Policy statements
APS policy statements are crafted through a meticulous review process that ensures APS leaders' and members' voices are heard, and all statements must be approved by the APS Council of Representatives. APS policy statements receive a statement number that reflects the year in which they were first adopted, followed by their numbering in that given year (e.g. the fifth statement adopted in 2018 would be numbered as 2018.5). The review process for any statement may be started at any time if deemed necessary by the Panel on Public Affairs, and at least once every five years.
Education
The Council of the American Physical Society opposes proposals to require “equal time” for presentation in public school science classes of the biblical story of creation and the scientific theory of evolution.
The American Physical Society (APS) calls upon local, state, and federal policy makers, educators and schools to provide every student access to high-quality science instruction including physics and physical science concepts at all grade levels and the opportunity for all students to take at least one year of high-quality high school physics.
Physics education research is pursued in physics departments at many leading undergraduate, graduate and research institutions.
An understanding of science and scientific methods is a requirement for the workforce of the 21st Century as well as for informed citizenship.
High-quality and accessible science education is essential for an informed and well-functioning society.
Degrees in physics have proved to be, and will continue to be, an excellent platform for success across a wide range of career options, including in the private sector, government, academia, and K-12 education.
The American Physical Society calls upon the nation’s four-year colleges and universities and their physics and astronomy departments to provide or facilitate access to research experiences for all undergraduate physics and astronomy majors.
To ensure the long-term health of our discipline, the American Physical Society considers it vital that graduate physics education be available to those with the potential to make long-term scientific contributions.
APS is committed to quality education and calls on physics departments and individual physicists to undertake a scholarly and holistic approach to evaluation of teaching effectiveness.
Ethics and values
APS supports the principles of Open Access to the maximum extent possible that allows the Society to maintain peer-reviewed high-quality journals, secure archiving, and the Society's long‑term financial stability, to the benefit of the scientific enterprise.
The American Physical Society applauds its members who have helped ensure that public policy decisions are informed by sound scientific analysis.
As citizens of the global community of science, physicists share responsibility for its welfare. The success of the scientific enterprise rests upon two ethical pillars: The first of them is the obligation to tell the truth, which includes avoiding fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism; the second is the obligation to treat people well, which prohibits abuse of power, encourages fair and respectful relationships with colleagues, subordinates, and students and eschews bias, whether implicit or explicit.
The American Physical Society (APS) supports full participation in physics by everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity, or gender expression.
APS commends its members who engage with the public on matters related to physics.
The American Physical Society (APS) affirms its commitment to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment to all physicists regardless of their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
Human rights
The American Physical Society affirms its commitment to the protection of the rights of all people, including freedom from discrimination based on sex, gender identity, national and ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, and additional characteristics.
Physicists must make the field more inclusive to ensure a robust future for science and technology in the United States, drawing on the many varied voices and talents in our diverse society.
Science transcends national boundaries and international scientific partnerships are essential for breakthrough discoveries that advance science and benefit all people.
National policy
It is essential that major scientific facilities projects included in the federal budget be subjected to the normal process of proposal submission and impartial, expert review.
The American Physical Society has a long-standing interest in the establishment of a technically sound national energy policy.
The American Physical Society urges the adoption of policies and technologies to conserve and strengthen the U.S. helium supply.
On September 10, 1996, the United Nations overwhelmingly approved the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), a treaty ending all nuclear testing, of any yield, at any location, for all time.
Department of Defense investments in research and development have paid very high significant dividends since the end of the Second World War.
National security and economic vitality critically depend on science and technology and strongly profit from contributions of foreign-born scientists and engineers.
The American Physical Society reaffirms its April 1997 statement that "fully informed technical studies have concluded continued testing is not required to retain confidence in the safety and reliability of the remaining nuclear weapons in the United States' stockpile."
Science, engineering and technology are increasingly important components of the issues that come before the U.S. Congress.
Federal investments by agencies such as DOE, NSF, NASA, DOD and NIST are indispensable to the vitality of our nation’s research programs in physics and the physical sciences.
The American Physical Society understands that there may be economies and synergies that would be realized in moving the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) and its associated laboratories from the Department of Energy to another agency, such as the Department of Defense, or making it a stand-alone executive agency reporting to the President.
The Council of the American Physical Society strongly advocates that the United States implement policies that promote conservation, efficiency, sustainability, resilience and innovation throughout the global energy system; make sustained and broad-based investments in research and development of long-lasting reduced-carbon and carbon-neutral energy cycles and technologies; and support research into means of reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases and heat-trapping emissions in the atmosphere.
Treaties and other international agreements that limit or prohibit the development, acquisition, testing, or deployment of certain types of weapons can make important contributions to national and international security.
The American Physical Society affirms the scientific consensus that Earth’s climate is changing, posing serious risks to society and the environment.
The electromagnetic spectrum is a finite and important societal and scientific resource.
The American Physical Society recommends that technical assessments of strategic missile defense systems be based on a rigorous testing program under realistic conditions and involve regular independent review, as is the case with other military systems.
The open exchange of scientific information, international collaborations, and the contributions of foreign-born scientists have been critical to the success of U.S. science and technology research.
The American Physical Society supports measures to minimize the risk that nuclear weapons will be used.
International Affairs
APS reaffirms its commitment to maintaining open dialogue and promoting cooperation among scientists throughout the world.
The American Physical Society (APS) advocates for the open communication of results from fundamental scientific research within the constraints imposed by legitimate ethical, legal, and security considerations.
Archived statements
APS makes recently archived statements available in the interest of transparency. For more information about archived statements, please contact the APS Government Affairs team.
View recently archived statements
Board statements
Unlike APS statements, APS Board statements can be crafted and adopted more quickly. They are a response to current events and remain active for one year. Board statements are generated through a collaborative process involving the APS Board, Council, Panel on Public Affairs, Office of Public Affairs, and Physics Policy Committee. If an APS Board statement addresses an enduring position of the physics community, it may then go through the process of becoming an APS statement.
Based on extensive feedback from our membership, APS Board statements are limited to issues that impact our community in a professional or academic capacity, and to issues where scientific evidence or expertise can inform the public or benefit society. While we seek to assist physicists affected by world events through our various programs, APS will not generally make public statements on these topics.
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