# International Association of Physics Students

The International Association of Physics Students (IAPS) is a non-profit umbrella organization for physics students associations. Its official seat is in Mulhouse, France in the headquarters of the European Physical Society. It was founded in 1987 in Debrecen, Hungary.

## Introduction

IAPS is an association of physics students and student societies from around the globe, working to promote peaceful collaboration amongst its members. These are represented by national and local committees, who meet regularly to ensure the relevance of activities. Since 1987, IAPS has worked continuously to support friendly relations and collaboration between physics students. The group supports its members in their academic and professional work by discussing and acting on scientific, social and cultural issues. IAPS is a recognised non-governmental organisation run entirely by students from around the world.
IAPS runs an annual International Conference of Physics Students (ICPS), one of the biggest student organized conferences in the world. IAPS also organizes visits to global research institutions such as CERN or Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, international physics competitions, summer schools, exchange programmes and multinational meetings.
On a daily basis, IAPS is run by an Executive Committee, which is elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), held during the ICPS with the participation of all member societies. Most of the activities are run through the help of student volunteers, whose collaboration is necessary to ensure that all activities are offered at prices that allow participation from countries with weaker economies.
Throughout its existence, IAPS has been accumulating a number of partnerships with several international organizations. Between the most long-standing collaborators stand the European Physical Society (EPS) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP)—in which IAPS constitutes the Affiliated Commission of Physics Students (AC5). IAPS continuously pursues collaborative partnership efforts with other organizations to have a positive impact in the global scientific community.

## Structure

IAPS is run by an Executive Committee, which is elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). IAPS members may be national physics student organisations, called National Committees (NC), physics student association localised at one university or city, called Local Committees (LC) and individual members (IM) if none of the before are present where one studies. In a broad sense, all the members of NCs and LCs, as well as IMs, are members of IAPS. Membership costs are calculated for each applicant based on the type of committee and the GDP of applicant countries.

### Executive committee

The IAPS Executive Committee (EC) is currently composed of 9 students, elected by representatives of the member societies. The 2022/23 EC is composed of:
| Title | Name | Nationality | Affiliation |
| President | Cyrus Walther | Germany | Technical University of Dortmund |
| Vice President & Events Manager | Niloofar Jokar | Iran | Isfahan University of Technology |
| Treasurer | Mario Gaimann | Germany | University of Stuttgart |
| Secretary & Data Protection Officer | Thibault Fredon | France | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Membership and Advocacy Manager | Marisol Castellanos | Guatemala | Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala |
| Outreach Manager | Anna Christoforidou | Greece | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens |
| PR Manager | Dimitris Gkavakos | Greece | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens |
| IT Manager | Roberto Ciccareli | Italy | University of Turin |
| Recruitment Manager | Gabriel Maynard | Costa Rica | Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala |

### National Committees

| Member Nation | Organisation |
| Austria | Basisgruppe Physik der TU Graz |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Asocijacija studenta fizike BiH |
| Croatia | Studentska sekcija Hrvatskog fizikalnog društva |
| Czech Republic | Czech Association of Physics Students |
| Cuba | Sección Joven Sociedad Cubana de Física |
| Denmark | Fysikstuderende i Danmark (FSID) |
| Finland | Suomen Fysiikanopiskelijat ry |
| France | Le Réseau Jeunes SPF, Société Française de Physique |
| Georgia | საქართველოს ფიზიკის სტუდენტთა ასოციაცია (GAPS) |
| Germany | Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft |
| Greece | Hellenic Association of Physics Students |
| Honduras | Asociación Hondureña de Estudiantes de Física |
| Hungary | Magyar Fizikushallgatók Egyesülete (Mafihe) |
| India | Association of Indian Physics Students (AIPS) |
| Italy | Associazione Italiana Studenti di Fisica (AISF) |
| North Macedonia | Македонско друштво на студенти физичари |
| Mexico | Sociedad Científica Juvenil |
| Morocco | الجمعية المغربية للفيزياء (MAP) |
| Montenegro | Crnogorska asocijacija studenata fizike |
| Netherlands | Studenten Physica in Nederland (SPIN) |
| Norway | Norske Fysikkstudenters Forening Trodheim |
| Poland | Polskie Stowarzyszenie Studentów Fizyki (PSSF) |
| Portugal | Physis – Associação Portuguesa de Estudantes de Física |
| Serbia | Asocijacija studenata fizike Srbije |
| Spain | Asociación Española de Estudiantes de Física (AEEF) |
| Switzerland | Young Physicists Forum (YPF) |
| Tunisia | Physicist Community FST |
| United Kingdom and Ireland | University Student Network (USN), Institute of Physics |
| United States | Society of Physics Students (SPS), American Institute of Physics |

### Local Committees

| Member Nation | Organisation |
| Ankara, Turkey | ODTÜ Fizik Topluluğu (OFT) |
| Antwerp, Belgium | Wiskunde, Informatica en Natuurkunde kring (WINAK) |
| Baguio, Philippines | UP Physics Sphere |
| Ben Srour, Algeria | رائد في مجال تعليم (AAMP) |
| Bucharest, Romania | Asociația Studenților Fizicieni a Universității București (ASF-UB) |
| San Pedro Montes de Oca, Costa Rica | Asociación de Estudiantes de Física y Meteorología (AEFISYMET) |
| Farhangian University, Iran | Farhangian Association of Physics Students |
| Guatemala City, Guatemala | Asociación de Estudiantes de Física y Matemática (AEFM) |
| Isfahan, Iran | (IUT) دانشگاه صنعتی اصفهان |
| Kathmandu, Nepal | St. Xavier's Physics Council |
| Kharkiv, Ukraine | Рада молодих вчених і спеціалістів, ФТІНТ ім. Б.І. Вєркіна НАН України |
| Limbe, Cameroon | African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Cameroon (AIMS Cameroon) |
| Msida, Malta | S Cubed – the Science Students' Society |
| Manila City, Philippines | The Polytechnic University of the Philippines Physics Society (PUP Physics Society) |
| Nanyang Technological University, Singapore | Odyssey Club |
| Quito, Ecuador | The Optical Society – Universidad San Francisco de Quito Capítulo Estudiantil (OSA-USFQ Capítulo Estudiantil) |
| Saint Petersburg, Russia | Сообщество студентов-физиков Политехнического университета (PCPS) |
| Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | Asociación de Estudiantes de Física de la Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (AEF-UASD) |

