History and Present Status

The society was founded as The Physical Society of the Republic of China (PSROC) on June 15, 1958, according to the Civil Organizations Act of the Ministry of the Interior. To promote international participation, the name of the society was changed to The Physical Society of Taiwan (TPS) on January 24, 2018 based on the decision of 53th general assembly of members. TPS is a growing society – we have around 1,800 members in 2018, which is more than doubled than in 2001.

Our mission is to pursuit the progressive development and popularization of the physical sciences in Taiwan – in both scientific research and education, and to promote international communication and participation. In recent years, we pay attention to the policies of science and technology and economic innovation – emphasizing the importance of fundamental research on industrial transformation and promoting communication with industry.

The society has a board of 21 directors and 5 supervisors, all of whom are teaching and research personnel of universities or research institutes. TPS is also a well-organized and active civil social organization. We have four divisions and six committees under the board of directors to efficiently promote activities beneficial to academic affairs, including journal and magazine publication, promotion of women in physics research, the Annual Meeting of the Society, the public affairs forum, the promotion of educational activities in physics, and the development of international affairs. The divisions and committees include: Division of Academy (responsible for academic activities and selection affairs), Division of Development (underneath which are International Affairs Committee, Physics Education Committee, Committee on Women in Physics, and Public Affairs Committee), Division of Publication (underneath which are the Chinese Journal of Physics Editorial Board, the Bimonthly Editorial Board, and the Network Working Group), and Division of Finance and Personnel.

TPS has two regular publications: the Chinese Journal of Physics (an academic journal founded in 1963) and the Physics Bimonthly (a magazine founded in 1979). We are dedicated to improvement in the quality of academic research papers in the Chinese Journal of Physics as well to promoting physics and popular science education in Taiwan. For example, Physics Bimonthly is a high quality magazine in all aspects, from content to editing to art design, and its subscribers already include the general public. At the same time, TPS holds many educational activities and academic seminars, including its own Annual Meeting, the well-recognized 2005-Year-of-Physics activities, and “Taiwan Night”, which connects all Chinese scholars.

In international participation, TPS has signed bilateral agreement with 17 academic societies, including American Physical Society (APS) and Physical Society of Japan (JPS). TPS has also been a long-time participant international organizations, such as International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS). In 2017, TPS became the first foreign member of American Institute of Physics (AIP).

 President