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Institute of Physics

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The Institute of Physics (IOP) is Great Britain and Ireland's main professional body for physicists. It was founded as the Physical Society in 1874 and it now has over 35,000 members worldwide. It grants the professional qualifications of Chartered Physicist (CPhys) as well as Chartered Scientist (CSci) as a member organisation of the Science Council and Chartered Engineer (CEng) as a nominated body of the Engineering Council.

The Institute of Physics building in Portland Place

The IOP runs Physics.org, an online guide to physics. The IOP also provides services to its members including careers advice and professional development. Physics World is the membership magazine of the IOP with its accompanying website physicsworld.com which has physics news, jobs, and resources. The IOP is also prominent in its work in policy and advocacy, lobbying for stronger support for physics in education, research and industry. Through a wholly owned subsidiary, IOP Publishing, the IOP is a leading publisher of science books and international journals, with over 40 titles. IOP Publishing has won the Queen's Award for Export Achievement three times, in 1990, 1995 and 2000. It also publishes the magazine, Optics & Laser Europe A second subsidiary, Institute of Physics Events, runs a conference venue at 76 Portland Place, London.

Membership

There are three grades of membership: Associated Member (AMInstP), Member (MInstP) and Fellow (FInstP). Qualification for AMInstP is normally by completion of an undergraduate degree accredited by the Institute – this covers almost all UK physics degrees. An AMInstP can become an MInstP by gaining professional experience as a physicist and an FInstP by making "an outstanding contribution to the profession". MInstP and FInstP are the two corporate grades of membership, granting the right to vote in Institute elections. There are also student and affiliate grades of membership for those currently studying physics degrees and those who do not have accredited degrees (or equivalent experience).

Chartered Physicist

The Institute grants the professional title of Chartered Physicist (CPhys). Until 1998 this was granted automatically with MInstP, however since then it has become a separate qualification that is equal in stature to Chartered Engineer. In order to gain the qualification, a physicist must be appropriately qualified (an MSci or MPhys undergraduate master's degree is standard, although experience leading to an equivalent level can be counted), have had a minimum of two years of structured training and a minimum of two years responsible work experience, have demonstrated a commitment to continuing professional development, and have gained a number of competencies.


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Qualifications

The IOP accredits undergraduate degrees (BSc/BA and MSci/MPhys) in Physics in British and Irish universities. At post-16 level, the IOP has developed the 'Advancing Physics' A-level course, in conjunction with the OCR examining board, which is accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Academic dress

The Institute grants academic dress to the various grades of membership. Those who have passed the Institute's graduateeship examination are entitled to a violet damask Oxford burgon-shaped hood (a cowl only, with no cape) lined with red taffeta. Corporate members (MInstP and FInstP) may wear a full-shaped (cowl and cape) violet damask hood lined with violet tafeta. Additionally MInstP and those who have passed the graduateeship examination are entitled to wear a black mortarboard and a black bachelor's-style gown, while FInstP may wear a black doctor's bonnet with red tassels and a black Oxford doctor's-style gown with facings (10cm) and sleeves (15cm) of violet taffeta.

Awards

The Institute of Physics bestows several awards to recognise and reward outstanding achievements in physics. These include:

Publications (Selection)

IOP Publishing

IOP Publishing is a wholly owned subsidiary of the IOP. There are offices in Bristol, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Beijing and Washington DC. It publishes a large number of journals, websites and magazines. Its books publishing business was sold to Taylor and Francis in 2005.

PhysicsWorld.com

PhysicsWorld.com (formerly called PhysicsWeb.org) is a web site providing various up-to-date information relating to the study and application of physics. The most significant content of the site is news, employment, and upcoming-events-related information. Several of these services were originally part of a web site called The Internet Pilot to Physics or TIPTOP.

Other

  • Optics.org - A website produced by the IOP containing lasers, optics and photonics resources and news.
  • MedicalPhysicsWeb.org - A website for the medical physics community.
  • eprintweb.org - An e-print front end to the arXiv.org service.
  • CompoundSemiconductor.net - Contains news, articles from Compound Semiconductors and a Buyer's Guide. A resource for the compound semiconductor community.
  • nanotechweb.org - Provides news, resources and events listings for nanotechnology community.
  • cerncourier.com - Computer Newsletter section, Buyer’s Guide and the Jobs Watch directory.
  • fibers.org - news, analysis, buyers guide and recruitment service for optical networking community.
  • wireless.iop.org - news, features, and events calendar for the wireless community.
  • environmentalresearchweb.org - A source of information on issues from global warming to waste management and renewable energy sources.
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