### Individual Members

Students of physics or related subjects who do not have access to an NC or LC may join as IMs. Only IAPS members may attend IAPS events such as ICPS. Currently IAPS has around 150 individual members.

### Honorary Members

The following people were elected Honorary Fellows by an IAPS AGM:
* Sir Arnold Wolfendale
* Sir Joseph Rotblat (Nobel Laureate), died in 2005
* Patroklosz Budai (2005)
* Tamás Fülöp (2005)
* Ákos Horváth (2005)
* Péter Lévai (2005)
* Péter Ván (2005)
* Jim Grozier (2008)
* David Lee (2024)
* Michel Spiro (2024)
* Jens Vigen (2024)

## Programs
### International Conference of Physics Students

ICPS International Conference of Physics Students is the International Conference of Physics Students, which is the main event of IAPS, organized yearly by one of its member committees. The purpose of the conference is to create an opportunity for physics students from all around the world to come together, to talk about science and life, to practice presenting their research and, all in all, to have a great time.
The first ICPS was organized by students of the Eötvös Loránd University, in Budapest, Hungary in the year 1986. The event had less than fifty participants, but since then, the conference has grown considerably, nowadays bringing together more than four hundred students.
The one week of the conference has its fair share of scientific, social and touristic programs. One gets a chance to listen to and give lectures on various topics in physics, to check out the laboratories of the host city, to make friends with physics students from all around the world, to get a little glimpse of the foreign cultures that gather here, and to see another part of the world.
The following were venues of the ICPS conferences:
| Year | Location |
| 2022 | Puebla, Mexico (online) |
| 2021 | Copenhagen, Denmark (online) |
| 2020 | Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2019 | Cologne, Germany |
| 2018 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 2017 | Turin, Italy |
| 2016 | Malta |
| 2015 | Zagreb, Croatia |
| 2014 | Heidelberg, Germany |
| 2013 | Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
| 2012 | Utrecht, Netherlands |
| 2011 | Budapest, Hungary |
| 2010 | Graz, Austria |
| 2009 | Split, Croatia |
| 2008 | Kraków, Poland |
| 2007 | London, United Kingdom |
| 2006 | Bucharest, Romania |
| 2005 | Coimbra, Portugal |
| 2004 | Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro |
| 2003 | Odense, Denmark |
| 2002 | Budapest, Hungary |
| 2001 | Dublin, Ireland |
| 2000 | Zadar, Croatia |
| 1999 | Helsinki, Finland |
| 1998 | Coimbra, Portugal |
| 1997 | Vienna, Austria |
| 1996 | Szeged, Hungary |
| 1995 | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| 1994 | Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| 1993 | Bodrum, Turkey |
| 1992 | Lisbon, Portugal |
| 1991 | Vienna, Austria |
| 1990 | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| 1989 | Freiburg, West Germany |
| 1988 | Prague, Czechoslovakia |
| 1987 | Debrecen, Hungary |
| 1986 | Budapest, Hungary |
In addition, IAPS organizers a number of other events. In 2018, IAPS associated with the International Students of History Association (ISHA) in a Series of Conferences named HyPe (HistorY and Physics Experience), that took place in Bologna, Italy.

### Excursions

Since its foundation, IAPS has organised several trips to international research facilities, either directly or through its member societies.

#### iaps2CERN

IAPS yearly organises annual tours to CERN, in Geneva (Switzerland). The highly successful iaps2CERN programme usually has approximately 40 participants, representing up to 20 different nationalities. The tour usually comprises visits of the CERN exhibitions, some of the experiments currently accessible and also a visit of the United Nations offices in Geneva.

## International Physics Competitions

PLANCKS is an annual international physics contest for bachelor and master students. It is usually a three day event and can include in addition to the competition itself scientific program like a symposium and excursions, as well as social events and the award ceremony. PLANCKS is arranged by different IAPS member committees.
In May 2014, the A-Eskwadraat student association held the first PLANCKS edition in Utrecht. Since then, it took place every year at varying places:
| Year | Location | Winning country |
| 2024 | Dublin, Ireland | Germany |
| 2023 | Milan, Italy | Italy |
| 2022 | Munich, Germany | United Kingdom and Ireland |
| 2021 | Porto, Portugal (online) | United Kingdom and Ireland |
| 2020 | London, United Kingdom (online) | United Kingdom and Ireland |
| 2019 | Odense, Denmark | Germany |
| 2018 | Zagreb, Croatia | Netherlands |
| 2017 | Graz, Austria | Spain |
| 2016 | Bucharest, Romania | Czech Republic |
| 2015 | Leiden, Netherlands | Netherlands |
| 2014 | Utrecht, Netherlands | Netherlands |
IAPS also support other physics competitions, such as the Ortvay competition (organised by the Hungarian NC) and the International Physics Tournament.