International Association of Physics Students

The International Association of Physics Students (IAPS) is a non-profit umbrella organization for physics students associations. Its official seat is in Mulhouse, France in the headquarters of the European Physical Society. It was founded in 1987 in Debrecen, Hungary.[1]

International Association of Physics Students
AbbreviationIAPS
Formation1987
HeadquartersMulhouse
Location
Official language
English
President
Cyrus Walther
AffiliationsEuropean Physical Society
International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
International Science Council
Websitehttp://iaps.info

Introduction

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IAPS is an association of physics students and student societies from around the globe, working to promote peaceful collaboration amongst its members. These are represented by national and local committees, who meet regularly to ensure the relevance of activities. Since 1987, IAPS has worked continuously to support friendly relations and collaboration between physics students. The group supports its members in their academic and professional work by discussing and acting on scientific, social and cultural issues. IAPS is a recognised non-governmental organisation run entirely by students from around the world.

IAPS runs an annual International Conference of Physics Students (ICPS), one of the biggest student organized conferences in the world. IAPS also organizes visits to global research institutions such as CERN or Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, international physics competitions, summer schools, exchange programmes and multinational meetings.

On a daily basis, IAPS is run by an Executive Committee, which is elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), held during the ICPS with the participation of all member societies. Most of the activities are run through the help of student volunteers, whose collaboration is necessary to ensure that all activities are offered at prices that allow participation from countries with weaker economies.

Throughout its existence, IAPS has been accumulating a number of partnerships with several international organizations. Between the most long-standing collaborators stand the European Physical Society (EPS) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). IAPS continuously pursues collaborative partnership efforts with other organizations to have a positive impact in the global scientific community.[2]

Structure

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IAPS is run by an Executive Committee, which is elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). IAPS members may be national physics student organisations, called National Committees (NC), physics student association localised at one university or city, called Local Committees (LC) and individual members (IM) if none of the before are present where one studies. In a broad sense, all the members of NCs and LCs, as well as IMs, are members of IAPS. Membership costs are calculated for each applicant based on the type of committee and the GDP of applicant countries.

Executive committee

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The IAPS Executive Committee (EC) is currently composed of 9 students, elected by representatives of the member societies. The 2022/23 EC is composed of:[3]

Title Name Nationality Affiliation
President Cyrus Walther   Germany Technical University of Dortmund
Vice President & Events Manager Niloofar Jokar   Iran Isfahan University of Technology
Treasurer Mario Gaimann   Germany University of Stuttgart
Secretary & Data Protection Officer Thibault Fredon   France Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Membership and Advocacy Manager Marisol Castellanos   Guatemala Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala
Outreach Manager Anna Christoforidou   Greece National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
PR Manager Dimitris Gkavakos   Greece National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
IT Manager Roberto Ciccareli   Italy University of Turin
Recruitment Manager Gabriel Maynard   Costa Rica Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala

National Committees

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Member Nation[4] Organisation
  Austria Basisgruppe Physik der TU Graz
  Bosnia and Herzegovina Asocijacija studenta fizike BiH
  Croatia Studentska sekcija Hrvatskog fizikalnog društva
  Czech Republic Czech Association of Physics Students
  Cuba Sección Joven Sociedad Cubana de Física
  Denmark Fysikstuderende i Danmark (FSID)
  Finland Suomen Fysiikanopiskelijat ry
  France Le Réseau Jeunes SPF, Société Française de Physique
  Georgia საქართველოს ფიზიკის სტუდენტთა ასოციაცია (GAPS)
  Germany Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft
  Greece Hellenic Association of Physics Students
  Honduras Asociación Hondureña de Estudiantes de Física
  Hungary Magyar Fizikushallgatók Egyesülete (Mafihe)
  India Association of Indian Physics Students (AIPS)
  Italy Associazione Italiana Studenti di Fisica (AISF)
  North Macedonia Македонско друштво на студенти физичари
  Mexico Sociedad Científica Juvenil
  Morocco الجمعية المغربية للفيزياء (MAP)
  Montenegro Crnogorska asocijacija studenata fizike
  Netherlands Studenten Physica in Nederland (SPIN)
  Norway Norske Fysikkstudenters Forening Trodheim
  Poland Polskie Stowarzyszenie Studentów Fizyki (PSSF)
  Portugal Physis – Associação Portuguesa de Estudantes de Física
  Serbia Asocijacija studenata fizike Srbije
  Spain Asociación Española de Estudiantes de Física (AEEF)
  Switzerland Young Physicists Forum (YPF)
  Tunisia Physicist Community FST
  United Kingdom and   Ireland University Student Network (USN), Institute of Physics
  United States Society of Physics Students (SPS), American Institute of Physics

Local Committees

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Member Nation[4] Organisation
Ankara,   Turkey ODTÜ Fizik Topluluğu (OFT)
Antwerp,   Belgium Wiskunde, Informatica en Natuurkunde kring (WINAK)
Baguio,   Philippines UP Physics Sphere
Ben Srour,   Algeria رائد في مجال تعليم (AAMP)
Bucharest,   Romania Asociația Studenților Fizicieni a Universității București (ASF-UB)
San Pedro Montes de Oca,   Costa Rica Asociación de Estudiantes de Física y Meteorología (AEFISYMET)
Farhangian University,   Iran Farhangian Association of Physics Students
Guatemala City,   Guatemala Asociación de Estudiantes de Física y Matemática (AEFM)
Isfahan,   Iran (IUT) دانشگاه صنعتی اصفهان
Kathmandu,   Nepal St. Xavier's Physics Council
Kharkiv,   Ukraine Рада молодих вчених і спеціалістів, ФТІНТ ім. Б.І. Вєркіна НАН України
Limbe,   Cameroon African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Cameroon (AIMS Cameroon)
Msida,   Malta S Cubed – the Science Students' Society
Manila City,   Philippines The Polytechnic University of the Philippines Physics Society (PUP Physics Society)
Nanyang Technological University,   Singapore Odyssey Club
Quito,   Ecuador The Optical Society – Universidad San Francisco de Quito Capítulo Estudiantil (OSA-USFQ Capítulo Estudiantil)
Saint Petersburg,   Russia Сообщество студентов-физиков Политехнического университета (PCPS)
Santo Domingo,   Dominican Republic Asociación de Estudiantes de Física de la Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (AEF-UASD)

