President's Message

　　At the 104th regular general meeting and the subsequent board meeting held on March 31^st, 2024, I was elected as the President of JPS for the 80th term (fiscal year 2024), following the 79th term (fiscal year 2023). I here summarize the activities of the fiscal year 2023 and share my thoughts for the fiscal year 2024.

Articles of Incorporation No. 1 Business (Holding Academic Meetings)

　　First, regarding our annual meetings held twice a year, we have received various opinions from many members on whether we should continue the current format of alternating between face-to-face and online meetings, or return to two face-to-face meetings as before the COVID-19 pandemic. It has already been decided to hold face-to-face meetings at Hokkaido University in September 2024 and Hiroshima University in September 2025, with the spring meetings in between to be held online. However, the issue is what to do after that. Currently, the board of directors is planning to conduct a survey among our regular members and discuss based on the results. While you are likely aware of the pros and cons of face-to-face and online formats, which I will not repeat here, the board of directors has decided to tackle this as the most important issue in 2024.

　　In addition, over the past year, we have been preparing to establish a new Division "Computational Physics." Currently, the Division Committee is leading the efforts to concretize this new division. As you are aware, not only large-scale calculations such as first-principles calculations and molecular dynamics and so on, but also methods such as data science and deep learning, are rapidly developing and spreading across disciplines. While the results of research applied to each specific topics will continue to be presented in their respective divisions, there has been a recognized need for a new division to present research results of computational methods that are not specific to any particular subject or field. If discussions proceed smoothly, the new division may be piloted starting from the annual meeting at Hiroshima University in September 2025. We hope that this new division will expand the frontier of physics and further strengthen the centripetal force of JPS.

　　Furthermore, as part of our academic meetings, JPS has started to provide support by lending preparation funds to members who organize international conferences in their respective fields. Guidelines for application and application forms can be downloaded from each member's My Page on our web page, so please make active use of this opportunity.

Articles of Incorporation No. 2 Business (Publication of Academic Journals and Books)

　　One of the distinctive features of JPS is the publication of two English-language journals with different business models. Specifically, these are JPSJ, which operates on a subscription fee model, and PTEP, which operates on an APC (Article Processing Charge) model. In broad terms, this difference lies in whether the recipients or the senders pay for the information. The overseas sales of JPSJ are entrusted to the American Institute of Physics (AIP) publishing house, and while the financial situation has been improving due to the long-standing weak Yen, both the number of submitted papers and published papers have been steadily decreasing, suggesting the need for fundamental measures. On one hand, since the publication of the Review of Particle Physics in 2020, PTEP's impact factor has been on the rise, and it continues to publish high-quality papers. However, the financial situation is challenging, requiring further measures such as acquiring support from additional institutions. Recognizing the global trend of open access in academic journals, we understand the need to develop strategic measures to enhance the value of these two journals.

　　While JPS has not been very active in publishing academic books, as part of the upcoming anniversary commemorative projects mentioned later, discussions have begun regarding the publication of books. This could include introductory books for each specialized field, similar to the collections of papers with concise review that JPS used to publish, or guidebooks for young researchers, such as "How to Improve Your Journal Papers" which was published many years ago by JPS. Additionally, there is consideration for revising the "Glossary of Scientific Terms in Physics" that was published in 1990 by the Ministry of Education. These publications can be electronic publishing and web dictionaries. All of these efforts would likely require the establishment of new, extensive committees.

Articles of Incorporation No. 3 Business (Exchange with Domestic and International Organizations)

　　JPS's international exchange activities are primarily conducted through AAPPS (Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies). We have established a corresponding committee within JPS to systematically engage in these activities. Furthermore, we consider it meaningful to internationalize JPS's annual meetings through collaboration with various divisions of AAPPS. Additionally, we have actively participated in editing the AAPPS Bulletin and intend to continue doing so in the future.

　　Domestically, collaboration with the Applied Physics Society of Japan is considered to be the most important. JPS will also cooperate with them in events such as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology in 2025. Additionally, while JPS has had close ties with the Japan Academy Council, we are currently monitoring the situation, as the council is in a transitional period as an organization.

