Category Archives: Events

National Society of Black Physicists conference – regular registration open through September 10th

All, Events, Graduate research, Undergraduate research

National Society of Black Physicists conference 2023

Location is Knoxville, Tennessee.  The opening conference reception is Thursday evening November 9.  Conference sessions run Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning.

Planning to attend in person?  Regular registration closes on September 10th, after that the registration fees increase significantly.  The registration fee for students INCLUDES travel and hotel, note well that this will be arranged by the conference – see “student travel guidelines” for more details.  The Student Regular Registration fee is  $315 members/ $375 non-members.

Interested in attending virtually? Virtual registration closes November 1st, with a $175 fee.

CUWiP 2024 at Penn

All, Events, Undergraduate research

Penn’s Physics & Astronomy department will host CUWiP January 19-21 2024!  Applications open now through October 23, 2023

New: link to Penn CUWiP web site with more details.  Please apply by October 23.  If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact us too – scroll down here https://web.sas.upenn.edu/cuwip-2024/ to the forms to sign up, thanks.

From the APS CUWiP webpage

The primary goal of the Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) is to increase recruitment and retention of undergraduate women in physics by:

  1. Communicating the breadth of education and career paths open to physics majors
  2. Disseminating information and advice on applying for summer research, graduate school and professional employment
  3. Providing opportunities to share experiences, advice and ideas with women at different stages of their education or career paths

The conferences are typically a mix of presentations, workshops, panels, poster session, tours and social events designed to maximize participation and interaction among women in physics. Typically, sites are able to accommodate 100 – 250 undergraduate attendees. In the past, some programs have included targeted outreach and other special elements, such as recruitment of or programs for high school, community college or underrepresented minority (URM) students, or tours of national labs or industry facilities). All conferences should include in their schedule a 90-minute keynote address that is webcast from one of the host institutions.

The conferences provide an opportunity for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs at the host institution to participate in the organization of a conference. Please note that planning a CUWiP is a major undertaking, and sites should recognize that faculty and/or staff involvement has been vital for the success of the conferences.

Although CUWiPs are primarily aimed at declared physics majors, the conferences are also able to recruit physics majors by energizing and equipping CUWiP participants to be ambassadors for the major when they return to their home institution. The national organizing committee emphasizes recruiting participants who may otherwise not be aware of the opportunities that a physics major provides, such as community college students in STEM fields who are interested in transferring to a four-year college, or first-generation college students.

CUWiP application deadline on Monday October 4

Events, Uncategorized, Undergraduate research

Undergraduate physics majors and graduate students, please note the deadline to register for CUWiP is Monday October 4 at 5pm eastern.  The closest one for us is Rutgers in New Jersey (about 1 hour away by car or train), and the Dept should be able to provide some support to attend.  The conference is Friday afternoon+Saturday+Sunday morning in January 2022, so it doesn’t clash with classes and is a lot of fun to attend!

CUWiP January 2022

 

Women in STEM webinars

All, Events, Uncategorized

Women in STEM: The Power to Persist and Pursue

Join special guests Dr. Amanda Goodson, Aurora Martinez, and Dr. Becky Moening for the publisher Wiley’s latest educational webinars. This August we’re taking an inside look at the gender equity gap in STEM with a two-part panel discussion where we’ll bring together women studying and working in STEM to share their thoughts and experiences as well as advice for how we can each do our part to support the growth of women in STEM.

  • Student Voices: A Discussion of Gender Equity in STEM Education
    August 9, 2021 at 1 PM EST      REGISTER NOW

    • In session 1, author and former NASA Aerospace Engineer, Dr. Amanda Goodson and Wiley’s resident Math Specialist Dr. Becky Moening, Ed.D will lead a panel discussion with female STEM students to discuss what led them to choose a STEM career path, their experience to date as a woman in STEM, and how they see the world of STEM changing for women as they enter the workforce.
  • Women’s Equality Day: A Discussion of Gender Equity in the STEM Community August 26, 2021 at 1 PM EST   REGISTER NOW
    • In session two, Dr. Goodson will be joined by Wiley’s VP and General Manager of Math and Science Foundations, Aurora Martinez, along with a dynamic group of professional women working in STEM careers as they share what drove them to choose a STEM career, their experience to date and how they have achieved success despite the gender gap, and their suggestions for how more women can persist and pursue in STEM careers.

