Physics in times of war

Bad Honnef, Germany, 15. March 2022 – At the recent meeting of the Council – the "parliament" of the DPG – the world's largest physics learned society decided in a declaration to suspend its institutional cooperation with all Russian scientific institutions and organizations until further notice.

"It is difficult to focus on physics in these times," said President Lutz Schröter. "The war against Ukraine urges us to take a clear stance against the aggression of the Russian state and at the same time show solidarity with our colleagues. We also do not want to break the personal thread of conversation with our Russian friends and scholars, who are often critical of the regime and must not be held hostage by the Russian government. Our solidarity goes out to them as well. Our actions are directed exclusively against the state-supporting institutional bodies."

The focus of the declaration, however, is on supporting the Ukrainian Physical Society and the learned societies of the neighboring states, as well as trying to help Ukrainians who have had to flee the war and provide them with protection and, if necessary, at least a temporary new scientific home. "We will not be shaken in our belief that science is a unifying force!" emphasized DPG President Schröter.

DPG resolution on the situation in Ukraine

At the current DPG spring meeting, which was originally scheduled to take place in Erlangen and is being held online due to corona, the Working Group on Physics and Disarmament is offering a workshop on "Nuclear Dangers in the Ukraine Crisis" in addition to the planned program due to current events, which is open to the public at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYiUXKC2f-8.

The announcement states:

"During the Russian attack in Ukraine, two nuclear dangers have been revealed: One is ensuring the safety of nuclear facilities such as nuclear power plants or research reactors, including stored fissile material, in a wartime situation. The other is the risk of escalation toward the use of nuclear weapons."

This workshop is devoted to these questions and the medium- and long-term consequences of this development.

The German Physical Society (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft e. V.; DPG), which was founded way back in 1845, is the oldest national and, with about 55,000 members, also the largest physical society in the world. As a non-profit-making organisation it pursues no economic interests. The DPG promotes the transfer of knowledge within the scientific community through conferences, events and publications, and aims to open a window to physics for the curious. Its special focuses are on encouraging junior scientists and promoting equal opportunities. The DPG’s head office is at Bad Honnef am Rhein. Its representative office in the capital is the Magnus-Haus Berlin. Website: www.dpg-physik.de