Newsletter
Events and Deadlines:
(click to learn more)
December 2016
National Society of Black Physicists
Overview (click on links to read more)
 National Radio
Astronomy Consortium
(NAC) application timeline:
Nov 1, 2016-Feb 1, 2017
 FERMILAB Intensity
Frontier Fellowship
application deadline:
Dec 30, 2016
NASA 2017 Summer
Session internship
application timeline: Oct 18,
2016—March 1, 2017
NSBP Fall 2016 conference - Welcoming the 2016 Fall Conference for the National Society
of Black Physicists
 APS/IBM Research
Internships for
Underrepresented Minority
Students deadline:
Feb. 15, 2017
 APS Bridge Program
- A Call for Membership, The Answer: For a Lifetime
NSBP Press Release -
News 
The Mechanics of Scientific Publishing, Peer Review, and
Ethics in Publishing
Abstract deadline January 6,
2017

NASA Achieves Milestones With James Webb Space
Telescope
APS March Meeting NSBP
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2016 APS President
deadline: March 20, 2017
APS March Meeting
Event March 16, 2017
NSBP 40 by 40 Campaign
Become A Member of
NSBPToday!!!
Nineteenth Annual Putcha Venkateswarlu Memorial Lecture
NSBP Member named APS Woman Physicist of the Month
The Jazz of Physics is one of NPRs Best Books of 2016
The City University of New York Physics Department
NSBP Press Release  Former NSBP President Contributes to Monumental Gravitational Wave
Detection (Extra: Southern University Press Release) Dr. Stephen
C. McGuire is an endowed professor of physics and the principal
investigator of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration at Southern
University in Baton Rouge, LA. NSBP is proud to celebrate the
significant contributions of Prof. Stephen C. McGuire to gravitational
wave astronomy and science education and outreach.

The Foundation Questions Institute (FQXi) Large Grant
Awardee Winner: Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Congratulations to NSBP member Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a
theoretical physics postdoc/axion wrangler of the University of
Washington, Seattle, on being a 2016 FQXi Large Grant Awardee
winner.

APS 2017 Wilson Prize Recipient: Dr. Sekazi Mtingwa
The National Society of Black Physicists would like to recognize co-founder and
former past-presidents, Dr. Sekazi Mtingwa on being selected as a shared
recipient of the APS 2017 Robert R. Wilson Prize for Achievement in the Physics
of Particle Accelerators.
If you would like to contribute to the NSBP newsletter, please contact [email protected].
NSBP Headquarters
3033 Wilson Blvd. Suite 700
Arlington, VA 22201
[email protected]
www.nsbp.org
The NSBP Fall Conference 2016, “The Value
of the Minority Physics Student: A Talent
Source for America’s Technical Future”
- Welcoming the 2016 Fall Conference for the National
Society of Black Physicists [ FNAL News / Nigel Lockyer ] NSBP
fall 2016 conference welcome from Nigel Lockyer.
- A Call for Membership, The Answer: For a Lifetime [ K.
Renee Horton/ President, NSBP ] Now, as we approach the 40th celebration of NSBP in 2017, we want to continue these endeavors by not only
growing our general membership, but also the number of our lifetime
members. Our goal is to gain 40 Lifetime Members by the 40th celebration. Read more here.
NSBP Conference Fall 2016 Photos.
See more highlights of the conference here.
Student members of the National Society of Black Physicist have opportunities
to network with other physicist in areas ranging from academia to industry.
NSBP offers information regarding scholarship and job opportunities, in addition
to a national meeting that allows students to present their work. To learn more
of all the benefits of a NSBP membership, please visit here.
The NSBP Fall 2016 conference was sponsored by Fermilab and the National Science Foundation
Exhibit Sponsors:
Gold Level Sponsorship
Bronze Level Sponsorship
Become A Member Today!!!
