Physics Comment Magazine March 2018 Issue Physics Comment March 2018_v1.3 | Page 9

News from IUPAP: 29th General Assembly
Report by Professor Patrick Woudt: Chair Committee of the South African National Committee of
IUPAP
From 11-13 October 2017, the 29th
General Assembly (GA) of the
International Union of Pure and
Applied Physics (IUPAP) was held
in Sao Paulo, Brazil. General
Assemblies of IUPAP are held every
three years, and provide an
opportunity for representatives from
IUPAP member countries to vote on
resolutions of IUPAP and elect new
members to commissions.
Prof Patrick Woudt and Prof
Azwinndini Muronga represented
the South African voting delegation
at the 29th General Assembly. Dr
Rudzani
Nemutudi
(Associate
Secretary General IUPAP) and Prof
Igle Gledhill (Chair of Working
Group 5 of IUPAP) also attended
the 29th IUPAP GA in their
respective capacities of Associate
Secretary General, and Chair of
Working group 5, respectively.
Prof Amhadou Wague (Senegal),
Prof Igle Gledhill, Dr Rudzani
Nemutudi, Prof Azwinndini
Muronga, and Prof Patrick Woudt
(all South Africa).
During the GA, a lunch time
meeting was arranged with the
African delegates to discuss a range
of topics, from the African Physics
Society (AfPS), the International
Centre
for
Theoretical
Physics’ (ICTP) new node in
Rwanda,
to
South-South
collaborations with Brazil. African
delegates at the GA included Prof
Jojo Moses Eghan (Ghana), Prof
Mourad Telmini (Tunisia), Prof
Akintayo Adedoyin (Botswana),
Lunch time meeting with African delegates at the IUPAP 29th General Assembly. From left to right: Prof Mourad Telmini - Tunisia,
Prof Patrick Woudt - South Africa, Prof Jojo Moses Eghan - Ghana, Prof Akintayo Adedoyin - Botswana, Dr Rudzani Nemutudi - South
Africa, Prof Amhadou Wague - Senegal, Prof Azwinndini Muronga - South Africa, Dr Sandro Scandalo - ICTP.
Out of this lunch time meeting
emerged the draft resolution to
request that the IUPAP Council
writes to the Chair of the African
Union appealing for support for
Basic Sciences in Africa which was
later adopted as Resolution 18:
Physics in Africa. The African
Union target of 1% of Gross
Domestic Product for the Science
and Technology budget in each
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memberstate has not been reached, research capacities, all of which
except in very few the 54 countries contribute to vital economic
in Africa.
development. Expanded IUPAP
membership in Africa is desirable
I like to draw your attention to a in terms of the IUPAP mandate
number of resolutions: Resolution 6 of fostering the worldwide
of
physics,
(Working Group 5, Women in development
Physics), Resolution 11 (The international cooperation, and the
International Year of Basic Science application of physics toward
for capital development, knowledge solving problems of concern to
humanity.
generation, and the building