Can you remind us of IUPAP’s remit? 

IUPAP is a global organization that was founded in 1922. Its mission is to assist the worldwide development of physics, to foster international co-operation in physics and to help in the application of physics towards solving problems of concern to humanity. In our current strategic plan, we have also adapted five new principles: to foster openness and inclusiveness in physics; to promote free movement of physicists and open data; to ensure integrity and credibility; to promote physics as a building block of innovation and multidisciplinary research; and to promote physics as an essential tool for development and sustainability. 

Why was IUPAP originally set up? 

Around a century ago physics was increasingly branching into many sub-fields. By 1922 it became impossible for one person to be an expert in all existing fields of physics, so it became more important to be connected to other physicists. The subject was also flourishing in more countries, so IUPAP was set up by 13 founding member nations to bring together physicists from all sub-disciplines and from across the world. 

How did you get involved in IUPAP? 

In 2014, having just stepped down as president of CERN Council, I became a researcher in astroparticle physics. At the time there was no IUPAP working group on this emerging field – only two separate ones on astronomy and particle physics. I volunteered to create a new working group on astroparticle physics and was chair of it from 2014 to 2017. Astroparticle physicists already had their own conference, but my main action was to promote access to publications, data and instruments in the field. 

How did you become president of IUPAP? 

In 2017 I was approached by Bruce McKellar who at the time was IUPAP president. He asked if I would accept the role of president-elect. In 2017 at the triennial general assembly, I was elected president-designate for three years from 2020 to 2023. In 2019, due to Kennedy Reed’s early resignation from the role, I automatically became president sooner than expected. The general assembly that was planned for October 2020, where I would be formally elected, was deferred to 2021 because of COVID-19 and when it was held virtually in 2021, I was elected president for another three years. The next general assembly will be in 2024, so I will have an exceptionally long mandate of five years, when it is normally three. 

What are the main activities of IUPAP today? 

There are many activities but the main one is that IUPAP sponsors global conferences in various sub-fields of physics. Most of the money for the conferences comes from other sponsors, but IUPAP sponsorship is a label that guarantees high scientific quality. IUPAP also sets rules that are adopted by all conferences it sponsors to reinforce equality, diversity and inclusiveness. 

What are these rules? 

The rules focus on promoting three aspects: participation of women in conferences; participation of developing countries; and inclusiveness in terms of attracting early-career physicists. We present an early-career scientific award to physicists at all large International IUPAP-sponsored conferences. 

How have IUPAP’s goals changed since it began? 

Equality, diversity and inclusion are becoming more important as are ethics and integrity. These are big challenges. Now there are many fake conferences, fake data and fake experiments. There is fake news everywhere. Part of our job is to fight against this and promote integrity. If you don’t, you will lose credibility. What is also new compared to 100 years ago is that the challenges society faces are increasingly connected to multidisciplinary research and innovation. So, we must promote physics as a building block of this. 

How has IUPAP developed as an organization? 

Before last year, IUPAP was an informal structure without legal status or permanent headquarters. As an organization we have moved around a lot: we were hosted by the American Physical Society and then the Institute of Physics in the UK before heading to Singapore for six years. Last year, for the first time, IUPAP became a registered association under Swiss law with permanent headquarters in Geneva. 

What are some of IUPAP’s most important achievements? 

IUPAP has made progress in equality, diversity and inclusion and participation from all countries. There has been progress in gender balance at IUPAP-sponsored conferences – we have more women now participating in physics and at conferences. IUPAP has also promoted collaboration and peace through physics, for example by actively promoting the Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East, which is based near Amman in Jordan. We are now promoting light sources in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 

As an international organization, how do you handle situations such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine? 

IUPAP is well known for its activity during the Cold War to support physicists from the East. This is important again during today’s difficulties. We condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and we have offered free IUPAP membership to Ukraine, which was not previously a member. The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was very proud to become a new member. We also offer Russian physicists who do not support the war a neutral IUPAP affiliation to participate in IUPAP-sponsored conferences in case they have difficulties putting their home institute affiliation. 

IUPAP is a kind of spokes-organization for all physicists and can sit at the UN and similar organizations

In the age of social media and increased connectivity between individuals why do we still need a body like IUPAP? 

IUPAP is now becoming a non-governmental organization (NGO), which has a legal structure. As an NGO, IUPAP is a kind of spokes-organization for all physicists and can sit at the UN or UNESCO and similar organizations. Social media alone cannot provide this. 

What other challenges does IUPAP face? 

The main challenge is to be more global in membership. When IUPAP started out, it had 13 member countries. Now there are 60 represented territories, but we want to increase this number. We also want to be better connected to physics outside academia. There are more physicists now in industry than in academia, which is why we are now also accepting corporate members. This change was brought in last year at the general assembly. Finally, we want to promote more equality, diversity and inclusion, collaboration and openness and integrity in IUPAP’s activities and in physics in general. 

As well as being the centenary of IUPAP, 2022 is also the UN International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD). Are these events linked? 

Yes. In 2017, when I was approached to become president-elect, I had the idea to join the IYBSSD with the IUPAP centenary celebrations to emphasize that physics is a building block for interdisciplinarity and for sustainable development. The IYBSSD was initiated by IUPAP and is the main event to celebrate IUPAP’s 100th anniversary. I am also chair of the IYBSSD steering committee. 

What will the centennial symposium in Trieste on 11–13 July involve? 

A series of activities will be held to celebrate IUPAP’s centenary all over the world and we hope that many will participate in person at Trieste. But we understand that some people may have difficulties, so the meeting will be hybrid. It will include plenary talks by keynote speakers, including the president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. There will be an emphasis on IUPAP history, developing countries, collaboration among countries, and physics education in relation to attracting early-career physicists. 

Any other special events planned? 

We will have a special general assembly in 2023 to mark the 100th anniversary of IUPAP’s first general assembly. We hope to hold this at CERN’s new Science Gateway outreach and education centre, which is expected to be finished next year.