Dear Readers,

In almost all discussions with colleagues and students about membership in a learned society the question is asked: “what’s in it for me?” Besides the purely philosophical answer, there are many practical reasons for why membership in a learned society can be a fundamental asset for every scientist.

The European Physical Society [EPS] is a platform for your activities and a voice for your interests...

Representatives from all European Physical Society [EPS] Member Societies, Divisions and Groups met for the 2012 EPS Council, which was held on 30-31 March at CERN, in Geneva, Switzerland.

As with every even year, elections were a major item on the agenda. John Dudley, of France’s Université de Franche-Comté, was elected the incoming president of the EPS. Dudley is a past chair of the EPS Quantum Electronics and Optics Division, and was the initial proposer for the International Year of Light...

The 5th meeting of the European Physical Society’s Forum Physics and Society [FPS] was held at CERN, Geneva, on 28-29 March this year. The event, which focussed on the topic of “physicists in the market place”, was held prior to the 2012 European Physical Society [EPS] Council.

The purpose of the meeting was to explore the challenges experienced by physicists, leaving their usual fields of study, who pursue alternative careers...

Three University Student Fellowships – of 2,000 euros each – are available from the European Physical Society [EPS] in 2012. The EPS fellowships are given to promising young physics students in recognition of academic excellence.

Applicants should be enrolled, at a European institution, in a physics – or related – degree course at the Masters level (second cycle: post-Bachelor, pre-PhD), or equivalent. Third cycle students and previous EPS fellowship recipients are not eligible...

A limited number of grants are available for European Physical Society [EPS] Individual Members to attend EPS Europhysics and sponsored conferences.

Those with an accepted oral or poster contribution to the conference are eligible. Grants are only available to Individual Members whose membership fee payments are up-to-date; only one grant will be awarded per person per year. Applications should be made at least two months before the conference in question...

Nominations are open for the 2013 “For Women in Science” L'OREAL-UNESCO Awards in the Physical Sciences. The five awards - of $100,000 each - are given in recognition of outstanding contributions to scientific advancement.

The awards will be presented in March next year, at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. To date, the L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Awards have recognised 72 eminent female scientists.

Nominations are limited to...