Women in Physics Conference:

Inspiring the next generation

January 13, 2015

Yale is poised to help launch a new generation of women physicists, with a weekend full of networking, mentorship, and discussion.
Yale will host one of eight conferences around the country for undergraduate women in physics Jan. 16-18. Sponsored by the American Physical Society, the conferences give undergraduate women the opportunity to experience a professional conference, while also networking with other women in physics.

“There are quite a few undergraduate women studying physics who have never had a female physics professor, and who find themselves as the only, or one of very few, women in their physics classes,” said Sarah Demers, who is faculty adviser for the conference. “These conferences can reduce their isolation, surrounding them with female physicist peers and role models. I hope that they leave Yale with an increased sense of their potential to contribute to the field of physics.”

Yale physics professors Meg Urry and Bonnie Fleming will be among the speakers at the event. Physics professor Helen Caines and Department of Physics chair Paul Tipton will moderate panels.

The Yale conference will include 179 undergraduates from 50 institutions, mainly from the Northeast. The weekend’s itinerary features research talks, panel discussions and presentations on careers and diversity in physics.

Yale President Peter Salovey will welcome the participants on Friday evening. A keynote speech by physicist Gabriela Gonzalez of Louisiana State University will be simulcast from the University of Mississippi to all regional conferences on Saturday afternoon.