The Instituto de Física Teórica UAM-CSIC (IFT) has a strong emphasis on training master and PhD students. IFT senior members supervise PhD students initiating them into research in the field, but more generally into independent thinking and problem solving. Many of these PhD students continue their research careers, either in Theoretical Physics, or in other areas of Science or Education. Others move away from Academia, transferring their expertise to bank and investment companies, software development, data science, engineering, outreach, etc. In addition to this coverage of surprisingly different activities, they also have a substantial spread at the geographical level.

Activities carried out by IFT Alumni stem at least partially from seeds instilled during their PhD years at the IFT, and therefore IFT Alumni can be regarded as natural ambassadors of the main IFT characteristic features: a thirst of knowledge and understanding up to the most fundamental levels, pursued by independent and novel ways of thinking, and supported by hard work and professional integrity. 

IFT Alumni are an important part of IFT history, just as IFT is an important part of each former student’s history. It makes sense to keep a joint memory of these common roots, which is why the IFT Alumni Club was created, gathering PhD students starting from April 1996, when IFT became an UAM Institute. The aim of this club is to strengthen the bond between our former PhD students and today’s IFT members. 

With this first IFT Alumni Event, we go one step further in promoting the link between IFT and its Alumni, and we invite them to IFT to tell us about their careers after they completed their PhD. We want to hear first-hand from them how their professional career developed, both for those currently inside and outside the Academia, as well as their current activity and its link to physics. We want to know their challenges and successes, their highs and lows and, above all, what their time at IFT meant for them for what was going to come next. 

The workshop will take place in-person at Salón de Actos CFTMAT, Campus de Cantoblanco, Madrid. You can find directions here. There is no registration fee, but in order to attend you must register here.

Speakers:

Organizers:

• Fernando Marchesano

• Agustín Sabio Vera

• Ángel Uranga

• Mónica Vergel

CODE OF CONDUCT: Participants to the conference agree to abide by the IFT Code of Conduct (to be found here) at all times during their stay in Madrid -- including social events in the context of the conference. Harassment of any form will not be tolerated. Cases can be reported anonymously at the IFT EDI mailbox  and will receive immediate attention from the IFT EDI committee.