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2009 Florida State Physics News

• Kirby Kemper named APS Outstanding Referee
• With NSF Grant, Researchers Put Their 'Spin' on Electron Research
• Book sheds light on the life of Paul Dirac
• Circus brings fun to physics
• Bernd Berg elected Secretary-Treasurer of DCOMP
• Ben Thayer Receives Prestigious National Fellowship in Theoretical Particle Physics
• Serbia lauds native son with award in physical science
• Two professors and a scholar/scientist named APS ‘Outstanding Referees’
• Physicists get first look at single top quarks
• A Pioneer in Physics: Philip J. Wyatt
• Physicist tapped to lead Electron Magnetic Resonance program
• Florida State physics professors join prestigious ranks of AAAS fellows
• Researchers named American Physical Society fellows

Bernd Berg elected Secretary-Treasurer of DCOMP

Bernd Berg, Dirac Professor in the Department of Physics, was elected for a three year term as Secretary-Treasurer of the Division of Computational Physics (DCOMP) of the American Physical Society (APS).

	Bernd Berg

DCOMP has more than 2000 members and the objective of the Division is the advancement and dissemination of knowledge regarding the use of computers in physics research and education. This includes, among other areas, their application to experiments, theory, and education as well as the application of physics to the development of computer technology. The division provides to its members, and to all APS members, an opportunity for coordination and a forum for discussion and communication. In addition, the Division promotes research and development in computational physics; enhances prestige and professional standing of its members; encourages scholarly publication; and promotes international cooperation in these activities.

In particular DCOMP is instrumental in awarding once a year the Rahman Prize, which is the highest APS award for Computational Physics and the Metropolis Prize for the best Ph.D. Thesis of the year in Computational Physics. As other APS Divisions, DCOMP awards annually its share of the prestigious APS Fellowships.

According to Berg, a strength, but also a difficulty of DCOMP is its diversity, which brings together physicists from many subfields, held together by the common interest in computational techniques. This is an opportunity of true interdisciplinary work, which also incorporates neighboring disciplines like Computer Science, Applied Mathematics and Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry, to name a few. On the other hand it faces often severe communication problems due to rather distinct scientific cultures in the various disciplines.

The DCOMP Secretary-Treasurer is one of the four Officers (Chair, Chair-Elect, Vice-Chair, Secretary-Treasurer) of the Executive Committee of the Division. Besides keeping track of the budget, the duties of the Secretary-Treasurer include preparing the agenda of Executive Committee meetings and Business Sessions.