CUWiP
Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics
APS Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP)

Host a Conference

The 2025 Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics will be held January 2025 at multiple sites throughout the United States and Canada. Canadian host applications should be submitted to cap@uottawa.ca.

Conference Overview

The primary goal of the Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) is to increase recruitment and retention of undergraduate women and gender minorities in physics by:

  1. Communicating the breadth of education and career paths open to physics majors
  2. Disseminating information and advice on applying for summer research, graduate school and professional employment
  3. Providing opportunities to share experiences, advice and ideas with women at different stages of their education or career paths

The conferences are typically a mix of presentations, workshops, panels, poster sessions, tours and social events designed to maximize participation and interaction among women and gender minorities in physics. Typically, sites are able to accommodate 100 - 250 undergraduate attendees. In the past, some programs have included targeted outreach and other special elements, such as recruitment of or programs for high school, community college or underrepresented minority (URM) students, or tours of national labs or industry facilities). If you plan to host such a program, please include information on this in your proposal. All conferences should include in their schedule a 90-minute keynote address that is webcast from one of the host institutions.

The conferences provide an opportunity for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs at the host institution to participate in the organization of a conference. Please note that planning a CUWiP is a major undertaking, and sites should recognize that faculty and/or staff involvement has been vital for the success of the conferences.

Although CUWiPs are primarily aimed at declared physics majors, the conferences are also able to recruit physics majors by energizing and equipping CUWiP participants to be ambassadors for the major when they return to their home institution. The national organizing committee emphasizes recruiting participants who may otherwise not be aware of the opportunities that a physics major provides, such as community college students in STEM fields who are interested in transferring to a four-year college, or first-generation college students. 

Please see the web pages for previous conferences in the series for links to sample programs, FAQ pages, etc. You may also request access to the APS CUWiP wiki, which contains information from past conference planning. Email women@aps.org for access to the wiki.

Application Content

Proposals consist of three parts.

Budget: Your tentative budget should include expenses and expected resources, such as, target number of local participants and out-of-area participants you plan to host; all local anticipated expenses: food, accommodation, room charges, local transportation, expenses for speakers, panelists and workshop presenters, tours, etc.; and financial support you expect to be able to raise locally (e.g., anticipated commitments from your institution, donations from local sponsors).Refer to the sample budget as a guide, and note that in the past, the cost/student has ranged from $300 to $500 per student. In the past several years, APS has been able to support each host site with $150 per student to partially cover local expenses, through our NSF and DOE grants.

Sample Budget format_pdf

Proposal: Includes your plan to recruit undergraduate applicants, including members of underrepresented minorities; tentative conference program; available facilities for your conference, including capacity of facilities — i.e., the maximum number of student participants you can accommodate, as well as your target number of participants; participation in previous conferences (if any) by members of the organizing committee; statement of commitment from members of the local organizing committee, including a discussion of workload distribution among students, faculty, and staff; and partnerships among nearby institutions, including community colleges (these are encouraged).

Letters: A letter of support from your department chair that outlines the departmental support (financial and staff) as well as the names of any other faculty members engaged in the organization of the conference. A letter from the organizing committee chair (or co-chairs) indicating commitment to send a representative to meetings of the National Organizing Committee (these include monthly phone calls and a yearly Convocation at the American Center for Physics.) Additional letters describing any funding or support already committed may also be included.

Selection Criteria

Potential CUWiP host site applications are expected to demonstrate a clear commitment to the goals of the CUWiP program, both on the part of the institution and members of the local organizing committee. We expect involvement from both faculty and students. Potential host sites are also expected to have a plan for broad recruitment that supports the APS vision of increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in physics.

The selection committee will also consider geographic coverage, with the intent to provide broad access for attendees. Preference will be given to sites that have not recently hosted a CUWiP. Selection criteria include (in no particular order): faculty and student involvement, institutional commitment, the recruitment plan, budget, facilities, partnerships, and proposed program.

Timeline

If you or your institution is interested in hosting CUWiP, please contact us directly at women@aps.org with any questions or concerns. All interested applicants must submit a formal proposal to women@aps.org by November 3, 2023.

The site selection committee aims to notify applicants by mid-December. Coordinators from the selected sites will be encouraged to attend a future conference to learn more about APS CUWiP.

Host a 2025 CUWiP Conference

Applications for the 2025 CUWiP close on Friday, November 3, 2023.

Please email women@aps.org for more information.


NSF logoUS Department of Education logo These conferences are supported in part by the National Science Foundation (PHY-1346627, PHY-1622510, and PHY-2012033) and by the Department of Energy (DE-SC0011076). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the Department of Energy.