Author: Luc Bergé
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 2nd 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 3rd
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.
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