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The Swiss Physical Society (SPS) is the national professional association of Physicists coming from teaching, research, development and industry. The diversity of modern research in physics is reflected in ten specific sections.

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Diversity in Physics Career Symposium

With its fifth edition, the former Women in Physics Career Symposium has been renamed to Diversity in Physics Career Symposium (DiP). The event has become a well-established highlight of the annual meeting of the Swiss Physical Society. Following the great success of the joint event with the Austrian Physical Society in Vienna in 2025, the symposium is now being organized by the Commission for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in 2026.

With this change of name, we acknowledge the diversity and intersectionality of people working in physics. At the same time, the targeted support of women remains a central pillar of the symposium. This commitment is rooted in fundamental principles of equity and aims to enable the full realization of the scientific potential of our society.

The 5th Career Symposium will take place on Friday, 28 August 2026.

As in previous editions, the focus is on actively supporting the careers of women in physics. To this end, a sustainable professional and mentoring network is being established, accompanying young scientists from the undergraduate level through to the postdoctoral stage. A new element is the explicit effort to engage male colleagues as mentors and to involve them as allies in fostering a lasting evolution of the scientific culture in physics.

The program features a series of career talks in which invited speakers from different career stages share personal insights into their professional paths. Speakers from both academia and industry will highlight key decisions and defining moments in their careers. Extended coffee breaks and a shared lunch provide ample opportunity for discussion, networking, and exchange of ideas.

While the symposium is primarily designed to connect mentees — from undergraduate to postdoctoral level — with experienced mentors, participants of all career stages and genders are warmly invited to attend, contribute, and benefit from the network.

The event is supported by the University of Zurich, the Paul Scherrer Institute, the University of Geneva (TBC), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the Swiss Physical Society, and the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT).

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Registration for the symposium

Since the symposium is an integral part of the conference, just use the general registration form.

Mentees register additionally with this separate form for the symposium where they can provide the requested additional data (see below).

The Career Symposium is at the same time the kick-off event for an associated mentoring network. Mentees are female physicists who are on the level of Bachelor, Master, PhD or Postdoc. Through the mentoring network they will be able to meet with their associated mentor at least four times to discuss questions concerning their career with their experienced mentor. At the event mentors and mentees will be matched. At this event, 20 spots for mentees are available.

To sign up mentees need to provide a short CV and a short motivation (200 words) explaining why they want to participate. Please select from the list of mentors up to three favorites that you would like to be connected with. (A growing list of mentors is also provided on the right.)

Applicants who are not selected as mentees may still participate in the event as general participants.

A key goal of the Career Symposium is to serve as the nucleus for a mentoring network between early career female physicists and those with more established careers. The duties of a mentor are to:

  • Take part in the Symposium on 28 August 2026 to connect to mentees
  • Meet with your mentee for a year with the commitment to meet at least four times. While in person meetings are encouraged, virtual meetings are possible.
  • If possible, take part in a wrap-up event at the end of the year, where all mentors and mentees will meet to exchange their experiences.

If you would like to contribute as a mentor, please contact Philipp Schmidt-Wellenburg (philipp.schmidt-wellenburg[at]psi.ch). With your message, please provide a short bio and motivation on why you would like to act as mentor.