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German Physical Society
The German Physical Society (German: Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. DPG's 2025 worldwide membership is cited as 50,668, with a peak of 63,012 in 2014. It holds an annual conference (Jahrestagung) and multiple spring conferences (Frühjahrstagungen), which are held at various locations and along topical subjects of given sections of the DPG. The DPG concerns the fields of pure and applied physics and aims to foster connections among German physicists, as well as the exchange of ideas between its members and foreign colleagues. The bylaws of the DPG commit the organization and its members to maintain scientific integrity and ethics, including freedom, tolerance, truthfulness, and dignity in scientific work, as well as the promotion of gender equality in the fields of physics and related sciences.
The DPG itself does not carry out any research, but its conferences promote the sharing of information about the latest findings in the field of physics. The primary conferences hosted by DPG are the DPG-Spring-Meetings, which are held annually at venues across Germany. The DPG-Fall-Meetings are focused around a single research topic. The German Conference of Women in Physics is an annual conference held since 1997 and was supported by DPG until 2019. DPG also runs a nationwide network for physics students in the "Young DPG" (jDPG) working group, which hosts workshops and networking meetings. In partnership with the Bonn-Cologne Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy (BCGS), the DPG also provides a platform for students of the school to network with leaders in the field with the annual BCGS Weekend Seminar: a retreat with physics lectures across several areas including excursions and social events.
The DPG honours outstanding achievements in physics with awards of international repute. The highest awards which are presented by the DPG are the Max Planck Medal for work in theoretical physics, first awarded in 1929, and the Stern–Gerlach Medal for work in experimental physics, first awarded in 1933. Some awards, such as the Gustav Hertz Prize for Young Physicists, intend to foster young talent. Others are awarded by the DPG in cooperation with other organisations in Germany and abroad, such as the Max Born Medal and Prize or the Otto Hahn Prize. The Medal for Natural Science Journalism is awarded by the DPG to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to communicating scientific facts to the general public. In addition, the DPG awards prizes to school graduates across the country for outstanding achievements in physics, the so called DPG-Abiturpreis or the DPG-Buchpreis. It supports competitions for school students such as the Jugend forscht, a national research contest for young scientists.[citation needed]
Since 2002, the Fachverband Physik sozio-ökonomischer Systeme (Physics of Socio-Economic Systems Division) recognizes "outstanding original contributions that use physical methods to develop a better understanding of socio-economic problems".
The DPG produces a range of various publications. The membership journal of the DPG Physik Journal provides news reports from the DPG and about physics in general. Besides, the DPG joins forces with the British Institute of Physics to publish the electronic open access journal New Journal of Physics. The articles published here have gone through a strict peer review in line with the stringent scientific quality standards propounded by the New Journal of Physics. Moreover, the DPG also publishes its conference programme every year under the name Verhandlungen der DPG (Programme Booklets for DPG Conferences), listing the abstracts of around 8,000 papers.
Publications of the DPG have included:
From the time of its creation in 1845, the DPG published Fortschritte der Physik and its Verhandlungen, but by 1919, the Verhandlungen had become too voluminous, so DPG chairman Arnold Sommerfeld formed a committee consisting of Albert Einstein, Eugen Goldstein, Fritz Haber, E. Jahnke, Karl Scheel, and Wilhelm Westphal, which recommended that a new journal, the Zeitschrift für Physik, should be established for rapid publication of original research articles by established scientists without peer review; it began publication the following year. In 1975 Zeitschrift für Physik was merged with Physics of Condensed Matter (ISSN 0340-2347). Zeitschrift für Physik was published as a 4-part journal from 1920–1997 by Springer-Verlag under the auspices of the DPG. During the early 20th century, it was considered one of the most prestigious journals in physics, with its golden years coinciding with the golden years of quantum mechanics. It was the vehicle used by those with avant-garde views and the young generation of quantum physicists in the 1920s.
The DPG plays an active role in the dialogue between science and the general public with a range of popular scientific publications, physics outreach, and public events. These activities also include the Highlights of Physics, an annual physics festival organized jointly by the DPG and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It is the largest festival of its kind in Germany with around 30,000 visitors every year.
