The First FECS Postdoctoral Poster Competition

Jason S. Gardner, Past Chair

Jason Gardner new
Jason Gardner

The Forum for Early Career Scientists (FECS) had great plans for the first annual poster competition at the March Meeting for postdoctoral fellows, and it was scheduled for March 3rd. We were only 3 days away from this great event when the American Physical Society cancelled the entire meeting on February 28th.

For the safety of all attendees regarding the global spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), this was absolutely necessary. Although only a small fraction of participants arrived in Denver, at least one visitor returned home and contaminated the research laboratory. I personally was able to participate in a few informal meetings and left Denver with no virus. Unfortunately, we are still living through these tough times, and although some data look promising today, it is hard to believe that on February 28th there were only 68 reported cases in the USA.

During these difficult times, scientists have been very resourceful, and some of the 10,000+ researchers have presented the results of their hard work online through various electronic platforms, including YouTube and virtual meetings on Zoom. A collaboration between the University of Sydney in Australia and the quantum technology company Q-CTRL developed a Virtual APS March Meeting website where many presentations have been uploaded. FECS decided not to start this annual poster session online and hopes to reboot the Postdoctoral Poster Competition in Nashville, TN (March 15-19 2021).

This poster competition, dedicated exclusively to postdocs, will have a "Best Poster" prize consisting of $100. All registered postdoctoral fellows within 5 years of their PhD being awarded are eligible to participate in the competition. The posters can cover any topic covered in the meeting, and the poster abstract submission does not prevent a submitter from entering an abstract for an oral presentation. The applicant must be the presenting author of the poster and a member of the Forum for Early Career Scientists at the APS. We intend for this to be an annual event at the APS March Meeting.

We look forward to seeing you in Nashville, and we hope many of you submit work to the FECS Postdoctoral Poster Competition in 2021.

After obtaining his Ph.D. at Warwick University in the UK, Jason worked for several national laboratories in North America before moving to Sydney, Australia in 2013. He is currently a research Professor at Songshan Lake Material Laboratory, a new research laboratory in China. His scientific interests are primarily in frustrated magnets, but he’s also performed research in many areas of condensed matter over thirty years of research. He has published over 150 papers and 4 book chapters. He was made a fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK) in 2008 and the APS in 2019.