Frontiers in Theoretical and Applied Physics | UAE 2017 (FTAPS 2017)

In partnership with the Emirates Mars Mission and Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), the Department of Physics at American University of Sharjah (AUS) was proud to host the international conference Frontiers in Theoretical and Applied Physics |UAE 2017 (FTAPS 2017) February 22-25, 2017. The conference was endorsed by the American Physical Society (APS), Materials Research Society (MRS), the Institute of Physics (IOP) in the UK, and the International Astronomical Union (IAU)-Office of Astronomy for Development. The conference was the first international and interdisciplinary physics conference in the region that attracted such large number of world-leading scientists and experts in the fields of atomic, molecular and optical physics, condensed matter and materials science, astrophysics and space science, nuclear and high energy physics, and mathematical physics. It had a broad international participation from 45 countries, with registered delegates numbering over 330. The scientific program included the presentation and discussion of 300 papers, classified as 5 keynote lectures (each lasted 1 hour), 60 invited talks (each lasted thirty minutes), 145 contributed talks (12 minutes each) and 90 posters. The keynote lectures were attended by all conference attendees in addition to undergraduate and graduate students from AUS, and other guests from neighboring institutions. The invited talks were scheduled into parallel sessions, followed by contributed talks, corresponding to the different research areas that constitute the themes of the conference. Those themes included:  Atomic, Molecular and Laser Physics; Materials Science; Astrophysics and Planetary Science; Mathematical Physics; the Solar System and Mars; and High Energy and Particle Physics.

Submission of papers for the proceedings was voluntary. The conference received 125 manuscripts for consideration in the proceedings, and 96 were accepted for publication based on a peer-review conducted by the conference’s scientific committee and in consultation with experts in the corresponding fields. The keynote and invited speakers, in addition to some of the international advisory board members, were invited to submit their papers for publication in a dedicated special issue on Theoretical and Applied Physics in Physica Scripta, the broad scope journal of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Those invited papers are to be reviewed and handled by Physica Scripta itself.  The editors of this focus issue are Ali S. Alnaser, Roland Allen and Suzy Lidström, Editor-in-chief of Physica Scripta.

Based on an assessment conducted by Roland Allen and Suzy Lidström, with help from the conference scientific committee, the best poster prize presented by Physica Scripta was awarded to separate teams from the Beirut Arab University and from Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre.

We are proud to have held this truly international conference, for it provided a unique forum for physicists, astronomers, and space and material scientists from around the world to present the latest developments in their various dynamic fields of physics. We believe that the conference had provided ample opportunity for intensified exchange and debate on contemporary research issues, and allowed for exchanges of ideas, and exploring different means of regional and international collaborations. We hope that hosting such international and interdisciplinary conference at American University of Sharjah would add to its visibility in the contemporary research arena, where it came as a timely activity that is consistent with the university’s current growth and research directions that are geared to meet the science and technology interests of the UAE and the region.   

In addition to the exciting and rich scientific program, a group of space scientists and astrophysicists enjoyed a visit to the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai, where they learned about the center's activities and future plans. Additionally, the conference attendees and their companions enjoyed the social program that was arranged by the organizing committee in the touristic and historical places around the cities of Sharjah and Dubai. 

Given the huge success of the first edition and in response to the expressed wish by most of the conference attendees, it is certain that we will be hosting the second International Conference Frontiers on Theoretical and Applied Physics again at American University of Sharjah in the winter of 2019 or 2020. The exact date will be announced before the end of 2017 and further details will be made clear and circulated soon after that. We will be delighted to host the next conference and we look forward to welcoming you again.

To view the IOP proceedings that were published in the Journal of Physics: Conference Series, please visit the following link: http://iopscience.iop.org/issue/1742-6596/869/1.

To view more photos from FTAPS2017, click here