Get to know IUPAP, physics’ United Nations

Decades before the United Nations, NATO, or European Union existed, there was IUPAP, the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.

IUPAP was founded in 1922 to foster international physics collaboration following the devastation of World War I. The United States was a founding member, as were France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and nine other Allied or neutral countries.

The group’s mission was simple: Unite the world’s brightest physicists to solve humanity’s biggest problems. Yet there was almost immediate tension between member states over who should be allowed to join. Central Powers like Germany had been banned from the Union in retaliation for the war. Many countries supported this embargo, while others protested. How could IUPAP be a global body, some asked, when it shunned major parts of the world?

Today’s scientific community is struggling with similar tensions. Global conflicts threaten the very international research organizations the U.S. helped build. The National Academy of Sciences, which manages the U.S.’s presence in global initiatives like IUPAP, has faced major cuts to the federal grants and contracts that make up most of its operating budget.

This July, the National Academy passed some of its IUPAP responsibilities to APS, which will officially become the United States’ institutional representative to the Union in October. The move underscores an urgent need for science nonprofits to fill gaps left by U.S. funding cuts.

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult for U.S. researchers to collaborate internationally,” says Amy Flatten, APS director of international affairs. “APS’ growing involvement in IUPAP is one step we are taking to be a welcoming global hub for international physicists who are facing a political environment that makes it challenging for them to even come to the United States.”

IUPAP serves as an ideal forum for U.S. and international scientists to exchange ideas. The Union has 20 active commissions covering subfields from astrophysics to condensed matter. Each commission helps facilitate the free exchange of ideas across borders by participating in IUPAP’s general assembly, organizing global conferences, and offering research awards.

IUPAP also hosts working groups on societal issues like climate change and women in physics. Most recently, the U.S. has proposed a working group on artificial intelligence and machine learning to guide the usage of emerging technologies in physics research.

“These commissions and working groups provide scientists a valuable window into physics research across the world,” says APS CEO Jonathan Bagger. “Physics needs such connections to advance science for the benefit of all.”

IUPAP’s membership has expanded well beyond its 13 founding countries to nearly 60 country and territorial members. West Germany joined the Union in 1954, followed by East Germany in 1960 — a major shift in membership approach. The Union not only accepted a country it had excluded for decades, but also embraced nations on both sides of the major conflict at the time, the Cold War.

Today, IUPAP allows scientists to look beyond geopolitical tensions to advance the field. Fifty-two territories count themselves as members, including countries facing significant U.S. restrictions, like China and Iran. The U.S.’s participation signifies that even in times of conflict, fundamental science transcends borders.

APS hopes to carry that spirit forward as it leads the U.S. delegation’s next chapter. “One of our values as an organization is fostering collaboration,” says Flatten. “Physics is a global effort.”