Preparatory meetings for the WYP2005

• The second meeting for the World Year of Physics 2005, took place in the EPS office, in Mulhouse, France, on the 2 and 3 September 2005. more

• The European Preparatory meeting for the WYP was held in Mulhouse, France, on Friday and Saturday, October 15 and 16, 2004... More

• The "World Year of Physics 2005" is now the "International Year of Physics"! More

• Progress in the preparation of WYP2005 around the globe
2nd Preparatory Meeting for the WYP • After a successful World Year of Physics 2005 preparatory conference in Graz, Austria, in July 2003, a follow-up meeting was held in Montréal Canada, March 20-21, 2004... More

• To stimulate the preparatory process for the WYP2005 a conference was held in Graz from July 6 to 9, 2003 aiming at:

  • exchanging ideas for common actions for the World Year of Physics 2005
  • discussing proposals and preparing trans-national funding applications
  • establishing and broadening networks in physics education at all levels from kindergarden to university

Support of this conferenz by UNESCO is gratefully acknowledged.

• "International Launch Event of the World Year of Physics"
Contact: Johannes Orphal and Martial Ducloy
Event place: UNESCO, Paris, France,
Dates: January 13-15, 2005 (closed).
The Launch Conference of the World year of Physics 2005 was a great success!
We had over 1200 participants; over half of them were students. 25 percent of the students were young women.
There were also students on an individual basis, so the overall number of countries represented by STUDENTS was 70 (exactly).
A nice short report (BLOG) for each day of the conference is from APS journalist Ernie Tretkoff,
see: www.physics2005.org/wypblog/#010305#010305

Click here to see the launch event photo
Click here to download the list of participants in Paris

• World Conference on Physics and Sustainable Development
October 31–November 2, 2005 in Durban, South Africa
 
This conference will offer a unique opportunity for the international physics community to come together and formulate a plan for tackling some of the large problems facing the world. In the past physics has made tremendous contributions to the health and welfare of people and nations. Think of the contributions that physics has made to the world economy in areas such as electronics, materials, and computer technology, and to health through x-rays, magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear medicine. These contributions are ongoing and should be celebrated during the World Year of Physics and at this Conference. However, many of these contributions have benefited people in the developed world more than those in the developing world. The World Conference will give the physics community the chance to begin to focus on how we can work with colleagues in the developing world to bring more benefits to their world.
 
For more information www.wcpsd.org/objectives.cfm

On Thursday 14 July 2005, some WYP coordinators and representatives, presented in Bern, during the EPS13 general conference,  the statement of the events, activities, media and wide public response, during the first part of the year 2005 and follow-up of WYP2005 (2006 and after)
 
Countries represented were:

  • Austria
  • Czech Republic
  • CERN
  • Hungary
  • Ghana
  • Finland
  • The Netherlands
  • Japan
  • Macedonia
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Serbia & Montenegro

 “Nights of Physics”, “Physics Day”, “Physics at the Station”, “Public Lectures”, “Seminars”, “WYP Stamps”, “Exhibitions”, “Posters” , “Demonstration of Physics in Supermarket or on the Beach” etc., were organised, in additional to the participation to the international events, like “Launch of the WYP”, in Paris, or “Physics Enlightens the World” and “Physics Talent Search”.


 
The following points came out from the meeting:

  • Feedback of the public has been positive, even if it would not have an impact, this year, on the general opinion. The promotion of physics should continue in the next years. A workgroup between the WYP coordinators, should take place every year;

  • Many activities are programmed for the future like for the Netherlands “Energy Beach Tours”, Theatre, Einstein Inspired Computer Game; for Austria, Travelling exhibition on Physics history and Integrate physics in existing Cultural Activities

  • The Media coverage was not too successful as most of the articles were on science pages and Albert Einstein has been showing around in the media.

  • A closing event of the WYP2005 will take place in December, at CERN, from 12:00 to 24:00 (Guinness record). More info: www.cern.ch/wwwebcast