Individual Members

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Students of physics or related subjects who do not have access to an NC or LC may join as IMs. Only IAPS members may attend IAPS events such as ICPS. Currently IAPS has around 150 individual members.[4]

Honorary Members

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The following people were elected Honorary Fellows by an IAPS AGM:

  • Sir Arnold Wolfendale
  • Sir Joseph Rotblat (Nobel Laureate), died in 2005
  • Patroklosz Budai (2005)
  • Tamás Fülöp (2005)
  • Ákos Horváth (2005)
  • Péter Lévai (2005)
  • Péter Ván (2005)
  • Jim Grozier (2008)

Programs

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Group picture at the International Conference of Physics Students 2014, held in Heidelberg, Germany.

International Conference of Physics Students

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ICPS International Conference of Physics Students is the International Conference of Physics Students, which is the main event of IAPS, organized yearly by one of its member committees. The purpose of the conference is to create an opportunity for physics students from all around the world to come together, to talk about science and life, to practice presenting their research and, all in all, to have a great time.

The first ICPS was organized by students of the Eötvös Loránd University, in Budapest, Hungary in the year 1986. The event had less than fifty participants, but since then, the conference has grown considerably, nowadays bringing together more than four hundred students.

The one week of the conference has its fair share of scientific, social and touristic programs. One gets a chance to listen to and give lectures on various topics in physics, to check out the laboratories of the host city, to make friends with physics students from all around the world, to get a little glimpse of the foreign cultures that gather here, and to see another part of the world.

The following were venues of the ICPS conferences:

Year Location
2022 Puebla,   Mexico (online)
2021 Copenhagen,   Denmark (online)
2020 Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019 Cologne,   Germany
2018 Helsinki,   Finland
2017 Turin,   Italy
2016   Malta
2015 Zagreb,   Croatia
2014 Heidelberg,   Germany
2013 Edinburgh,   United Kingdom
2012 Utrecht,   Netherlands
2011 Budapest,   Hungary
2010 Graz,   Austria
2009 Split,   Croatia
2008 Kraków,   Poland
2007 London,   United Kingdom
2006 Bucharest,   Romania
2005 Coimbra,   Portugal
2004 Novi Sad,   Serbia and Montenegro
2003 Odense,   Denmark
2002 Budapest,   Hungary
2001 Dublin,   Ireland
2000 Zadar,   Croatia
1999 Helsinki,   Finland
1998 Coimbra,   Portugal
1997 Vienna,   Austria
1996 Szeged,   Hungary
1995 Copenhagen,   Denmark
1994 Saint Petersburg,   Russia
1993 Bodrum,   Turkey
1992 Lisbon,   Portugal
1991 Vienna,   Austria
1990 Amsterdam,   Netherlands
1989 Freiburg,   West Germany
1988 Prague,   Czechoslovakia
1987 Debrecen,   Hungary
1986 Budapest,   Hungary

In addition, IAPS organizers a number of other events. In 2018, IAPS associated with the International Students of History Association (ISHA) in a Series of Conferences named HyPe (HistorY and Physics Experience), that took place in Bologna, Italy.

Excursions

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Since its foundation, IAPS has organised several trips to international research facilities, either directly or through its member societies.

iaps2CERN

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IAPS yearly organises annual tours to CERN, in Geneva (Switzerland). The highly successful iaps2CERN programme usually has approximately 40 participants, representing up to 20 different nationalities. The tour usually comprises visits of the CERN exhibitions, some of the experiments currently accessible and also a visit of the United Nations offices in Geneva.

International Physics Competitions

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PLANCKS is an annual international physics contest for bachelor and master students. It is usually a three day event and can include in addition to the competition itself scientific program like a symposium and excursions, as well as social events and the award ceremony. PLANCKS is arranged by different IAPS member committees.[5]

In May 2014, the A-Eskwadraat student association held the first PLANCKS edition in Utrecht. Since then, it took place every year at varying places:[6]

Year Location Winning country
2024 Dublin,   Ireland   Germany
2023 Milan,   Italy   Italy
2022 Munich,   Germany   United Kingdom and   Ireland
2021 Porto,   Portugal (online)   United Kingdom and   Ireland
2020 London,   United Kingdom (online)   United Kingdom and   Ireland
2019 Odense,   Denmark)   Germany
2018 Zagreb,   Croatia   Netherlands
2017 Graz,   Austria   Spain
2016 Bucharest,   Romania   Czech Republic
2015 Leiden,   Netherlands   Netherlands
2014 Utrecht,   Netherlands   Netherlands

IAPS also support other physics competitions, such as the Ortvay competition (organised by the Hungarian NC) and the International Physics Tournament.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Jim Grozier (2010). "History of IAPS (Made in Hungary)" (PDF). European Physical Society. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  2. ^ a b IAPS Official Website, International Association of Physics Students, 2015-11-01
  3. ^ IAPS EC, International Association of Physics Students, archived from the original on 2016-12-17, retrieved 2017-01-06
  4. ^ a b c "List of {IAPS} Members". {iaps}. 2013-11-16. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  5. ^ "What is PLANCKS | {iaps".}
  6. ^ "Previous PLANCKSs | {iaps".}
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