See other webinars by Wiley on a range of subjects including equity and inclusion

University of Chicago Rising Stars Symposia (due August 15)

All, Events

Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows: The University of Chicago Rising Stars Symposia 2021 offer a platform for exceptional early-career scientists in the broad field of physics to present their work. The symposia are intended to promote early-career development of researchers working in exciting new directions in soft and biological matter, quantum science and technology, and experimental particle physics. Another goal is to increase the diversity of researchers in these fields; we particularly welcome applications for the symposia from researchers who come from under-represented groups. Those selected to participate in the symposia will receive an honorarium.

Dates:

  •      Rising Stars in Experimental Particle Physics: September 22-23, 2021
  •      Rising Stars in Soft and Biological Matter: September 23-24, 2021
  •      Quantum Creators Prize Symposium: September 29-30, 2021

Application

Inclusive Graduate Education Network (IGEN) conference (Jun 14-16)

All, Events, Graduate research

Registration is now open at this link!

2021 IGEN National Meeting

A Virtual Experience from June 14 – 16

Recruit, Learn, Share

The IGEN National Meeting provides an opportunity for organizations and individuals dedicated to advancing equity for Black, Latinx and Indigenous students in STEM graduate education to share ideas, learn together and develop/strengthen their networks.

Graduate students will be able to:

  • Develop personal and professional skills that will drive forward future academic and professional endeavors
  •   Share research findings with the IGEN scholarly community
  • Exchange experiences with peers and potential employers (i.e. personal and professional networking)
  • Increase exposure to academic/professional opportunities

Educators and Employers will be able to:

  • Learn about evidence-based inclusive practices (i.e. culturally responsive mentoring, advising, etc.)
  • Develop skills to lead equity efforts and facilitate organizational change
  • Increase their awareness of the racialized & gendered nature of research and academic spaces
  • Exchange experiences with cross-organizational leaders

Learn more about the program!

Physics & Astronomy Statement on Anti-Asian Racism

All, Events

Dear colleagues,

Like so many of you, I have been horrified and angry to hear increasing reports of violence against members of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, including the most recent murders in Georgia of eight people, six of whom were Asian American women.

Our department unequivocally condemns anti-Asian racism, and denounces these acts of violence and the ongoing racism and misogyny behind them. We recognize the anxiety and fear that these acts cause in the personal and professional lives of our AAPI colleagues; a situation that has become even clearer to me in recent days in heartbreaking discussions with a number of you.

Such harassment, intimidation, and violence, directed against our AAPI colleagues, deeply affects us all as a collective community. We stand in solidarity with all AAPI faculty, staff, postdocs, and students, and we are committed to ensuring that our department is one where everyone may strive to learn, to contribute to the search for new knowledge, and to make the most of their talents.

I would like to remind you that if you would like to speak to anyone within the department about these issues, you are welcome at any time to contact me, our Graduate Chair (Prof. Josh Klein), our Undergraduate Chair (Prof. Masao Sako), our Diversity Coordinator (Prof. Evelyn Thomson), or any other member of the faculty. We all stand with you, and are ready to help in any way we can.

Mark Trodden

Chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy

 

List of resources from particle physics US LHC Users Association [thanks to Bo Jayatilaka and Toyoko Orimoto]

How to Be An Ally: 

History: 

 

Anti-Racism: 

 

Annual lecture on Diversity in STEM fields March 31st

All, Events, Uncategorized

 

Diversity and Inclusion in Physics (DIP) invites you to our annual lecture on diversity in STEM fields, which is open to all members of the Penn community. The lecture will take place at 3:30 pm, Wednesday March 31st on Zoom.

Our speaker this year is Dr. Gina Quan from the department of Physics and Astronomy at San José State University (https://ginaquan.com/). Dr Quan’s research works towards improving equity and justice within undergraduate STEM education by improving understanding of culture, community and identity.

Talk title and abstract (flyer attached):

Cultivating Equity-Focused Institutional Change in University STEM Departments

Discipline-based education research has made great strides in understanding how to foster more equitable and effective teaching in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, there still has yet to be widespread adoption of reforms in university STEM departments. Our project seeks to understand how departments can implement sustainable, large-scale changes to undergraduate education. While these changes take many forms, they are grounded in six core principles, including upholding a commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice. We facilitate Departmental Action Teams (DATs), teams of faculty, students, and staff within a single STEM department working on some issue related to undergraduate education. During this talk, I will present an overview of the DAT model and the principles which guide our work. I will then present some empirical research discussing how to meaningfully develop student-staff-faculty partnerships while implementing departmental changes. Finally, I will discuss the multifaceted nature of complex equity-focused changes. 

At 3:00 pm on Thursday, April 1, there will be an opportunity for grad students and post docs to join a discussion with Dr Quan. The discussion will use the same zoom link as the lecture.

Please contact us, penn.dip@gmail.com with any questions.

Best,

DIP Leaders