The first Joint Annual Conference of Physical Societies in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was held today (27 July) at the University of Macau (UM). Co-organised by UM, the Physical Society of Macau, the Physical Society of Hong Kong, and Guangdong Physics Society, the event attracted over 350 experts, scholars, researchers, and industry practitioners in the field of physics from the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and other regions in China. During the event, participants discussed the latest developments and research findings in physics and explored opportunities for further collaboration and joint development in research and technology in the area.
In his speech, UM Rector Yonghua Song said that the annual conference will greatly promote academic exchange and research collaboration in physics among scholars and researchers in the Greater Bay Area, adding that UM will continue to increase its teaching quality and make use of its unique advantages in the development of the Greater Bay Area. In addition, UM will continue to enhance STEM education. The recently established Macao Base for Primary & Secondary STEM Education is considering the possibility of establishing departments of physics and chemistry, which would offer programmes in applied physics, applied chemistry, and science education, in order to nurture science teachers for local primary and secondary schools as well as science and technology professionals.
Keynote speakers in the conference include Zhang Xiang, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong; Lionel Ni, vice rector of UM; Wang Enge, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Zhan Wenlong from the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Xie Xincheng from the School of Physics, Peking University; Yu Dapeng from the Southern University of Science and Technology; Miao Changwen from Southeast University; Han Zhanwen from the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Wang Enke, president of South China Normal University; Tang Zikang, director of UM’s Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering; and Wang Fangwei, researcher from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
This year’s event will include eight sessions on various topics, including astrophysics and astronomy, atomic, molecular and optical physics, biophysics and soft matter, condensed matter physics, interdisciplinary physics, materials physics and engineering, scattering, particle, nuclear and plasma physics, as well as quantum and statistical physics.
Over 350 physics experts from the Greater Bay Area gather at UM
Recto Song gives an opening speech
Prof Tang Zikang tells the guests about the themes of the conference