This award provides support to the American Physical Society (APS) for organization and student travel to participate in the joint Canadian, US, and Mexican physical societies' graduate student conference (CAM 2011), to be hosted by the American Physical Society in Washington D.C., from September 29th to October 1st, 2011. The scientific program will include plenary talks by well-known invited professors in physics sub-disciplines such as Astronomy & Astrophysics; Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics; Biophysics; Condensed Matter Physics; and Nuclear/Particle Physics, and followed by contributed talks from students to complement the plenary session topics. A student poster session will round out the scientific portion of the program. All student participants will present, either through an oral or a poster contribution, the research they have performed in graduate school. By bringing together working scientists and students in an informal setting, the conference will also enable students to explore and discuss career options available to young physicists. Through special topical and technical sessions, students will have the opportunity to gain a broader view of physics beyond their own classrooms and research laboratories. The meeting will generate scientific exchange among them student participants, promote international collaborations among young scientists within the North American continent, expose graduate students to sub-disciplines in physics beyond their individual research areas, and promote interdisciplinary research within the sub-disciplines. The meeting's organization is carried out by the students. Overall, it will provide excellent training for next generation researchers in the U.S.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE CAM 2011, the 5th Canadian-American-Mexican Graduate Student Physics Conference, was organized by the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP), the American Physical Society (APS), and the Sociedad Mexicana de Física (SMF). The conference took place at the Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, D.C., from September 29 to October 1, 2011. CAM conferences are bi-annual meetings co-sponsored by the abovementioned physics societies. The conferences provide a unique opportunity for physics graduate students from the United States, Canada and Mexico to organize a scientific conference for themselves, with mentorship from senior staff of the respective professional societies. CAM promotes international networking and career development for young scientists, as well as sharing among peers of scientific knowledge gained through students' graduate research. The conferences enable interactions and foster collaborations among young scientists, while exposing them to disciplines of physics beyond their individual research areas as well as various career opportunities. Hosting CAM2011 in Washington, D.C. provided a unique opportunity to highlight the links among science, diplomacy and public policy. Along with scientific presentations, two additional panel discussions helped the international audience of graduate students to better understand the important contributions of scientists beyond laboratory research. These panel discussions were: 1) "Careers in Science Policy – Challenges, Opportunities, and Case Examples" and 2) "Science, Foreign Policy and Diplomacy – Role of Scientific Societies & Other NGOs." The CAM 2011 conference offered physics graduate students an opportunity for networking with international peers. Throughout the conference, students discussed their research in both formal and informal settings, and interacted with fellow students and senior scientists from across North America. All participants were required to give an oral or poster presentation. For some of them, the conference was the first time that they had presented their research. The unique setting of the CAM conference—one planned by and for the students—offered the young scientists the chance to begin building interdisciplinary and international networks and collaborations. In the small, student-oriented setting provided by CAM 2011, participants compared and connected their own work with similar efforts in physics departments throughout Mexico, Canada and the United States.
