Applying

About

The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Working Group on Women in Physics is organizing the Fourth International Conference on Women in Physics, to be held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, from April 5 to 8, 2011. We intend for the Fourth Conference to attract about 300 participants from ~70 countries. The focus of this meeting is on catalyzing international research partnerships and collaborations, as well as on sharing best practices and building capacity for the participants to return home equipped to take specific actions that will further increase and advance the participation of women in physics in their countries. For these reasons, the Conference organizers aim to include in approximately 15% to 20% men and to have country teams of at least three persons. The U.S. delegation is planned to include 20 people, approximately one-third students, one-third underrepresented minorities, from all subdisciplines and some related disciplines.

The overarching purpose of the Fourth International Conference on Women in Physics (ICWIP2011) is three-fold: (i) to provide an international opportunity for analysis of the current status of and progress in promoting women in physics internationally; (ii) to provide an arena for international women in physics to share their scientific accomplishments and nucleate international research collaborations; and (iii) to build capacity in each participating country to design and implement changes that improve the numbers of and advancement of women in physics. By bringing together teams of physicists (mostly women) from across the globe, the Conference organizers plan to:

Per the Conference announcement, "ICWIP2011 will provide a forum for both scientific presentations and for discussion of issues related to attracting, retaining and improving the status of women in physics." At this Conference each country team will report on the actions and progress in its country/region since the Seoul, Korea Conference of 2008, as well as learn from the experiences of other countries. An additional specific focus at ICWIP2011 will be on the development of a knowledge base and skill set for writing successful proposals, leading projects, performing fund-raising, and organizing national women-in-physics working groups. It is the goal of the Conference organizers to foster successful international exchanges among the teams about their work, progress, and experiences in improving the status of women in physics. Thus, workshops on how to do so will be offered to guide and empower the international community of women physicists in several ways. Through participation in the Conference, the teams will be able to return home with a renewed focus on specific actions to initiate or continue changes that will lead to increasing the participation and advancement of women in physics. Another specific goal of ICWIP2011 is to further revitalize and strengthen the robust international support network nucleated at the two previous international conferences, which is helping catalyze systemic change. Finally, ICWIP2011 will also increase the scientific visibility of women doing physics research and thereby shine a spotlight on women's contributions to physics internationally.

The First International Conference was held in Paris in 2002, with 300 participants from 60 countries. The Second was in Rio de Janeiro in 2005 and the Third was in Seoul, Korea. Each conference stimulated considerable progress nationally, regionally, and globally. The Proceedings from both conferences are available free at www.aip.org (conference proceedings #628, #795, and #1119). The Fourth Conference's web site is at http://www.acitravel.co.za/event/index.php?eventID=20. The Web site for the US delegation is at http://uswip.org. Country leaders for about 70 countries are listed at the Working Group's web site and networking site. They may also be listed at the conference's web site.

The United States Delegation is co-led by Beth Cunningham (American Association of Physics Teachers), Apriel Hodari (Eureka Scientific), Luz Miranda-Martínez (University of Maryland, College Park), and Meg Urry (Yale University). Beverly Hartline (University of the District of Columbia) is the U.S. member of the IUPAP Working Group. Renee Horton is an associate member of the IUPAP Working Group, and served as a team leader for the third conference and a member of the U.S. delegation to the second conference. A total of twenty delegation members will be selected from applicants. The goal is to have a highly diverse delegation of females and males, representing the full range of physics specialties, a few other fields, different employer types and sectors, physics teachers, different career stages, and various racial/ethnic groups. About one-third of the delegation is expected to be early in their careers (students, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows), with about a third of the delegation from minority racial/ethnic groups.

The Process

The US web site will provide the template and process for applying. Briefly, the application process requires applicants to write two 250-word (maximum) essays, submit an abstract of a research poster they would present at the conference, and submit a bio, not to exceed two pages. The essays would address: "What has been your previous engagement and activity to advance women in physics/science and how do you plan to contribute to the success of the conference and to follow-up in the United States?" and "How do you expect your participation in this conference will contribute to your future career success?" The poster abstract must be in the format required by the conference (please, see the abstract guidelines (Word Doc) for more information), and will show the applicant's area of research specialty. Selected individuals will be expected to contribute to the US paper and poster for the conference, provide a poster on their own research, and participate after the conference in outreach, dissemination, and efforts to improve the status of women in physics in the US. Applications are due by January 7, 2011. Registration is coming soon.

For more information, please email questions@uswip.org.