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German Physical Society
The German Physical Society (German: Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. DPG's 2025 worldwide membership is cited as 50,668, with a peak of 63,012 in 2014. It holds an annual conference (Jahrestagung) and multiple spring conferences (Frühjahrstagungen), which are held at various locations and along topical subjects of given sections of the DPG. The DPG concerns the fields of pure and applied physics and aims to foster connections among German physicists, as well as the exchange of ideas between its members and foreign colleagues. The bylaws of the DPG commit the organization and its members to maintain scientific integrity and ethics, including freedom, tolerance, truthfulness, and dignity in scientific work, as well as the promotion of gender equality in the fields of physics and related sciences.
The DPG itself does not carry out any research, but its conferences promote the sharing of information about the latest findings in the field of physics. The primary conferences hosted by DPG are the DPG-Spring-Meetings, which are held annually at venues across Germany. The DPG-Fall-Meetings are focused around a single research topic. The German Conference of Women in Physics is an annual conference held since 1997 and was supported by DPG until 2019. DPG also runs a nationwide network for physics students in the "Young DPG" (jDPG) working group, which hosts workshops and networking meetings. In partnership with the Bonn-Cologne Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy (BCGS), the DPG also provides a platform for students of the school to network with leaders in the field with the annual BCGS Weekend Seminar: a retreat with physics lectures across several areas including excursions and social events.
The DPG honours outstanding achievements in physics with awards of international repute. The highest awards which are presented by the DPG are the Max Planck Medal for work in theoretical physics, first awarded in 1929, and the Stern–Gerlach Medal for work in experimental physics, first awarded in 1933. Some awards, such as the Gustav Hertz Prize for Young Physicists, intend to foster young talent. Others are awarded by the DPG in cooperation with other organisations in Germany and abroad, such as the Max Born Medal and Prize or the Otto Hahn Prize. The Medal for Natural Science Journalism is awarded by the DPG to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to communicating scientific facts to the general public. In addition, the DPG awards prizes to school graduates across the country for outstanding achievements in physics, the so called DPG-Abiturpreis or the DPG-Buchpreis. It supports competitions for school students such as the Jugend forscht, a national research contest for young scientists.[citation needed]
Since 2002, the Fachverband Physik sozio-ökonomischer Systeme (Physics of Socio-Economic Systems Division) recognizes "outstanding original contributions that use physical methods to develop a better understanding of socio-economic problems".
The DPG produces a range of various publications. The membership journal of the DPG Physik Journal provides news reports from the DPG and about physics in general. Besides, the DPG joins forces with the British Institute of Physics to publish the electronic open access journal New Journal of Physics. The articles published here have gone through a strict peer review in line with the stringent scientific quality standards propounded by the New Journal of Physics. Moreover, the DPG also publishes its conference programme every year under the name Verhandlungen der DPG (Programme Booklets for DPG Conferences), listing the abstracts of around 8,000 papers.
Publications of the DPG have included:
From the time of its creation in 1845, the DPG published Fortschritte der Physik and its Verhandlungen, but by 1919, the Verhandlungen had become too voluminous, so DPG chairman Arnold Sommerfeld formed a committee consisting of Albert Einstein, Eugen Goldstein, Fritz Haber, E. Jahnke, Karl Scheel, and Wilhelm Westphal, which recommended that a new journal, the Zeitschrift für Physik, should be established for rapid publication of original research articles by established scientists without peer review; it began publication the following year. In 1975 Zeitschrift für Physik was merged with Physics of Condensed Matter (ISSN 0340-2347). Zeitschrift für Physik was published as a 4-part journal from 1920–1997 by Springer-Verlag under the auspices of the DPG. During the early 20th century, it was considered one of the most prestigious journals in physics, with its golden years coinciding with the golden years of quantum mechanics. It was the vehicle used by those with avant-garde views and the young generation of quantum physicists in the 1920s.
The DPG plays an active role in the dialogue between science and the general public with a range of popular scientific publications, physics outreach, and public events. These activities also include the Highlights of Physics, an annual physics festival organized jointly by the DPG and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It is the largest festival of its kind in Germany with around 30,000 visitors every year.