U.S.-­Brazil Young Physicists Forum

Opportunity for Early-Career Physicists at the March Meeting 2016

By Amy K. Flatten, APS Director of International Affairs

I want to inform APS members of an exciting new initiative, led by the APS Office of International Affairs — the U.S.-Brazil Young Physicists Forum (YPF), which will take place the weekend before the March Meeting 2016, and at the same location (see announcement on p. 7 of the print issue).

APS, the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), and the Brazilian Physical Society (SBF) have been working to bring together young physicists from our two countries. Many U.S. and Brazilian physicists from the United States and Brazil may wish to attend the APS March Meeting 2016 in Baltimore, MD. APS, FAPESP, and SBF will hold a YPF at the site of the March Meeting, on the weekend before the March Meeting begins — March 12-13, 2016. The YPF will combine scientific sessions with career development and networking opportunities for early-career physicists who are employed in a permanent professional position and who completed their Ph.D. within the last 10 years.

The YPF is specifically dedicated to early-career physicists who are working in the U.S. and Brazil in any of the scientific disciplines of the March Meeting, with special focus on networking. The YPF will provide participants with:

• Networking opportunities, scientific presentations, and social events with leading Brazilian and U.S. physicists working in academia and industry.
• Career development sessions on publishing in peer-reviewed journals.
• Panel discussions on university-industry cooperation.
• Scientific parallel sessions and poster sessions with international peers.
• Opportunities for building international and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Space is limited, so I urge early-career physicists to apply soon.

The application deadline is November 20; to apply visit the YPF webpage.

Each country will send approximately 20 participants, and the selections will be announced in mid-December 2015. Physicists from the U.S. without any experience in Brazil are especially encouraged to apply.

If you plan to attend the APS March Meeting 2016, there should be no additional travel expenses beyond two extra nights at your hotel, and financial support for those expenses is available. See the YPF website and application for full details.

During the meeting, eminent senior physicists will present plenary talks to the early-career physicists, followed by parallel sessions with the participants themselves presenting to each other. Perhaps most exciting, a poster-session/networking-reception will allow early-career physicists to discuss their research with not only their international peers, but also with industry leaders and distinguished VIPs from the FAPESP, APS, and SBF. Throughout the YPF, physicists can discuss their work and connect with potential partners and international colleagues in a smaller, more intimate setting than the larger March Meeting will allow. All participants will be expected to contribute scientifically, either through presenting their research during a parallel session, or presenting a poster during the poster-session/networking-event.

APS President-Elect Laura Greene will present “Publishing in Peer-Reviewed Journals,” a talk which she has given to international audiences of scientists around the globe. In addition to the scientific presentations and poster session, two panel discussions focused upon professional development and career-building will be tailored to both U.S. and Brazilian physicists’ interests: “University-Industry Collaboration in Research in the U.S. and Brazil” and “Life as a Young Physicist in Brazil and the United States.”

The plenary and parallel scientific sessions will provide the YPF participants with an expanded view of physics beyond their own classrooms, laboratories, and nation. The panel discussions and networking opportunities will broaden their perspectives on career opportunities outside of academia, and will allow deeper insights into each country’s scientific culture and approaches toward scientific research or partnerships.

Likewise, the relationships formed at this conference have the potential to last throughout the participants’ professional lives. As the YPF participants will have already begun attending the annual APS March Meeting, they are likely to maintain connections over the years, as they continue to attend these APS meetings and international conferences in related subfields. Consequently, the YPF has the potential to lead to many fruitful interdisciplinary and/or international networks and collaborations.

I ask APS members to share news of the U.S.-Brazil Young Physicists Forum with their colleagues, and to please encourage early-career physicists to participate. Please feel free to contact me at flatten@aps.org with any additional questions. 

More information regarding application submission, registration, and the program is available on the YPF webpage.