Institute of Physics aims to broaden early-career prospects

The Institute of Physics has set out to improve opportunities for early-career physicists, increase interdisciplinary work and expand its public outreach as part of its 2015-19 strategy.

The strategy says the institute will help physicists to achieve their full potential by focusing more on supporting and championing their careers, and providing opportunities for broadened professional development. It will also seek to take on more early-career researchers as members and to have a fellowship that more closely reflects the membership demographic.

The strategy is divided into five themes: education, economy, society, discovery and community. As part of the discovery theme, the institute says it will also encourage and support researchers who want to collaborate across traditional discipline boundaries. It aims to do this by working with its 50 or so member groups on the delivery of its work programme. The focus areas of the member groups are diverse, including superconductivity, the theory of condensed matter, nuclear physics and thin films and surfaces.