Student Perspectives on Physics Meetings

Regional Meetings

Recently Featured Articles| Archives

APS California Section
		2009 Annual Meeting of the California Section of the American Physical Society (APS) by "Katie Klein, University of California, Santa Cruz With around 80 presenters from ten fields and plenary talks from experimentalists, inventors, and theorists, collaborations and idea sharing thrived.

APS Four Corners Section
		Three C’s at the Four Corners: Communication, Collaboration, Camaraderie by Ben Frandsen, Brigham Young University Nerveous about my first presentation at a professional meeting, communication, collaboration and camaraderie, and excitement to return home and continue my research.

SPS Zone Meetings
		The Society of Physics Students (SPS) chapters are divided into 18 geographic zones, and many zones hold meetings each year. SPS offers support at a level of $500 for SPS chapters hosting a zone meeting. Learn more on the “Host a Zone Meeting” page. Zone 1: Boston University, March 2009 Cutting-edge research, careers, and graduate school all in one Zone 3 & Zone 7: Saint Peter’s College, April 2009 Plasmas: The fourth state that matters!!! Zone 4: Randolph College, April 2009 From a human‐sized hamster wheel to earthquakes Zone 6: The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, March 2009 Puerto Rico’s first zone meeting! Zone 7 & Zone 3: Saint Peter’s College, April 2009 Plasmas: The fourth state that matters!!! Zone 10: Rhodes College, February 2009 Celebrating the International Year of Astronomy at ludicrous speed! Zone 12: East Central University, April 2009 Working to bring together Zone 12 Zone 13: Tarleton State University, April 2009 Joint meeting of Zone 13 and the Texas sections of the American Physical Society and American Association of Physics Teachers Zone 14: Colorado School of Mines, April 2009 Joint Meeting of Zone 14 and the Colorado-Wyoming section of the American Association of Physics Teachers Zone 15: University of Utah (April, 2009) Zone 15 takes on thermoacoustics, rockets, and “spin matters” Zone 16: Arizona State University, April 2009 Physically correct and incorrect Zone 17: Eastern Washington University, May 2009 The physics of music and the solar system Zone 18: California State University, San Bernardino, April 2009 Frontiers and Future Faces of Physics

National Meetings

The Society of Physics Students (SPS) offers travel support at a level of $200 for SPS chapters or individual students reporting on a national physics meeting for SPS, and similar levels of support for individuals presenting research at SPS-sponsored sessions at national physics meetings. Learn more about: SPS Reporter Awards | SPS Travel Awards

Recently Featured Articles | Archives

American Astronomical Society (AAS)
		Taking it all in: The 215th AAS Meeting By Joshua Fuchs, Rhodes College With around 3500 attendees, the 215th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) was the largest astronomy meeting in history.

		From the Rose Bowl to Gamma-Ray Bursts: The AAS 213th Meeting By Therese Jones, Penn State The International Year of Astronomy, extragalactic astronomy, cosmology, and strong Mg II absorbers along quasar and gamma-ray burst sightlines.

		Remarkable team of High School Students attend 213th AAS Meeting By Oil City High School Students High school students from Oil City High School, PA, and their teacher Tim Spuck presented their research at the 213th AAS Meeting. SPS is pleased to present their experiences here.

American Geophysical Union (AGU)
		The 2009 AGU Fall Meeting By Michael Towle, University of Memphis Presenting my research at a meeting "incomprehensibly epic in scale," cool weather pattern demos with dry ice (video included), and making "moon dirt."

American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)
		My experience at the 2009 Joint Meeting of the AAPT and the AAAS By Jenna Smith, Rhodes College An Inconvenient Truth, rotating galaxies and dark matter, advancing women in science internationally, and social opportunities for undergraduate students.

American Physical Society (APS)
		APRIL: First results from the Fermi telescope and the April 2009 Meeting of the APS By Scott Burger, Western Washington University Fusion, dark matter, bad astronomy, science journalism, and interviews with 2008 Nobel Laureate Makoto Kobayashi and Phil Plait, author of Death From the Skies! and the “Bad Astronomy” blog.

		MARCH: Our Journey Though the 2009 APS March Meeting By David Jacome, Ronald Maldonado, Tony Maldonado, Samik Adhikari, and Luan To, Saint Peter’s College Nanoparticles, thin films, qubit decoherence, undergraduate presentations, and interacting with physicists from around the world.

		MARCH: A Student Perspective on the 2009 APS March Meeting By Eteri Svanidze, SUNY Fredonia Nanotechnology, a student reception sponsored by the APS Forum on Graduate Student Affairs, and navigating the exhibit hall.

Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics
		The 2009 Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics held at Yale University By Eteri Svanidze, SUNY Fredonia Career opportunities, how graduate school works, nanotechnology, and the equal treatment of women in science, having a fulfilling career and “normal” life.

International Meetings

The Society of Physics Students (SPS) offers travel support for two students to represent SPS and the United States at the International Conference of Physics Students (ICPS), an annual conference of the International Association of Physics Students (IAPS). This is facilitated through the SPS Outstanding Student Award for Undergraduate Research.

Winners receive a $500 honorarium and a $500 award for their SPS Chapter, as well as expenses for transportation, room, board, and registration for the ICPS. In addition, winners are invited to give their research presentation at an SPS Research Session at a national meeting.

In addition, SPS Reporter Awards are occaisonally granted to SPS members reporting from other international meetings.

Recently Featured Articles | Archives

2009 Marshall Scholar Reunion and Symposium (California Institute of Technology)
		Space Exploration and Climate Change: An Introduction and Interdisciplinary Discussion by Anna M. Quider, University of Cambridge Many generations of Marshall Scholars, space exploration and climate change.

COSMO '09 (International Conference on Particle Physics and Cosmology, Geneva, Switzerland)
		COSMO '09: Where the Subatomic Meets the Extragalactic by Scott V. Burger, Western Washington University Studying in London, science at CERN, Stephen Hawking on “The Spontaneous Creation of Universes,” and presenting my cosmology research.

2009 ICPS (International Conference of Physics Students)
		XXIV International Conference of Physics Students \| Photo Album by Joshua Fuchs, Rhodes College Traveling to Croatia, amazing guest lectures, presenting my research on “Binary Orbital Motion of Electrically Charged Spheres in Weightlessness,” and making friends from all over the world.

		International Conference of Physics Students by Gabriel Caceres, Augustana College 500 physics students from around the world, meeting a famous astrophysicist, and invitations to return to Europe.