About IUPAP

17-23 October 2027 | Indaba Hotel & Conference Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa

The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) is the only international scientific union which covers all areas of physics. Organized and run by the physics community, most of its members represent identified physics communities in countries or regions around the world.

The IUPAP was established in 1922 in Brussels with 13 Member countries and the first General Assembly was held in 1923 in Paris. It currently has 52 active territorial members, as well as several Corporate Associate Members.

The Union is governed by its General Assembly which meets yearly, with the meetings held in person once every three years and virtually otherwise. The Council is the Union’s top executive body, supervising the activities of specialized International Commissions, Affiliated Commissions, Working Groups and Standing Committees.

As part of IUPAP’s Centennial Symposium in 2022, it ran the “IUPAP 100 Photo Contest” to celebrate the beauty of physics and the fun that can be encountered in its practice. Subsequently, IUPAP had a photo contest to celebrate the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ2025). Photos from these contests are used on this website in various locations with creator image credits.

International Conference on Physics 1934

Every year IUPAP supports multiple conferences covering a large range of physics subdisciplines. There has however only ever been one previous IUPAP supported “International Conference on Physics”. This conference took place in London in 1934, after it was necessary to move it from its original venue in Berlin due to the political situation in Europe. It is anticipated that the ICP will continue in future as a conference that takes place in parallel with the IUPAP voting General Assembly taking place every three years, with the title of the conference changing every time it is held.