Sekazi K. Mtingwa, chair of the LAAAMP Executive Committee, delivered an invited talk at the 3rd Physics Conference of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, held in São Tomé e Príncipe.

In addition to the Portuguese Physical Society and Brazilian Physical Society, countries represented at the conference included Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé e Príncipe. Approximately 60 researchers and 10 students were in attendance, and the speakers discussed major advances in the following: (i) Physics Education, (ii) Energy, (iii) Nanotechnology, (iv) Environment and Climate, and (v) Health Physics. At the end of the conference, there was a business meeting, during which the participants launched the new Union of Physicists from Portuguese Language Countries. It will be headquartered in Portugal.

Abstract

We describe a new initiative funded by a 3-year, 300K-Euro grant from the International Science Council (ISC) to the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) in collaboration with over 30 partner organizations that include 16 advanced light sources to enhance the utilization of advanced light sources and crystallography in five targeted regions of the world, namely Africa, the Caribbean, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and Middle East. LAAAMP’s programs include the development of a Strategic Plan for each region; a Colloquium program that sends experienced light source and crystallography users to those regions; establishment of new IUCr-UNESCO Crystallography OpenLabs; design and distribution of a Brochure that describes advanced light sources and crystallography for government officials and the public; 2-month Faculty-Student (FAST) Team training visits to advanced light sources, with approximately 30 new users participating in 2019; and culminating in a December 2019 meeting to chart a path forward beyond the ISC grant.

A full article on the visit will appear in the September 2019 issue of the IUPAP Newsletter.