News -
NASA Achieves Milestones With James
Webb Space Telescope [APS News / Rachel
Gaal] With its primary mirrors complete, the Webb telescope is starting preliminary testing at NASA-GSFC.
2016 APS President [APS News /
Emily Conover ] - Homer Neal, a particle physicist from the
University of Michigan and a member of the ATLAS experiment, took over as 2016 APS president on January 1. APS
News highlights the president’s priorities for leading the society. A few topics that were presented were the APS Strategic Plan, Interactions with Industry and Diversity Efforts.
The Jazz of Physics is one of NPRs
Best Books of 2016
NSBP member Stephon Alexander has published
his book The Jazz of Physics which was named
one of NPRs Best Books of 2016 list. Click
here for more.
The Mechanics of Scientific Publishing, Peer Review, and
Ethics in Publishing [Michael Steinitz]
What is the editor looking for, what is the process for submitting a paper, how does peer-review work, and what ethical principles should govern the presentation of your work?
This paper is a condensed version of a short-course given
at the National University of Mexico, UNAM, in Mexico City
last year. The discussion centers on what your editor is
looking for, and what, exactly, it is that he or she does. Scientific content is
central to this, but a recurrent concern is about questions of attribution of
textual material used and the avoidance of any possible implications of plagiarism or duplicate publication. Communication is an essential part of the
scientific endeavour. It is often stated that, “If you cannot communicate
what you have done (verbally and in writing) then you haven’t done it!”
Whether we like it or not, English has become the world-wide language of
communication and a working knowledge is a great, if not essential, part of
preparation to becoming a working scientist. For authors who do not have
this knowledge, a friend or colleague with good English skills is a crucial asset. To write well requires not only language skill, but an understanding of
how to write briefly and concisely in a manner that will inform and interest a
reader who is not a specialist in the author’s narrow sub-field.
What is your editor looking for and what does he do? The information and
anecdotes included here arise from the author’s experience as editor of the
Canadian Journal of Physics (CanJPhys or CJP) published by NRCResearchPress/Canadian Science Publishing. The editor is looking for new
and novel ideas, interpretations or results, which will be of interest to the
readers of the journal. A cover letter outlining why the author chose this
particular journal and why they think the manuscript might be of interest to
the readers is always helpful.
The editor is assisted by Associate Editors who are specialists in the various subfields of physics. They assign papers to referees who are experts
on the topic at hand. The referees, associate editors, and, ultimately, the
editor, are looking for work that contributes significantly to the structure of
the body of knowledge that we, as scientists, are building. It must be new,
interesting to the community served by the journal, and clearly and concisely communicated. The editor and associate editors are usually assisted by
computer software that keeps track of the status of submissions, by software that aids in finding referees, and by software that aids in detecting plagiarism. Two referee reports are usually used, although the associate editor
may occasionally choose to act as one of the referees. It is the prerogative
of the editor and the associate editors to choose to reject a paper without
review if it is more suitable for a more specialized journal or if it is judged to
be obviously unscientific or nonsensical.
NSBP Headquarters
3033 Wilson Blvd. Suite 700
Arlington, VA 22201
[email protected]
www.nsbp.org
My father, also a physicist, taught me when I was a schoolboy, that the
FIRST qualification for being a scientist is ABSOLUTE HONESTY. What
follows from this?
a. You must be totally scrupulous in your references to everything
that has gone before you on the topic you are working on. You should
make references to all recent work that has led up to yours, and, if necessary, indicate one or two works that might contain a comprehensive
set of references leading back to the earliest work on the topic.
b. You cannot use ANY text or data that anyone else has published
without putting it in "quotes" and making an explicit reference. I get
about one case every week at the Canadian Journal of Physics in which
an author has violated this rule.
1. Most common is repeated publishing, i.e. submitting a
paper to us that the author has already published elsewhere, in an effort
to expand his or her list of publications. Google™ is great for discovering this, and we also have plagiarism-detection software that indexes
about 37,000 journals. You will be found out and then will receive a letter
indicating that we will never accept a submission from you again.
