2018 Annual Report

Annual Report 2018 Contents Foreword 01 IOP’s year in numbers 04 Regional activities 05 Community 07 Discovery 11 2018 Award winners 14 Society 19 Economy 23 Education 27 Looking forward 29 Public benefit 30 Governance 31 Our subsidiaries 38 Financial review 39 Financial statements 47 IOP Annual Report 2018 Foreword 01 In 2004, Stephen Hawking, who sadly Furthermore the impact of physics-based passed away in March 2018, gave an interview businesses and technology on our economy to The New York Times. In it the man who has been recognised in the government’s would later advise us to “look to the stars industrial strategy. We have promoted technical and not down at our feet”, was asked what careers as an alternative to traditional academic he believed commercial success looked routes and facilitated resource exchange like for him. Professor Hawking’s response? between research centres and businesses. He said, “I want my books to be sold in Our members are throwing stones at glass airport bookstalls”. ceilings and turning stereotypes on their head, proving that there is no one size fits all physicist. It was characteristic of the wry humour for which Professor Hawking was known, but tucked If this foreword began with the words of the amongst the witticism lay a more significant late Stephen Hawking, one of our great male philosophy. A belief that there is no good physicists; it seems fitting to finish with the reason why physics should not occupy the same actions of one of our greatest female physicists, bookshelf as a cricketer’s autobiography, or a Jocelyn Bell Burnell. In 2018, Professor brief history of bicycles. That the question of why Bell Burnell won the Breakthrough prize in humans exist and how we came to be here so fundamental physics for her discovery of profoundly impacts every one of us, that access radio pulsars and, more widely, her scientific to such information is a right, not a privilege. leadership. Our former President has donated the £2.3 million Breakthrough prize money This is a philosophy that is at the heart of to create a fund so that those who are under- the work of the Institute of Physics and has represented in physics can take their first remained a focus during 2018. It is a key part steps to becoming a physics researcher. Such of our mission to make physics accessible as representation matters. The physics community a subject, demystified as a career choice, and is a better place for the greater variety of people demonstrable in its socio-economic impact. within it. For the IOP, it is more important than This has been the last year of a strategy that ever that we keep pushing the boundaries of was launched in 2014 – a strategy that put our discipline and at the same time create room social impact at its heart. for more diverse voices. For it is within that space, that we will find the stars. Five years later, the IOP can look back with some satisfaction at what has been achieved and look forward to building on the groundwork that this strategy has laid. The IOP’s work has played a key role in encouraging more girls to study physics post-16 and to recruit more Professor Dame Julia Higgins physics teachers. DBE FRS FREng HonFInstP CPhys Institute of Physics, Caledonian Road IOP’s year in numbers 132 teaching scholarships awarded 23,045 members 142 schools are part of our Future 46 conferences delivered Physics Leaders programme 1 specially commissioned installation 50 lead schools and 420 partner schools about time in our gallery in our Stimulating Physics Network 432,500 people reached through 25% of all secondary schools in the UK outreach and engagement and Ireland are affiliated with IOP 65,000 teacher-hours have been 2,279 students signed up to our A-level, delivered by our education work higher or equivalent science newsletter 6,618 institutions whose scientists 282 public engagement events made use of IOP Publishing’s research run nationally publications 1 new IOP home in London’s King’s Cross 30% growth in journal articles published on an open access basis 28 Campus ambassadors 40,327 conference proceedings articles published, 77% growth on 2017 40 recruitment events for teachers’ scholarships 5,000,000 downloads from the New Journal of Physics 142 Award nominations received 117 new ebooks published and more 45% IOP Award winners were women than 1 million chapters downloaded 04 by readers 51 special interest groups 20 Publishing Academy workshops in 9 countries for early career researchers 120 travel bursaries delivered IOP Annual Report 2018 IOP Annual Report 2018 Regional activities 05 Festival of Physics Scotland Entangled Ireland Palace of Science collaboration Northern Ireland Science Festival Yorkshire & North East Ireland Duke Theatre Performance North West Birmingham Pride Midlands BT Young Scientist Exhibition Ireland Science in the Park Midlands Launch of Welsh Physics in the Economy report Wales Cally Festival Climate stories London & South East South West IOP Annual Report 2018 06 IOP Annual Report 2018 Community 07 1,400 people took part in Our Fellowship marketing our first LBGT+ experience campaign won ‘best members survey in physical integrated marketing sciences campaign’ for encouraging more fellowship applications at MemCom 2018 Income: £1,964,000 in creating a community that people can see Expenditure: £4,494,000 themselves reflected in. These individual stories demonstrate the diversity of our members’ It is the creativity, insight and imagination experiences and offer personalised insight into of our members that characterises our physics how members feel the IOP has supported them. community as unique. From international prizes to ticking the box and choosing to study In particular, these stories highlight the value physics, our role is to represent our members’ of technical careers, a career path the IOP has interests at all stages of their careers. Our taken significant steps to support this year by members are students, apprentices, business securing the licenses to offer RSciTech, RSci, leaders, technicians, academics; together we EngTech and IEng accreditations. The ability are advancing science, education, community of the IOP to offer these qualifications develops development and diversity through our impactful the quality of our member offer, which is events, outreach and policy work. We are a mirrored in the vibrancy of our members’ stories. membership organisation first and foremost; Additionally, the Member Stories series cements as such it is imperative that we maintain the membership restructure that took place last a personalised level of support and a bespoke year and spotlights how the IOP is able to tailor member offer. its member support across different sectors and experience levels. In 2018, we revealed two initiatives for our community. We launched Member Stories, a new Our pursuit of this individualised member campaign showing our members describing, in experience has culminated in the launch and their own words, who they are and how they got ongoing development of our new digital hub to where they are. This campaign highlights how called Connect. We wanted to create a digital the IOP supports its members through career hub that had a more contemporary design advice, subject accreditation, events and, most that was reflective of our outlook as a modern importantly, a connection to an active science organisation. We have started to develop community. The campaign is a series of videos Connect as a replacement for MyIOP through and written stories that showcase how our which members can engage more fully with members have used physics and its applications content, letting them pick and choose what to transform our lives and our society. These sort of features and stories they would like to videos have been viewed 37,000 times on see on their newsfeed. Over time Connect will social media and are a foundational step expand to other audiences including the public. Our digital vision is to provide a place Community highlight: for people to engage and explore all the King’s Cross building services offered by IOP. Members can find The new building has been designed to the internationally renowned journalism of showcase physics in action. It has state of the Physics World alongside events programmes, art ground source heat pumps, an innovative IOP publications, news and events of personal building management system and green roof. interest to members. Throughout the soft launch, A cloud chamber and Li-Fi (an optical wireless we have been collecting feedback to help us communication system) have also been improve the content. Users reported that it installed so that people can see physics and is easy to navigate, more modern and more innovation in action. A cosmic ray detector was streamlined, with almost 67% of users saying assembled by local students and was installed thath they liked the new hub. We envisage on our roof. The data from the detector is fed that, over time, more and more options for into the HiSparc network which allows students personalisation will be added to the website, to measure and analyse cosmic rays. feeding into Connect to create a powerful, inclusive tool for people to communicate with We have a public gallery, two lecture theatres each other and seek out their own interests. and meeting spaces. These spaces are enabling us to host events and activities for our physics The launch of IOP Connect demonstrates community and the public. Digital screens and how we have significantly developed our digital AV equipment have been installed throughout offering to support our core engagement (such the building so that we can share the national as special interest groups, branch events and and international work of the IOP in the London volunteering opportunities).

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