Home > Archive by category "Press"

The Action Committee welcomes two new members!

Posted on by Pasquale Francesco Romano

A remarkable number of bright and committed Young Minds answered the call for applications to join the Action Committee.

Eventually, Serina Almassu (EPS YM Science4People in Bethlehem & PhD candidate at the Calegari research group, Centre of Regenerative Therapies-Dresden, Dresden University of Technology) and Pasquale Francesco Romano (EPS YM PONYS in Naples & Master’s candidate in subnuclear and astroparticle physics) were selected to join the committee.

Serina Almassu is a PhD candidate (Pre-doc) at Calegari research group, Centre of Regenerative Therapies-Dresden (CRTD), Dresden University of Technology (TUD), Germany. She’s also an administrative board member of the scientific research community of Palestine “ The Researchist” since 2019, and a member of the Palestinian Medical Technology Association since 2020. She has been a member of the EPS Young Minds section Science4People in Bethlehem, Palestine since 2017, and now an Action Committee member of the Young Minds project of EPS.

Pasquale Francesco Romano, a dedicated Master’s candidate in subnuclear and astroparticle physics, has been passionately engaged in scientific outreach and education. His contributions to the Physics & Optics Naples Young Students (PONYS) have been instrumental in organizing numerous events and workshops aimed at fostering a deeper understanding of physics among the public.

Both Serina and Pasquale have demonstrated exceptional motivation and leadership in developing their local sections and broader communities, and we are excited that they have been contributing to the programme’s growth in more central roles since September.

We are confident that their expertise and dedication will continue to significantly enhance our initiatives and impact.

Carmen Martin elected new EPS YM Chair

Posted on by Pasquale Francesco Romano

During the EPS Forum 2024, the Action Committee convened for its biannual meeting. The discussions covered recent developments in the YM Programme, and the committee sketched out plans for future activities to continue advancing our goals.

A significant part of the meeting was the election of a new chairperson to succeed Mattia Ostinato.

We are pleased to announce that Carmen Martin has been elected as the EPS YM Chair for the 2024-2026 tenure period. Carmen brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to the role, and we are confident she will lead the programme with distinction.

Carmen Martín Valderrama, PhD student at CIC nanoGUNE, Spain, where she works on nanomagnetism and magneto-optics, and former member of the YM section in Valladolid, Physics League, received the support of the entire committee and took over the chair position from the YM leadership meeting onwards. She presented an overview of the main points the action committee will work on for the next two years, which consists in (1) improving the internal processes, (2) strengthening the YM network and the relationship with other associations and (3) working on our digital presence, webpage and social media.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Mattia Ostinato for his dedicated work and exceptional #leadership over the past two years. His contributions have been invaluable, and he has set a high standard for future leadership. We wish Carmen all the best and much success in her new role, and we look forward to the continued progress and achievements under her guidance.

Leadership Meeting 2023

Posted on by Tanausu Hernandez

Last year’s Leadership Meeting was a fresh experience for Young Minds as a joint event with the brand-new EPS Forum in Paris. This year we go back to the usual format of a standalone event, this time in Italy.

The location of the meeting is Naples, hosted by PONYS – Naples Young Minds (Physics and Optics Naples Young Students). The dates are the 19th and 20th of May. You can find all the details on the website of the event.

As you may already know EPS Young Minds covers the accommodation and up to 100€ of the flight fare of one representative per section. Please, register before the deadline to secure the funding for your transport and stay.

Registration for the 11th Leadership Meeting is open starting now. Follow the link to register before the 3rd of March.

2023 Leadership Meeting Hosting Call

Posted on by Mattia Ostinato

Dear Young Minds!

The time has come to start organizing the 2023 EPS YM Leadership Meeting! Following tradition, we would like to invite every Young Minds Section to present their candidatures to host the LM of the incoming year! Hosting the LM is not only a great opportunity to promote your section and your city, but it is also rewarded with an extra budget of 1000€ for the next year’s grant applications!

You can apply by filling in the form you can download on this page and sending it in .pdf format to both of the following adresses,  mattia.ostinato@epsyoungminds.org and  ac@epsyoungminds.org, with the subject “LM 2023 APPLICATION + Name of section + University Name”. The deadline is  November 4th!

If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to carefully read the next rules and tips:

General information:

  • The duration of the LM must be one day and a half (Friday and Saturday) and the proposed date must be around May. Exceptions could be made if connected with some bigger event: conference, festival, etc.
  • The trip expenses for the representatives of other sections should be reasonable as EPS YM reimburses up to 100€/person. The preliminary cost of flight tickets can be checked in expedia.com or any similar search engines, while you can check all YM sections at: http://www.epsyoungminds.org/sections/.
  • The lecture hall and accommodation options should be able to fit more than 60 people (sections’ representatives and local section members). Same applies for coffee breaks, lunches and dinners.

Motivation:

  • Describe why we should choose your section as the host for the next meeting. In other words, tell us why you and your city are the best candidates to host the LM2023.

Previous Experience:

  • Explain us how familiar is your YM Section in organizing and managing similar events and let us know a bit more about them: how good they were, how many people got involved, the approximate budget you managed and if you were able to obtain funding from your university/institution and other third parties apart from EPS.

