YPP - DPF Executive Committee Presentations

In Attendance:

Joe Formaggio (presenting), John Krane (presenting), and Sam Zeller

Presentations:

• John Krane reports back to the DPF on YPP survey activities
  • John's powerpoint version
  • John's postscript version
• Joe Formaggio's talk on present and future YPP plans
  • Joe's powerpoint version
  • Joe's postscript version

Dear Everyone,

On Friday, May 24th, John Krane and myself gave a brief review of the various YPP activities (past, present, and future) for the DPF executive council. Overall, the two presentations were very well received and an engaging discussion followed afterwards. The basic theme of our interaction was "What can the DPF do to help out the YPP?" They seemed to be pleased with our success at Snowmass and our current/future activities. John Krane took notes during the Q&A, so he has more of the details, but here are some of the topics that were discussed:

(1) YPP grant:
It seemed that they were very supported in this front and were willing to help, perhaps with a letter signed by the DPF exec members to "nudge" the NSF.

(2) YPP presence at meetings:
The DPF seems open and welcoming for the YPP to have organized meetings during big conferences. It was suggested we coordinate with them, especially for APS in April and the next DPF meeting.

(3) Further international members:
The DPF exec members suggested we try to expand our membership to make it truly international, by inviting Asian institutions to join YPP. It was suggested we contact Steve Olsen to help with this.

(4) APS and YPP:
Members also wanted to know to what extend YPP and the APS FGSA (the APS grad student association) overlapped and interacted with one another. Our response was that the chair of FGSA, Karsten Heeger, has expressed interest in joining the YPP as a member and that we would discuss with him some of these issues (Florencia had already made contact with Karsten).

(5) YPP representation:
We had brought up to the exec council the importance of including young physicists in budget/plan decisions for various physics proposals that are currently discussed. Though still in its infancy, possibilities of more involved interactions on this issue were welcome.

(6) Universities:
One of the problems that was brought up was the role of smaller university members versus the large laboratories. We replied that University local chapters would be ideal for local public outreach projects. The DPF exec committee also suggested that University chapters would be a great source for theorists and phenomenologists representation.

Those were the basic issues discussed. We can discuss more of the details and followup at the next YPP meeting (maybe mid-June). Overall, the committee was very welcoming and excited about our work and ideas. I would like to thank John Krane for accompagning me and Sam Zeller for moral support at the meeting. Also special thanks for George Fleming and Andrew Green for setting up the YPP coffee break and "get-out-the-vote" efforts! And finally, the DPF exec committee for inviting us to participate.

Thanks,
Joe