Conferences for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities
APS Conferences for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP), are professional conference events tailored for undergraduate physics majors. CU*iP supports undergraduate students in advancing their education and careers by providing a professional conference experience to build network connections with other students, mentors and professional women and gender minorities in physics.
These conferences offer the opportunity to connect with mentors, explore educational and career paths, and network with fellow physics students to share knowledge and experiences.
Who should apply/attend
These conferences encourage applicants from undergraduate physics, engineering and science majors, specifically:
- Undergraduates 18 and older currently enrolled in college/university
- Students from backgrounds traditionally not well represented in physics
- First generation college students
- Undergraduates who have not previously attended a conference
Save the date
The 2026 conference will be March 14-15 in Denver, Colorado
How to apply
- You will need to make a free APS account to apply.
- Applications open November 10th
- You should contact the CU*iP coordinator Rebecka Tumblin if you plan to attend or have any questions about how to apply.
- You will need a REAL ID or a Passport to travel.
Students who are interested in presenting research at the conference can take part in a poster session and should plan to bring a poster and submit an abstract with their application.
History of under-representation
One of the most famous conferences in physics is Solvay. We can see images of the attendees from the Solvay conference in 1911 versus 2011. Seventeen of the twenty-two attendees from 1911 would go on to win Nobel Prizes. In 100 years, the number of women attendees has remained stagnant with very little change for women in physics over the last 100 years. This suggests a systemic problem with underrepresentation.
CUW*P was founded with the goal of increasing the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to women and gender minorities. Just over 20 percent of bachelor’s degrees in physics were awarded to women in 2017, compared to almost 35 percent of bachelor’s degrees in all STEM fields. Through a weekend of plenary sessions, workshops, and networking events, CUWiP seeks to provide undergraduate women with a supportive community and tools they need to be successful in physics. The number of women earning degrees in physics has been steadily increasing since the inception of CUWiP.
