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Highlights of the 8th AAPPS-DPP Conference on Plasma in Melaka, Malaysia

writerTou Teck Yong

Vol.35 (Feb) 2025 | Article no.3 2025

5 Highlights of the 8th AAPPS-DPP Conference on Plasma in Melaka, Malaysia, by Tou Teck Yong

The 8th AAPPS-DPP Conference on Plasma Physics was co-organized by the Division of Plasma Physics (DPP), AAPPS, and the Malaysian Institute of Physics (MIP), in Melaka (Malacca), from November 3 to 8, 2024 (Fig. 6). Melaka is a UNESCO heritage city located in the midpoint of the Strait of Melaka, one of the busiest shipping routes in the world. Geographically, its location is central in Asia-Pacific region and situated 150 km south of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Melaka has a colorful history with more than 600 years of Hindu, Muslim, Chinese, and European cultural and administrative influences, which is evidenced by different styles of architecture, food, communities, and cultural activities.

Fig. 6
figure 6

A group photo was taken in the foyer of the ballroom after the opening ceremony


The conference registered 500 participants from 34 countries.

  Country No. of pax   Country No. of pax
1 Australia 8 18 New Zealand 1
2 Belgium 3 19 Pakistan 20
3 Brazil 3 20 Philippines 5
4 Canada 1 21 Poland 1
5 Beijing 123 22 Republic of Korea 22
6 Denmark 2 23 Romania 2
7 Finland 3 24 Russian Federation 2
8 France 8 25 Serbia 1
9 Germany 13 26 Singapore 13
10 Hong Kong 2 27 Slovenia 1
11 India 46 28 Switzerland 3
12 Indonesia 1 29 Taipei 14
13 Italy 5 30 Thailand 9
14 Japan 91 31 UK 9
15 Kazakhstan 14 32 United States 30
16 Malaysia 39 33 Uzbekistan 2
17 Nepal 2 34 Vietnam 1
        Total 500

5.1 Registration and welcome reception

Registration began on November 3, 2024, and was mainly administrated by postgraduate student helpers from local universities. A welcome reception was given in the registration hall, and a four-member Chinese band was invited to play traditional songs (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7
figure 7

The 8th AAPPS-DPP Conference on Plasma Physics registration and welcome reception


5.2 Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held in the morning of November 4, 2024, and was chaired by Prof. Tou Teck Yong, president of MIP. Three short speeches were delivered by Prof. HY Choi, president of AAPPS; Prof. Abhijit Sen, president of AAPPS-DPP, and Prof. Mitsuru Kikuchi, the CEO of AAPPS-DPP (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8
figure 8

Opening speeches by (1) Prof. HY Choi, (2) Prof. Abhijit Sen, (3) Prof. Mitsuru Kikuchi, and (4) Prof. Tou Teck Yong


During the opening ceremony, the Chandrasekhar Prize was awarded to Prof. Chen Pisin of National Taiwan University by Prof. Abhijit Sen. The Plasma Innovation Prize was awarded to Prof. Miran Mozetic of Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia, by Prof. Sudeep Bhattacharjee (Fig. 9).

Fig. 9
figure 9

Recipient of the Chandrasekhar Prize (left), Prof. Chen Pisin (right), and the recipient of the Plasma Innovation Prize (right), Prof. Miran Mozetic (right)


All the prize winners, committee chairs, and the under-30 and under-40 award winners were invited to the stage for a group photo. The Under-40 Young Researchers’ Awards were given to Tatsuya Kobayashi, Ya Zhang, Guoqian Liao, Xin Tao, Bidya Binay Karak, and Wei Zhang. The Under-30 Young Researchers’ Awards were presented to Hao-Wei Hu, Linzheng Wang, Shiyu Zhou, Shimou Wang, Jinhan Guo, and Haowei Zhang (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10
figure 10

Winners of Chandrasekhar Prize, Plasma Innovation Prize, Under-30 and Under 40 Young Researcher Awards with committee chairs


5.3 Women in Plasma Physics

In line with the efforts to achieve gender equality, AAPPS promotes and recognizes the contribution of women scientists in physics. The DPP conference provides special travel grants to women plasma physicists to attend the annual event (Fig. 11). This year, a special session, “Women in Plasma Physics,” was created, allowing women to share their social and technical challenges as researchers in the field.

Fig. 11
figure 11

Women in Plasma Physics


5.4 Programs and posters

The program consisted of oral and poster presentations. The morning program was solely for plenary talks in the ballroom, while the afternoon program consisted of 10 parallel sessions comprised of invited and oral presentations. For the poster presentation, 30–40 posters were displayed between Monday to Thursday (Fig. 12).

Fig. 12
figure 12

Poster sessions


5.5 AAPPS-DPP conference banquet and cultural performance

The AAPPS-DPP Conference Banquet was held on November 7, 2024, in the Grand Hibiscus Ballroom of the Swiss Garden Hotel. The cultural performances, which were provided by Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), consisted of (1) a 15-member Chinese orchestra from the Tong Ann & Kim Har Association of Melaka (Fig. 13) and (2) Portuguese dancers from the Aloysious Santa Maria Enterprise of the Portuguese settlement in Melaka (Fig. 14). Their performances reflected Melaka’s UNESCO heritage city status.

Fig. 13
figure 13

Chinese Orchestra from the Tong Ann & Kim Har Association of Melaka


Fig. 14
figure 14

Portuguese dancers from the Aloysious Santa Maria Enterprise, joined by the conference participants


Institut Fizik Malaysia welcomed joint organization of activities by various divisions of AAPPS and enjoyed memorable moments at exciting venues in Malaysia.

Joint report by Institut Fizik Malaysia (Malaysian Institute of Physics) and the Division of Plasma Physics, AAPPS.

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[Source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43673-025-00143-z]