Director’s Corner: APS Innovation Fund

Theodore Hodapp

Ever have one of those ideas that you think: You know, if this works, it could make a huge difference… Well, if your idea happens to be aligned with the APS Strategic Plan, then maybe we could give it a try. In 2019 the APS Board of Directors authorized the first ever Innovation Fund awards. The intent is to bring together good ideas and people interested in making a difference in the physics community. In 2019 APS made the first four awards, and the plan is to do this again in 2020.

Proposals were judged on how innovative they were, and whether the activity looked like it was likely to succeed. You also can not ask for money for things you are already doing – it has to be new! There were no awards made in physics education this past year (although several of them involve people learning about physics), so perhaps 2020 would be a good time to try out a new idea.

A new call for proposals should be out after the first of the year and will likely follow a similar format to last year. So, think about how you can build on current advances in education and consider submitting an idea to the APS Innovation Fund.

Disclaimer – The articles and opinion pieces found in this issue of the APS Forum on Education Newsletter are not peer refereed and represent solely the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of the APS.