Spearheaded by Christian Kurtsiefer, the Institute of Physics Singapore (IPS) has successfully conducted its Annual Meeting each year since 2012, even during the COVID-19 years from 2020 to 2022. This conference is co-organized with several prominent universities and institutions in Singapore, including the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, the Institute of Advanced Studies@NTU, A*Star, Singapore University of Technology and Design, the Center for Quantum Technologies, and the Quantum Engineering Program. It also enjoys substantial support from various industrial partners such as AceXon, IOP Publishing, OptoSigma, Quantum Design, Rohde & Schwarz, Bruker, Genetron, World Scientific Publishing, Raith, Edmund Optics, and Precilaser, among others.

Over 500 researchers participated in the Annual IPS Meeting held at the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences on the Nanyang Technological University campus. As is tradition, this event aims to provide researchers in the physical sciences in Singapore with an opportunity to stay informed about the rapidly changing research landscape, explore new collaborations, seek new research team members, or simply reconnect with colleagues in a relaxed atmosphere focused on physics rather than administrative duties. Most importantly, it encourages the participants to step outside of their usual silos to understand what researchers at other institutions are working on.

The Singapore Annual Meeting strives to showcase exceptional research activities in Singapore and beyond through plenary talks featuring both newcomers to our physical sciences community and established researchers with impressive long-term programs. On the first day, plenary talks included an intriguing presentation on optical skyrmions by Yijie Shen from NTU and a discussion on carbon thin films by Antonio Castro-Neto from NUS. The second day presented plenary talks that featured a theoretical review of quantum physics foundations by Berthold-Georg Englert from NUS, along with applied flat optics topics from Arseniy Kuznetsov from A*STAR. The third day’s morning session was packed with three plenaries covering a diverse range of physical sciences, starting with phenomena in non-Hermitian lattices by Chong Yidong, followed by an exploration of many-body quantum systems out of equilibrium by Dario Poletti from SUTD, and concluding with a review of flat bands by Daniel Leykam, also from SUTD.

The technical program encompassed nearly 200 contributions, including 107 oral presentations. To manage the volume of submissions, the number of invited presentations was limited to just 13 this year, with the hope that researchers could exchange perspectives and ideas in informal settings over coffee and posters. More than 80 posters were also presented at the meeting. Additionally, an engaging poster pitch session was organized on Thursday afternoon, and as per tradition, a networking event featuring pizza and drinks was held to create a conducive environment. During the meeting, Professor Pao-Chuen Lui was honored with an award for his long-term support of physical sciences in Singapore.