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 Message from President

Greetings from President

January, 2017

The concept for the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS) began in 1983 with the first Asia Pacific Physics Conference (APPC) in Singapore. The founding of AAPPS formally started with the 3rd APPC in Hong Kong in 1988, and AAPPS was officially established on October 15, 1989 as announced by the Ad Hoc Committee Chairman, Prof. C. N. Yang. The first AAPPS council was formed on 10 August 1990, together with the 4th APPC in Seoul, Korea.

The principal aim of AAPPS is to promote the advancement of knowledge in physics in the Asia Pacific region, through means including research, application and teaching, and especially through international collaboration in these activities in this region. AAPPS may organize conferences and workshops, establish specialist divisions and subcommittees, and publish newsletters and journals.

Looking back in history, we should thank the pioneers of AAPPS. Through the efforts of the AAPPS Council Presidents C. N. Yang (chairman of the ad hoc committee on AAPPS, 1989-1990, and the first AAPPS president, 1990-1994), Michijili Konuma (1994-1997), Jiaer Chen (1998-2000), Won Namkung (2001-2004), Tien T. Tsong (2005-2007), Jie Zhang (2008-2010), Shoji Nagamiya (2011-2013), and Seunghwan Kim (2014-2016), and through the efforts of their fellow peers, AAPPS has progressed steadily and profoundly. The aims of AAPPS set at the start have been realized. AAPPS, together with European Physical Society (EPS) and American Physical Society (APS) are the three major important continental physical associations in the world. In this region, there exists the largest population and the widest culture diversities in the world. Eleven physicists from this region have won Nobel Prizes in Physics since AAPPS was founded.

There have been more and more international exchanges and cooperation between AAPPS and the rest of the world. Starting in 2010, AAPPS and EPS have successfully organized three Asia Europe Physics Summits, with broad participation from researchers from around the world. AAPPS is now an observer of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). More and more international activities have been organized in the past few years.

In the 7th council (2011-2013), the by-laws on AAPPS divisions was made and adopted. In the 8th council (2014-2016), three divisions were set up: the division on plasma physics (AAPPS-DPP), the division of astrophysics, cosmology, gravity (DACG) and the division on nuclear physics (ANPhA). There is a rich variety of activities in each division, such as workshops, meetings, and schools. Working groups on AAPPS divisions and publications were also formed to help the formation of divisions, and to encourage exchange among the physical journals in the region. The first summit of the editors-in-chiefs of physical journals in the Asia Pacific region was held in 2016. More divisions and subcommittees will be formed in the future.

AAPPS publishes the bimonthly magazine, the AAPPS Bulletin. It is the mouthpiece of AAPPS, and publishes featured physics articles, describes important activities in this region, and introduces physics departments and research institutes in the region. The Bulletin is run in cooperation with the Asia Pacific Center of Theoretical Physics (APCTP), and there is a special section in the magazine regarding activities at APCTP. The AAPPS-DPP is launching the journal, Reviews of Modern Plasma Physics (RMPP), and the first issue will be published in 2017.

AAPPS confers the CN Yang Award for young physicists. It is awarded triennially at APPCs. It has become highly competitive, and has become a very prestigious award for young physicists around the world. In 2016, the awardee from Australia was also the recipient of the Australia Institute of Physics Ruby Payne-Scott Award for excellence in early-career research. The Chandrasekhar Prize is awarded by the Division of Plasma Physics of the AAPPS to recognize outstanding contributions to experimental and/or theoretical research in fundamental plasma physics and plasma applications in all fields of physics. DPP also confers the AAPPS-DPP Young Research Award at the APPCs.

Toward the end of the 2016, AAPPS finally established its headquarters in Pohang, Korea in close cooperation with APCTP. APCTP was established in 1996, to be a leader in world physics research, to facilitate international collaboration, and to train young scientists in the Asia-Pacific region. AAPPS and APCTP have an established history of strong cooperation, and consequently having the AAPPS headquarters in Pohang will further facilitate and encourage this cooperation greatly. The APCTP has an AAPPS liaison officer to oversee the AAPPS headquarters.

From 2017, AAPPS will continue the endeavors to make AAPPS a higher profile, tighter knit and more broadly ranging organization.

We will work together to raise the profile of AAPPS. Physics in the Asian Pacific region has developed tremendously. Since AAPPS was founded, eleven physicists from this region - Takaaki Kajita (2015), Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura (2014); Brian P. Schmidt (2011); Charles Kuen Kao (2009); Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa (2008); Masatoshi Koshiba (2002); and Daniel C. Tsui (1998) - have been awarded Nobel Prizes in Physics. There are many more outstanding physicists who have done excellent work and are deserving of high profile awards. It is time to take measures to recognize these remarkable individuals and their outstanding achievements.

As a regional physical association, AAPPS seeks to do the work that individual member societies would not be able to accomplish. Regional cooperation of the member societies is one of these activities. Closer relationships between the individual societies is a goal. The AAPPS council will need also to adopt changes in its own structure to adapt to the rapid development of AAPPS so as to operate more efficiently.

AAPPS seeks to broaden its exchanges and links with other physical organizations such as IUPAP, EPS and APS. Ways to strengthen these relationships will be discussed and sought. For instance, AAPPS-DPP and the EPS-DPP have already established close links by mutually sending delegates and inviting conference committee members to one another.

Geographical exchanges within the Asia Pacific region are also important. AAPPS may broaden its influence in the Asia Pacific region by helping organize national/regional meetings.

I hope that by the end of my term, AAPPS will become an association with an even higher profile, with more close-knit connections among its members, and I hope AAPPS will have an even wider influence in the world and in the Asia Pacific region. I rely on your combined effort, wisdom and support in this endeavor. As Confucius said, "At thirty I became established." In 2019, AAPPS will celebrate its 30th Birthday in Malaysia in the APPC14. Let's look forward to an established AAPPS in three year's time through our work and dedication.

 

Gui-Lu Long
President, AAPPS

 

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President, AAPPS. Gui-Lu Long is a professor at Tsinghua University. He serves as the AAPPS president since January 2017. He is an IoP and APS fellow. He is the founder of quantum secure direct communication, constructed the optimal quantum exact search algorithm, and also made important contributions in experimental quantum information.