APS March & April Meetings: Guide for Physics Grad Students

Overview of the APS March and April Meetings

I’ll try not to make a habit out of this, but I believe there’s something to add to this chapter of the series.

In Part XIV I mentioned the APS Meetings — March and April — which are typically the largest yearly gatherings of physicists. They cover different areas of physics: the March Meeting tends to focus on condensed matter, materials science, and atomic/molecular physics, whereas the April Meeting covers particle, nuclear, and astrophysics. I have not attended the April Meeting, but I have attended the March Meeting many times and gave a talk at all but one of those meetings. Based on what I have been told, the April Meeting follows roughly the same format as the March Meeting, so the description below generally covers both.

Why these meetings matter for graduate students

For most physics graduate students, one of these meetings will likely be where you cut your teeth presenting to professionals. You will probably deliver your first professional talk at one of these conferences. This is where you will meet peers, the people you cite, and those you read about when you chose your field. You will begin to be known not just by name but by face and interaction style. Rather than going in blind, it helps to know what to expect — especially because the March and April meetings are different from other conferences due to their size.

Scale and logistics of the March Meeting

The March Meeting is HUGE. With attendance often exceeding 5,000 and almost every attendee presenting, the scientific program used to be the size of two phonebooks. At any given time there can be 50 or more simultaneous sessions. Hallways and lobbies can feel like a zoo, but it is controlled chaos with people moving in and out of sessions.

Types of presentations

If we set aside special symposiums, there are three main categories of presentations at the March Meeting:

• Invited talk
• Contributed talk
• Poster session

Invited talks

An invited talk occurs when the organizing committee asks you (or someone on an author list) to present a particular piece of work. This can happen after a nomination or when the committee notices an important paper in the literature. It is a prestigious honor — note it on your CV and, if possible, keep the official invitation.

Invited talks appear in two formats. In smaller subject sessions you might lead off and receive ~20 minutes. Occasionally the committee schedules a plenary session for a topic and invites several speakers; in that case each speaker may be given longer slots (typically ~40 minutes) in a large hall.

Contributed talks

Contributed talks are the majority at these meetings. You submit an abstract for an oral presentation and are assigned to a session with like-minded presenters. Everyone who registers can present a contributed talk. Typical timing is 10 minutes for the talk plus 2 minutes for questions, and the schedule is strictly enforced because many parallel sessions rely on precise timing.

There is an unusual consequence of strict scheduling: if a presenter is missing, the next presenter usually cannot start early because that would throw off the schedule for people moving between sessions. Attendees commonly wait until the scheduled time for the next talk to begin. Also, a contributed session can still present important results — invited talks are not the only place where significant work is shown.

Poster sessions

Poster sessions involve displaying your work on a poster board for a scheduled time and location. Someone from your group should be by the poster during the session to answer questions. Poster conversations can yield valuable feedback and networking opportunities.

It is a good idea to attach copies of any publications on which the poster is based (many presenters place a large envelope with handouts). For most graduate students attending one of these meetings for the first time, presenting a poster is common because it is usually less nerve-racking than an oral presentation and gives a good sense of the meeting.

Practical advice for graduate students

If you are a physics graduate student at a U.S. institution, attend one of these meetings at least once. If your adviser does not bring it up, ask about attending. At some point you will produce original work for your PhD, and presenting it at an APS meeting is one of the best ways to meet other physicists in your field. It is an opportunity not to be missed.