Category Archives: fecs

Come check out these excellent early career scientist-focused sessions at the APS March Meeting

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We’re super excited for the 2022 March Meeting and we at FECS have prepared a program of some excellent events focusing on the unique interests of early career scientists. Also keep an eye out for our table somewhere in the hallways. I hope to see you there!

Monday

B13. (Invited) Policies and Postdocs: Early-Career Perspectives on How Public Policy Affects Scientists and How Scientists Can Affect Public Policy
11:30am – 2:30pm CT
McCormick Place W-183A (and live stream)
Early career scientists don’t live in a vacuum; we interact with policies made everywhere from APS to universities to federal agencies and even Congress. These interactions go both ways: we can influence these policies and even become the policymakers. Join us to hear from an NSF program director, the recent chair of the APS Ethics Committee, an author of the APS TEAM-UP report, APS government affairs and the acting Chief of Staff for the Dept. of Energy Office of Science. 

FECS Postdoctoral Poster Prize Competition
2:00pm – 5:00 pm 
McCormick Place Exhibit Hall F1 (abstracts G71-107)
Every March Meeting, FECS hosts a competition for the best postdoc prize with cash prizes of up to $500 (more info here). Come check out the competitors and their excellent work! The poster session is in the main exhibit hall abstracts G71-107. 

Tuesday

K13. (Invited) What Do Early-Career Physicists Do?    (Cosponsored with FIAP)
3:00pm – 6:00pm CT
McCormick Place W-183A (and live stream)
   Not all scientists work in labs! Join FECS and FIAP (the Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics) as we learn about careers in scientific publishing, data science, entrepreneurship and public engagement from early-career scientists working directly in those fields. 

FECS Reception
6:15pm CT – ???
McCormick Place W-185BC 
    Now that we are finally back to in-person meetings, we can enjoy the magic of free snacks and chatting with fellow physicists without screens or breakout rooms or mute buttons. Join FECS for an informal meetup of scientists from all career stages. Individually packaged refreshments will be provided. All March Meeting attendees are welcome, but unfortunately for our virtual colleagues, this is an in-person only event. 

Wednesday

N32. (Invited) Distinguished International Early Career Scientists in Quantum Physics (Cosponsored with FIP) 
11:30am – 2:30pm CT 
McCormick Place W-192B (and live stream)
    FECS and FIP (the Forum on International Physics) come together to sponsor an invited session highlighting the work of international early career scientists in quantum physics. 


All this information is available on our public facing website if you want to share.

Check out these FECS sessions at the March Meeting!

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The APS virtual March meeting is just around the corner! Although we are not meeting in person, FECS will spare no effort on ensuring a meeting that is as successful as before. We are hosting the following three invited sessions to highlight the contributions from early career scientists in science, industry, and international collaboration: 

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FECS election results and new Executive Committee members

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One January 1, I started my term as Chair-Elect for the APS Forum for Early Career Scientists (FECS). This is a three-year position; I will serve as Chair-Elect, Chair and then Past Chair in 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively. I have already served on the Executive Committee for the past two years as a Member-at-Large, and I am excited to continue serving this community. On behalf of FECS, I will also be serving as an Ex-Officio member of the APS Committee on Careers and Professional Development (CCPD) and I’m looking forward to shaping the crucial career programming that APS offers its members.

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APS FECS Elections: vote for me!

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I’m thrilled to tell you all that I’m a candidate for the Chair line of the APS Forum for Early Career Scientists! This is a three year position consisting of one year each as chair elect, chair and past chair. I’ve serving as a member of the FECS Executive Committee for the past two years and I’m excited to be able to continue my service with FECS. If you’re a member of FECS, please vote for me! Polls close on November 20; you should have an email in your inbox now with the subject line “APS FECS Election”. I’ve included my bio and candidate statement below.

If you’re a member of APS and not a member of FECS, you should sign up! I don’t know if you would be able to vote, but it’s free and it’s a way to encourage APS to support postdocs other early career scientists (and to get support yourself)!

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Call for nominations: APS Forum for Early Career Scientists (FECS) Executive Committee

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The Forum for Early Career Scientists (FECS) is an APS forum dedicated to addressing the unique challenges of early career scientists, which include postdocs, recent PhDs in industry, junior faculty, research associates and so on. FECS is one of the newest and fastest-growing APS fora and we’re looking for nominations of new people to join our executive board. Nominations are due Monday 8/31.

We are seeking nominations from people in all career stages, but since this is a group dedicated to early career scientists, we need early career scientists on our executive board. More information on how to get involved after the break.

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APS Congressional Visit Day 2020

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APS Congressional Visit Day 2020

This week, I am in Washington DC for the APS Congressional Visit Day and Annual Leadership Meeting. We started on Wednesday with the Congressional Visit. APS broke us up into teams by region. I’m a Massachusetts voter, so I joined a team of people from Massachusetts and Connecticut. We had six meetings with the offices of Massachusetts Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, Connecticut Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal along with House Representatives James Himes and Rosa DeLauro.

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March Meeting 2019

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I’m about to set off to Boston for the APS March Meeting 2019 (March 4-8). I’ll be presenting my newest work on using infinite boundary conditions are current reservoirs for measuring steady-state currents in quantum wires using tensor network methods. My talk is at Wednesday 6 March at 8:48am in room 156C. If you want to chat with me at the March Meeting drop me a line.

After the March Meeting I’ll be visiting the Sandvik group at Boston University 11-20 March. I’m really looking forward to seeing all my old friends and colleagues at BU.

I’m joining the APS FECS Executive Committee!

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I’m thrilled to announce that I have been elected to serve as a “Member-at-Large” on the Executive Committee of the APS Forum for Early Career Scientists (FECS).

Established just three years ago, FECS is is dedicated to helping APS meet the unique needs of early career scientists (i.e. postdocs). Early career scientists face a number of unique challenges. They often move great distances, isolating themselves from their support networks. They have neither the protection of tenure nor the comradeship of classmates, and they often occupy temporary positions with low pay, meager benefits, and few labor protections. They must balance the pressure to publish with the constant search for their next position. All of these factors put them at an elevated risk for exploitation and harassment, the worst of which often falls upon women and minorities.

I am looking forward to working to make life better for early career scientists like myself. I want to focus especially on the problems faced by underrepresented minorities as well as mental health. In addition to my own ideas, I want to hear from you, my friends and colleagues, about issues that are facing early career scientists and ideas for how FECS might be able to address them. Please contact me or comment below with your thoughts and suggestions.

If you’re an APS member who is interested in joining FECS, you can do so for free by logging into your account on aps.org. You can also join the FECS Facebook group, even if you’re not an APS member.