Lithuanian Physical Society is grateful to the EPS Historic Site committee for recognition of Theodor von Grotthuss research results, and the Pakruojis district municipality for providing local support. Theodor von Grotthuss scientific contributions are described following the EPS historic site application written by J. V. Vaitkus and A. Kareiva, and an overview article by B. Jaselskis et al, Bull. Hist. Chem. 32 (2007) 119-128.

Official participants of the EPS Historic Site inauguration in Žeimelis, Pakruojis municipality district, Lithuania.
Photo by A. Skorulskas

More info

• Watch the inauguration on Lithuanian news programme Infostudija
  
• View the list of inaugurated EPS Historic Sites