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.
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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.
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