e-EPS News: Highlights from the European Physical Society

e-EPS News is a monthly addition to the CERN Bulletin line-up, showcasing articles from e-EPS – the European Physical Society newsletter – as part of a collaboration between the two publications.

 

DESY and INFN physicists win 2011 Enrico Fermi prize

The 2011 Enrico Fermi prize of the Italian Physical Society (Società Italiana di Fisica, SIF) has been awarded, for work in the field of experimental particle physics, to Dieter Haidt of the DESY Laboratory at Hamburg and to Antonino Pullia of the University of Milano Bicocca and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, “for their fundamental contribution to the discovery of weak neutral currents with the Gargamelle bubble chamber at CERN”.

The Enrico Fermi Prize is awarded yearly to members of the society who especially honour physics by their discoveries. For more information on the prize, please visit the Italian Physical Society website.

 

Consultation on the future of European Union Research

The outcome of the consultation on European Union research and innovation funding was discussed, at a major conference in Brussels on 10 June. The consultation – which the EPS contributed to – was based on a European Commission Green Paper, which was published on 9 February.

The Green Paper proposed major changes to EU research and innovation funding, in order to increase the scientific and economic impact, to make participation easier and to provide better value for money. For more information, and a summary analysis of the consultation, please visit the European Commission website.

 

Physicists encouraged to consider carbon footprint

Physicists are being encouraged to take a look at the size of their carbon footprint. In the October issue of Physics World, University of Oxford astrophysicist Phil Marshall calls on his colleagues worldwide to individually address environmental sustainability.

 “Individual physicists can help to solve the energy problem, and not just the ones whose research is in new technologies; we can all contribute by setting the right example,” writes Marshall.

The article came just before the First Joint Workshop on Energy Management for Large Scale Research Infrastructures, which was held in Lund, Sweden from 13 to 14 October. The meeting aimed to identify ways of doing large-scale physics research with a manageable and sustainable carbon-neutral energy supply.

by e-EPS News