2. The worst kind of such misconduct (about one every
month for CanJPhys) is copying the work of someone else. This is just
as easy to detect. In this case the president of the author’s university or
company will get a letter from us showing the evidence without making
any judgement, as the editor cannot act as both “police” and judge in
matters external to the journal, and also as the editor would not want to
be sued in court over any presumed accusations. Any action arising
from this at the author’s institution is strictly a matter of the judgement of
the authorities at that institution. The authors, of course, get the same
letter stating that we will never accept a submission from them again.
Such questions of integrity all have consequences for both the authors
and for the editors. A few months after accepting the editorship of
CanJPhys I attended a talk by a former editor of the American Journal of
Physics. He told of an irate author who came to his office with a revolver. Luckily, the editor was away from the office and his secretary eventually recovered from the fright. Although I have been threatened with
lawsuits after rejecting a paper, and have had angry letters attacking my
integrity, impartiality and even my presumed ethnicity, I am glad to say
that no such violent incident has ever happened to me.
A paper that is ready for submission must be well organized and written
in clear, acceptable English (or French for CanJPhys). It must state:
a. What the problem is that was investigated.
b. Why it is interesting.
c. How the study was carried out.
ONLY THEN do you begin to present results.
In an experimental paper, ERROR BARS are essential, along with general statements about the resolution, accuracy and reliability of your
measurements. In a theoretical paper you must also indicate confidence
limits on your results.
Comparison with previous experimental or theoretical work that motivated your study comes next.
If English or French is not the author’s first language, then it is advisable,
if not essential, to have a colleague who is a native speaker go over your
manuscript.
Writing should be as brief as possible, allowing for understanding by an
informed physicist who is NOT a specialist in the specific sub-field addressed in the paper.
NSBP Headquarters
3033 Wilson Blvd. Suite 700
Arlington, VA 22201
[email protected]
www.nsbp.org
Grammar and spelling are essential to making your paper understood.
For $9.99 you can buy a copy of "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and
White (at Amazon or other booksellers). This will tell you how to eliminate
nonsense and where to put the commas!
In summary, learning to write well and to know how to navigate the seas
of publishing, are essential parts of the education of a 21st century physicist. Some graduate programs include courses on this, which may be
very helpful.
Amusing appendix:
Note from an Editorial Assistant:
“This manuscript was recently rejected for plagiarism and the senior author claims to have asked the corresponding author to withdraw the paper
(a month after the manuscript was already rejected) but the corresponding
author claims that the paper was submitted without his knowledge (even
though he is listed as submitting author which means he is saying someone logged in as him). A quick check of the audit trail chows all co-authors
were e-mailed when the manuscript was submitted so something does not
add up.
I won't spend too much time on this other than to try and get the authors
from using our office as a battleground because the fact remains that the
submisison was plagiarized and it is irrelevant if they wanted it withdrawn.”
[Reprinted with permission from Physics in Canada, Vol. 17, No. 1, 17 (2016).]
Nineteenth Annual Putcha Venkateswarlu Memorial Lecture The annual lecture series is held to honor the contributions of
(Late) Professor Putcha Venkateswarlu, to the Physics Department at
Alabama A&M University. The Nineteenth Putcha Venkateswarlu Memorial Lecture was given by Jack W. Szostak from the Harvard Medical
School, and the Massachusetts General Hospital, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, on December 2nd, 2016. The title of the talk was "The Origin
of Cellular Life."
NSBP Member named APS Woman Physicist of the Month:
Dr. Jedidah Isler is an award-winning astrophysicist and National Science Foundation Astronomy
& Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow at Vanderbilt
University, where she studies the physics of particle jets emanating from supermassive black holes
at the centers of massive galaxies called blazars.
Dr. Isler’s current research uses simultaneous infrared, optical and gamma-ray observations to
better understand the physics of these blazar jets
by constraining the time-resolved spectral variability.
