Professor of theoretical physics Mairi Sakellariadou has been elected as the next president of the European Physical Society (EPS). She will lead the organisation from 2024. The EPS aims to strengthen the position of the natural sciences in Europe. Sakellariadou is a professor at King’s College London and part-time lecturer at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at VUB.
The EPS comprises national physics societies from 42 countries and has around 3,200 individual members. Sakellariadou told the news site of King’s College London, which announced the appointment, that she is aiming to tackle current problems. “We are facing environmental and economic issues, where science can help us to make the right choices. Among the most pressing are preserving our environment and Europe’s economic independence.” She also wants to strengthen the scientific representation of European countries with lower visibility and increase the representation of women in physics.
Professor Sakellariadou is of Greek origin and specialises in cosmology, including the physics of the early universe. Her research includes various aspects of theoretical physics, cosmology, classical and quantum gravity, particle physics, astrophysics and non-commutative geometry. She was part of the team that first directly observed gravitational waves and confirmed Einstein’s general theory of relativity.