Draft Programme:

  • Provide us with a clear draft of the programme you would like to develop during the LM2023, including the temporal distribution of the different activities. Take the challenge of scheduling the most exciting and interesting experience ever in a LM!
  • Plan all the logistics carefully, including what kind of transport you expect to use (public or private), how easy is to move between the places where events take place (venue, dormitories, social activities locations, etc.) and ensure reasonable times for moving  a large group of people between them.
  • Take care in designing a good technical programme, including suggestions about local and international speakers you would like them to participate in the event.Do not forget to schedule some social events, sessions issuing social themes and networking activities in your agenda! Establishing strong international relationships between physicists is a relevant goal of the Young Minds Project!
  • Remember to find the proper balance between the technical part of the programme, the social and networking events and the rest time of the attendees.

Expenses and funding:

  • Make sure your budget does not exceed the maximum amount of 10.000 €.
  • Maximize the impact per Euro (plan to invest more money where it is more needed).
  • All expenses calculations should be done taking into account at least 60 people. 
  • Explain in detail the estimation done for each expense, you are free to add any necessary options in both lists. Not all listed options should cost something.
  • The biggest amount of money usually goes to meals (coffee breaks, lunches and  dinners) and accommodation (accommodation in dormitories is acceptable). Try to be as precise as possible in the budget and in the explanation of these items.
  • Travel expenses of the representatives of each YM Section are out of the budget you have to elaborate since they are directly funded by the EPS, but keep in mind that this amount is limited to 100€ per person. If elected, try to contain costs of plane tickets by announcing the definitive dates of the LM no later than early february 2023.
  • Sections are encouraged to approach their own institutions and other sources for any possible further support. 
  • Please, note that most of the expenses related to the LM 2023 will be directly paid by EPS by reimbursement to the hired companies after presentation of an invoice addressed to EPS. It means that you will be free to manage your budget in accordance with the draft programme you presented in this call, but the money will not be directly transferred to your YM Section bank account.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mattia Ostinato (mattia.ostinato@epsyoungminds.org) writing “LM2023” in the subject of your email.

Host Application Form:

HostApplicationForm_LM2023Download

Mattia Ostinato elected new EPS YM Chair

Posted on by Richard Zeltner

During the course of the EPS Forum 2022 the Action Committee gathered for its biannual meeting, discussed recent developments of the YM Programme and sketched plans for future activities.

Further, a successor for the current chair Richard Zeltner was elected: Mattia Ostinato, PhD student at the University of Barcelona and former member of the YM section in Naples, received the support of the full committee and will take over the chair position from July 1.

Mattia Ostinato has been elected EPS YM Chair for the 2022 to 2024 tenure period.

We thank Richard for his dedicated work and #leadership in the last two years, and we wish Mattia all the best and much success for his tenure.

Further, Daryna Pesina and Hripsime Mkrtchyan announced that they will leave the committee. We thank them for their valuable work and their commitment, and we wish them all the best for their future.

International Women’s Day 2022

Posted on by ymadmin

We celebrate the International Women`s Day 2022 by recognizing the crucial role female scientists and leaders have played in the development of the EPS Young Minds Programme, its sections and the young generation of physicists in Europe.

EPS YM statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Posted on by ymadmin

We are deeply concerned about the conflict in the Ukraine and the ongoing aggressions of Russian forces. Our thoughts and our solidarity are with our section members in the Ukraine, the Ukrainian people and all people that have to experience unnecessary suffering in this war.

We hope for a quick resolution of the conflict and we call the international community and all political decision makers to work intensely towards a diplomatic solution.

The Action Committee welcomes new members!

Posted on by ymadmin


Many bright and committed Young Minds have followed the call for applications to join the Action Committee.

Eventually Dr. Mažena Mackoit Sinkevičienė (EPS YM Vilnius& postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy, Vilnius University), Anna Grigoryan (EPS YM Artsakh & junior researcher at the A. Alikhanyan National Laboratory) and Carlos Damián Rodríguez-Fernández (EPS YM Santiago de Compostela & predoctoral researcher at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela) were selected to join the committee.

All three have displayed great motivation and leadership in the development of their local sections and broader communities, and we are happy that they will contribute to the development of the programme in a more central role in the future.

Anna and Mažena already started their work in the committee, Carlos Damian will join after the summer break.

Call for applications to join the Young Minds Action Committee

Posted on by Richard Zeltner

The Action Committee is currently looking for a number of motivated Young Minds to join its ranks.

The Action Committee manages the programme, from running short-term tasks like approving or rejecting grant applications, to defining strategic long-term goals for the future development. With the YM network continiously growing and 2022 hopefully bringing back more physical interaction, we are looking for motivated people keen to contribute to the future development of the programme and to bring in new ideas.

If you are interested, please send an email to ac@epsyoungminds.org with a one-page (maximum) application stating your motivation, your experience within the project and other experiences you believe are relevant. Long-standing cooperation within Young Minds is not mandatory, but highly appreciated.

The deadline for applications is December 12. We expect to send out notifications early in February 2022 latest.