AAPPS bulletin

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Embracing all rivers – openness and collaboration in science

writerTao Xiang

Vol.35 (Dec) 2025 | Article no.1 2026

Embracing all rivers – openness and collaboration in science by Tao Xiang

The 16th Asia Pacific Physics Conference (APPC) was successfully held at the Hilton Hotel, Haikou, Hainan, China from Oct 19 to Oct 24, 2025. Sadly, Professor C. N. Yang passed away at the age of 103 in Beijing two days before the conference. Prof. Yang was the first President of the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS), and he was also largely responsible for initiating the first Asia Pacific Physics Conference. In remembrance of his contribution, a special memorial session was held on the first morning before the conference started. Prof. Zhang Jie led the memorial for that morning (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5
figure 5

Opening remarks and memorial session for Professor C. N. Yang, led by Professor Jie Zhang


Around a thousand participants came for the conference, and there were more than 410 talks and 130 posters. Participants, especially young researchers, were all eager to discuss their findings and gain insights from experienced scientists. Four special sessions were also organized at the conference: a session to celebrate the International Year of Quantum Science and Technologies, a Meet the Editors session, a special session on Physics in the Era of Artificial Intelligence, and a Women-in-Physics session.

Three outstanding young researchers, Fanlong Meng (Statistical Physics), Anatoli Fedynitch (Astroparticle Physics), and Junzhang Ma (Condensed Matter Physics), received the AAPPS-APCTP C. N. Yang awards at the opening ceremony from Prof. Hyoung Joon Choi, President of the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS), and Prof. Misao Sasaki, President of the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics (APCTP) (Fig. 6). There were ten plenary talks. Parallel sessions were divided into ten different topics covering Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravitation, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Condensed Matter Physics (two sessions), Nuclear Physics, Physics Education, Particles and Fields, Plasma Physics, Quantum Information, Semiconductor and Applied Physics, and Statistical and Biological Physics.

Fig. 6
figure 6

2025 AAPPS-APCTP C. N. Yang Award Ceremony


The flagship publication of AAPPS, the AAPPS Bulletin (published by Springer Nature), also celebrates this occasion with a cake-cutting ceremony on the first day. The first issue of the AAPPS Bulletin was published in June 1991 (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7
figure 7

Cake-cutting ceremony marking the AAPPS Bulletin’s first Impact Factor of 5.9


Many participants expressed their satisfaction with the conference. Professor Blair Blakie from the University of Otago, New Zealand, remarked that the event was very well organized, though he wished “there had been more students presenting their work.” Indeed, students and young researchers should remain at the heart of every scientific gathering. Overall, participants gave the program and talks an enthusiastic thumbs up (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8
figure 8

Collages of photo snapshots at the conference

Data Availability

No data were generated or analyzed during this article.

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[Source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43673-025-00180-8]