Articles of Incorporation No. 4 Business (Education, Human Resource Development, and Social Collaboration Business)

　　JPS has launched the Next Generation Human Resource Development Project (https://www.next.jps.or.jp/) and is developing educational projects with support from sponsoring companies. Jr. Session, which is a competition of presentation about research projects by middle and high school students, receives applications from over 100 teams annually. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has shifted to online format, but the quality of research presentations has been improving much. At Jr. Session in March 2023, the best team and outstanding teams are awarded a special prize named after the sponsoring companies that made a substantial donation, to encourage middle and high school students.

　　Additionally, online physics lectures and public courses, which attract a large number of participants each time, have become valuable opportunities to widely promote cutting-edge research topics to high school students, undergraduate students, and the general public, contributing to continuous enlightenment activities for science. Support for the Physics Challenge, the domestic qualifying round for International Physics Olympiad, is also continuing. Furthermore, basic experimental workshops useful for high school physics classes are held not only in Tokyo but also in many Chapters of JPS, greatly contributing to the improvement of the level of physics experiments in high schools.

　　In fiscal year 2023, we conducted a survey of young research groups that are active voluntarily and compiled and published a list of them on the JPS website (https://www.jps.or.jp/keijiban/wakategroup.php). Through this, we hope to increase the visibility of each group and support their activities. Various requests have been made from these groups, such as subsidies for the fees of paid online tools and venue fees for meetings. We are considering discussing the next steps in support measures for young groups at the board meeting.

　　At the annual meetings in September 2023 and in March 2024, we held informal meetings to dialogue with our international members and discuss issues. According to the membership database, about 2% of JPS regular members are international members who do not understand Japanese well enough. The Diversity Promotion Committee is considering how to make friendly inclusion of such international members. In the fiscal year 2024, we are planning to take further measures, such as making information sent to members bilingual including Bulletin.

　　We are intensifying discussions to expand the "JPS Friends (Kaiyu)" system to include high school students, university students, and general citizens. First, we have decided to make the Kaiyu membership fees free for high school and undergraduate university students. We are also discussing ways to enhance the content of the e-mail magazine for Kaiyu. We have created and published a summary site (https://www.jps.or.jp/keijiban/keijiban_press.php) on the JPS website that gathers information from JPS regular members' press releases. When the members press-release research results, they are encouraged to apply for publication on this page. Anyone can apply if they are regular members. Kaiyu are important supporters for your society, so we want to increase their numbers. As part of this effort, there is a proposal to start a qualification certification business by creating a system like "Physics Certification Examination" (abbreviated as Bukken). If this is realized, it is expected to greatly contribute to improving scientific literacy, especially in physics.

Articles of Incorporation No. 5 Business (Other Activities)

　　In 2027, we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Tokyo Mathematical Society, our predecessor (later the Tokyo Mathematico-Physics Society), and also commemorate the 300th anniversary of Newton's death. Additionally, in 2026, we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of our re-establishment as the Physical Society of Japan after World War II. While we have been gradually discussing anniversary commemorative activities, we will establish an Anniversary Commemorative Activities Committee in 2024 to start considering specific activities. We plan to start programs such as designating important historical sites, buildings, instruments, documents, etc., in the history of physics as "Physics Heritage". We are also discussing about commemorative publications of various books mentioned above, exhibitions at science museums, and the production of movies and TV programs. We are also considering various forms of activities such as soliciting events from our Chapters and Committees. The funds for these activities are expected to be allocated from the unexpectedly increased internal reserves due to various activities being constrained by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as donations. With these anniversary commemorative activities, I dream of appealing to young people, especially high school and university students, and stopping the long-term trend of decreasing JPS membership.

　　Finally, I would like to discuss our efforts regarding the corporate management. This pertains to the promise I made during my presidency election to convert JPS into a Public Interest Incorporated Association. Over the past year, I have observed various activities of our society, including our operations under support from sponsoring companies. The public interest of these activities is very high, and the social collaboration with sponsoring companies is being strengthened. Therefore, I have become strongly convinced that our society should become a Public Interest Incorporated Association. With that in mind, I would like to start specific investigations and preparations towards this goal in the fiscal year 2024.

　　For the various projects mentioned above, including new initiatives, the understanding and cooperation of our members are essential. When asked to participate, whether as a committee member or in other capacities, please consider accepting within your capabilities and without reluctance. Alternatively, feel free to volunteer for activities that interest you. If each of our many members shares a small part of the burden, the individual workload should not be overly significant. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.