Benefits of GHP Membership
As of August 2020 the GHP had 514 members. Several important benefits to our field of hadron physics are associated with the size of GHP membership. These include:
- For approximately every 250 members the GHP is allocated one invited parallel session at the APS April Meeting. At APS April 2021 this means we have two invited parallel sessions and consequently six invited parallel talks. [In 2021 we took one of these invited sessions and joined with the DNP to create two joint invited sessions, one on the EIC and the other on the Beam Energy Scan. The remaining invited session is on the Jefferson Lab 12 GeV program.]
- For approximately every 250 members the GHP can nominate one APS Fellow. In 2019 GHP membership dipped well below 500 members, which meant we could only nominate one APS Fellow (Daniël Boer), however, because of increased membership in 2020 the GHP was able to nominate two Fellows (Barbara Pasquini & David Richards).
The benefits to our field of hadron physics from invited talks, the GHP Dissertation Award (see below), and APS Fellowship are significant. This recognition increases the prominence of hadron physics at APS meeting, and within university departments and labs. It also help members of our field obtain positions, grants, and promotions. These benefits easily justify the $10 yearly membership fee, so please consider joining the GHP if you are not already a member.
An immediate goal of the GHP Executive Committee is to increase membership to over 750 members. Current APS members can add units by following the link Join APS Unit and going to "Manage My Units" in your APS profile.
Funding Appeal for GHP Dissertation Award
The GHP Dissertation Award was established in 2012 and is currently the only dissertation award from an APS Topical Group. The award is presented biennially "to recognize outstanding early career scientists who have performed original research in the area of hadronic physics". The award is funded by an endowment that currently provides a $1,000 stipend and a certificate citing the contributions made by the recipient. In addition, the GHP provides a travel reimbursement of up to $1,500 and a registration waiver to attend and give an invited plenary talk at the biennial GHP meeting.
Since the inception of the GHP Dissertation Award there have been many outstanding candidates, however, the GHP has only been able to grant four awards (see below for previous winners). However, the current endowment is underfunded and the GHP Dissertation Award is at risk.
To meet the minimum requirement for a dissertation award stipend, set forth by the 2016 APS Prizes and Awards Task Force Report, the GHP needs to raise the stipend to $1,500. As a consequence, to maintain the current biennial award the GHP must raise $7,500 otherwise the GHP Dissertation Award cannot continue.
Donations to the GHP Dissertation Award fund can be made at:
https://my.aps.org/donatenow?pid=a1Bf400000Cp7zAEAR
Alternatively, a check payable to the American Physical Society can be mailed to: APS Development Office, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Please add "GHP Dissertation Award" to the memo field.
APS recognition for graduate research has significant benefits to the recipients and our field, e.g., it helps recipients to obtain postdoc and staff positions at universities, labs, and in industry. As such, there is a strong case to make the award annual, rather than biennial. To create an annual GHP Dissertation Award with a $1,500 stipend the GHP needs an award fund with an endowment of $45,000. With the current endowment this means raising an additional $30,000 which would then allow the GHP to give a dissertation award annually, in perpetuity.
The previous GHP Dissertation Award winners are all pursuing outstanding careers in physics:
- Jin Huang (2013) did his thesis work at MIT on E06-010 at Jefferson Lab, was a postdoc at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and is now an Associate Physicist at BNL.
- Daniel Pitonyak (2015) did his thesis work at Temple University, held postdoc positions at BNL and Penn State Berks, and is now an Assistant Professor at Lebanon Valley College.
- Phiala Shanahan (2017) did her thesis work at The University of Adelaide, did a postdoc at MIT before accepting a joint position at the College of William & Mary and Jefferson Lab. In 2018 Phiala became an Assistant Professor of Physics at MIT.
- Jacob Ethier (2019) did thesis work at the College of William & Mary and is currently a postdoc with Nikhef at Vrije Universiteit.
- Weizhi Xiong (2021) did thesis work at Duke University on the Jefferson Lab proton charge radius experiment (PRad) and is now a postdoc at Syracuse University.
There is no stronger case for the GHP Dissertation Award than these previous winners.
