IUPAP – A Brief Overview

The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics

Willem T.H.van Oers

University of Manitoba/TRIUMF

The Beginning

• 1919 International Research Council formed, largely through representatives of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, and of the Royal Society of London, UK

• to coordinate efforts in the different branches of science, toward forming respective international unions

1922 General Assembly of the International Research Council

• Brussels• physicists present decided that the formation of a Physics

Union was imperative• 13 countries Belgium Canada

Denmark France Netherlands JapanNorway PolandSpain SwitzerlandUnited Kingdom United States of America

Union of South Africa

Steering Committee (1922)

• M. Brillouin

• O.M. Corbino

• M. Knudsen

• M. Leblanc

• R.A. Millikan

• H. Nagoda

• E. Van Aubel

• H. Abraham

• Sir William Bragg (President)

1st General Assembly

• Paris 1923

• added Italy, Sweden, Czechoslovakia

• confirmed the membership of the Executive, with one replacement

• expressed concern about the proliferation of scientific reports!

IUPAP’s Mission

• to assist in the worldwide development of physics

• to foster international cooperation in physics

• to help in the application of physics toward solving problems of concern to humanity

Activities

• sponsoring international meetings• encouraging research and education• fostering the free circulation of scientists• promoting international agreements on symbols,

units, and nomenclature• cooperating with other organizations on

disciplinary and interdisciplinary problems• fostering communications and publications

Members

• originally, Countries were Members

• now members are identified physics communities in a geographical region

• membership is through a designated “Adhering Body.” Adhering Body sets up a Liaison Committee

• delegates appointed by the Liaison Committee attend the General Assembly of the Union

General Assembly

• Governing Body– delegates from liaison committees– officers– chairs or secretaries of the commissions

• held every 3 years (next meeting October 12-18, 2008, at NIMS, Tsukuba, Japan)• elects the incoming Executive Council and

members of the International Commissions• appoints physics representatives to other

international bodies

IUPAP Executive Council 2005-2008

• President: Alan Astbury• Past President: Yves Petroff• President Designate: Sukekatsu Ushioda• Secretary-General: Judy Franz• Associate Secretary-General: Peter Melville• Vice Pres. (elected at large): Jia-Er Chen, Carmen Cisneros, Bruce McKellar• Vice Pres. (Commissions): Dan Dahlberg, Pavel Exner, Pratibha Jolly, Leslie Pendrill, Annick Suzor-Weiner

-Commissions

1. Finance

2. SUNAMCO

3. Statistical Physics

4. Cosmic Rays

5. Low Temperature Physics

6. Biological Physics

7. ---

8. Semiconductors

9. Magnetism

10. Structure and Dynamics of Condensed Matter

11. Particles and Fields

12. Nuclear Physics

13. Physics for Development

14. Physics Education

15. Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics

16. Plasma Physics

17. Quantum Electronics

18. Mathematical Physics

19. Astrophysics

20. Computational Physics

Examples of Commission Activities

• hold conferences in their field

• award medals (IUPAP Young Scientist Prizes)

• authoritative web sites for their area of expertise

– brief comprehensive reviews of the current activities in their fields

– links to other authoritative sites, e.g. best values of fundamental constants, atomic masse

( IUPAC/IUPAP Technical Report on the

‘Discovery of Element 112’ [July 2008] )

• representation on related bodies, e.g. C2 has connections to BIPM, CCU, ISO, IOML, IUPAC

• Red Book on standard usage of symbols and nomenclature

Working GroupsWG1 ICFA - International Committee on Future

Accelerators

WG2 Communication in Physics

WG3 Facilities for Condensed Matter Physics

- International Committee on the Future of Neutron

Sources (ICFNS)

- International Committee on High Magnetic Field

Facilities (HMFF)

WG4 PANAGIC - Particle and Nuclear Astrophysics and

Gravitation International Committee

Working Groups - continued

WG5 Women in Physics

WG7 International Committee on Ultrahigh

Intensity Lasers

WG8 Nanoscience

WG9 International Cooperation in Nuclear

Physics (ICNP)

WG1 ICFAInternational Committee on Future Accelerators (1976)

Chair: A.Wagner (DESY) www.fnal.gov/directorate/icfa/

Promote international collaboration in all phases of the construction and exploitation of very high energy accelerators

• Organize meetings – formulate advice on future plans for regional facilities – formulate advice on joint studies and uses.

• Organize workshops – problems of super high energy accelerator complexes

and their international exploitation – foster r&d of necessary technology

ICFA relates to C11

• Mandate:

1) To provide a description of the landscape of key issues in Nuclear Physics research for the next 10 to 20 years

2) To produce (maintain) a compendium of facilities existing or under development worldwide

3) To establish a mapping of these facilities onto the scientific questions identified above

IUPAP Report 41: ‘Research Facilities in Nuclear Physics’

WG.9 Working Groupon International Cooperation in Nuclear Physics

(ICNP)

4) To identify missing components that would have to be developed to provide an optimized, comprehensive network of international facilities

5) To explore mechanisms and opportunities for enhancing international collaboration in nuclear science

6) To identify R/D projects that could benefit from international joint effort

7) To serve as a source of expert advice for governmental or inter- governmental organizations in connection with efforts to coordinate and promote nuclear science at the international level

: OECD Global Science Forum – Report from the Working Group on Nuclear Physics (May 2008) with formal request to WG.9 for advise on

a continuing basis

8) To serve as a forum for the discussion of future directions of nuclear science in the broadest sense

9) To document the cross-disciplinary impact of Nuclear Physics and of nuclear facilities and to identify mechanisms for expanding (fostering) cross-disciplinary research.

WG.9 relates to C12

Further WG.9 action items:

• Prepare a concise report on what it requires to operate an effective truly international user facility to include possible solutions to the difficulties of access for users from the developing nations.

• Develop the access to sources of funding for networking activities along the lines successfully employed by the European Community.

• Establish sub-committees to coordinate workshops/white-papers/proposals for facilities likely too large for a single country or region and in particular for - a future rare-isotope-beam facility - a future electron-ion collider

• Pursue the implementation of the OECD recommendations to science funding administrators and the relevant government representatives.

COMPOSITION OF THE WORKING GROUP

The Executive of the Working Group consists of a Chairperson and a Secretary. Among its members will be the Chairs of various long range planning committees, i.e., the Chair of the US Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC) or his/her designate, the Chair of the Nuclear Physics European Collaboration Committee (NuPECC) or his/her designate, the Chair of the Nuclear Physics Asian Collaboration Committee (NuPACC), and further management representatives of nuclear physics research establishments worldwide. The Chair and Vice-Chair of C12, the IUPAP Commission on Nuclear Physics, will be ex-officio members of the Working Group.

Chair of WG.9: A.W. Thomas [Jefferson Laboratory] Secretary of WG.9: W.T.H. van Oers [University of Manitoba]