Read more here.
If you would like to contribute to the NSBP newsletter, please contact [email protected].
NSBP Headquarters
3033 Wilson Blvd. Suite 700
Arlington, VA 22201
[email protected]
www.nsbp.org
The City University of New York Physics Department
The City University of New York is much like its
hometown – energetic, innovative, and very diverse!
It’s also huge, comprising eight four-year colleges
and multiple community colleges. CUNY’s campuses boast a student and faculty population that represents New York’s great cultural and ethnic richness.
The Ph.D. Program in Physics at the Graduate Center is very representative of CUNY in these ways.
With over 100 research-active faculty and around 20
Graduate Center at the City Unistudents graduating every year, it is one of the larger The
versity of New York
physics Ph.D. programs in the country. The Graduate Center faculty operate many laboratories and research departments across
CUNY’s campuses. This large-scale, distributed model allows CUNY physics to
conduct research in many areas, both theoretical and experimental.
Several CUNY departments are regarded as leaders in theoretical physics. For example, the City College of New York is home to luminaries of high energy physics
and string theory like Professors Michio Kaku and Alexios Polychronakos. Prominent researchers in theoretical quantum optics and quantum information also call
CUNY home, for example Professor Chris Gerry at Lehman College and Mark Hillary and Janos Bergou at Hunter College.
CUNY is also a hub of frontline experimental research. For example, Luis Anchordoqui and team have made Lehman College the computing hub for the Auger
Collaboration, which uses the Auger cosmic ray observatory in Argentina to perform experimental tests of high-energy physics. Carlos Meriles’ research group at
City College has made critical breakthroughs on nano-scale spin manipulation,
leading to several recent Nature papers. Advanced battery and fuel cell research
is also big at CUNY, led by Sophia Suarez and her group at Brooklyn College and
by Steve Greenbaum and team at Hunter. Prof. Greenbaum is also the recipient of
the 2016 SACNAS Distinguished Scientist Award for showing unparalleled dedication to excellence in science, mentoring, and teaching.
CUNY boasts world-class experimental facilities. The multi-billion dollar Advanced
Science Research Center (ASRC), part of the CUNY Graduate Center, houses the
most advance experimental research facilities in the Northeast, including those of
nanotechnology, biophysics, and photonics. Meanwhile the College of Staten Island houses the CUNY High Performance Computing Center. This supercomputing
facility is used by researchers across all of CUNY.
CUNY is also home to some excellent astrophysicists, who do much of their research at the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). There, Kelle Cruz of Hunter College and Emily Rice of the College of
Staten Island co-lead with AMNH’s Jackie Faherty a large research group studying
the most numerous (and perhaps strangest) star-like objects in our galaxy - brown
dwarfs. In addition to research, CUNY faculty and students actively participate in
outreach through AMNH’s Hayden Planetarium, where Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson
serves as Director.
CUNY’s impressive scale allows the Ph.D. Program to offer its graduate students
experience in multiple research areas different areas before they select an advisor
and dissertation project. Ph.D. physicists emerging from the CUNY Graduate Center have an unusual breadth of professional experience and a rich network of connections. At the same time, the life experience gained from living in New York City
is just as valuable.
Figure caption (below): Doctoral student Halley Aycock-Rizzo standing next to a 10 tesla magnet in Prof.
Carlos Meriles' laboratory at the newly opened City
College of New York science building, The Center for
Discovery and Innovation. Halley is a recipient of the
2016 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Figure caption (above): A few of the astrophysics researchers in CUNY’s BDNYC group. From the left: David Rodriguez (AMNH post-doc), Eileen Gonzalez and
Paige Gioria (CUNY doctoral students), and Prof. Kelle
Cruz from Hunter College.
NSBP Headquarters
3033 Wilson Blvd. Suite 700
Arlington, VA 22201
[email protected]
www.nsbp.org