Research - AIP.ORG
Research
Research
AIP Research in History, Policy, and Statistics
History
Event
Dava Sobel, “At Mme. Curie’s Lab: Radioactivity and a Place for Women in Science”
Join us in Washington, DC, on May 27
History
Event
David DeVorkin, “The Quiet Genius of George Carruthers”
Video now available
Research
Guide
Visa and Immigration Policy
Explore recent changes and their effects on students and researchers
Statistics
Data Graphic
Who’s Hiring Physics PhDs
Collections Spotlight: John Hopfield on Neural Networks
Watch a 1983 presentation by Hopfield on work that now informs AI algorithms and garnered him a share of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics.
2026 AIP Research Agenda
2026 AIP Research Agenda
A core component of AIP’s overall Research Strategy is the implementation of an Annual Research Agenda. Each year, AIP staff will work with leaders from AIP’s 10 Member Societies and AIP’s Board of Directors to establish and publish a research agenda that identifies three to seven topics on which we will concentrate our research activities for that year. For the
2026 AIP Research Agenda
, our research team will be focusing on five key topics.
Our Collections
Our Collections
Located in College Park, Maryland, AIP’s Niels Bohr Library & Archives is a repository and clearinghouse for information in the history of the physical sciences. In-house holdings include an outstanding collection of textbooks, monographs and related publications; over
30,000 photographs and other images
; over
2,000 oral histories
with many of the outstanding figures in the fields that we cover; and
archival records of AIP and its Member Societies
along with other archival records and personal papers of a small number of scientists.
Support Our Work
Your support brings the past of the physical sciences into a vibrant dialogue with the present.
Donate
Knowledge Resources
Knowledge Resources
AIP Research resources provide critical information about the development, governance, and vitality of the physical sciences enterprise. These include data covering demographics and career paths, trackers covering US science
budgets
and
legislation
, and
historical exhibits
interviews
, and
events
Funding and Community-Building Opportunities
Funding and Community-Building Opportunities
AIP funds historical research and archival preservation activities through our
Grants-in-Aid
and
Grants to Archives
programs. In addition, AIP organizes and provides travel funding for a
conference series
for early-career historians whose research focuses on the physical sciences.
Research News and Collections Highlights from AIP
History
The AIP Oppenheimer interviews: An expert perspective
April 17, 2026
AIP
Article
J. Robert Oppenheimer Oral Histories Still Spark Discussion to This Day
APR 15, 2026
Ex Libris Universum
Article
The Future of Archives of Science: An Interview with Polina Ilieva
APR 15, 2026
Ex Libris Universum
Article
Colonial Calcutta as a Nexus of Scientific Development
APR 13, 2026
History
Workshop program: Postwar Physics across Scales, Munich, April 9–10
April 10, 2026
Ex Libris Universum
Article
Access to Oppenheimer, In His Own Words
APR 08, 2026
Ex Libris Universum
Article
The Life and Legacy of Hertha Sponer
APR 06, 2026
History
“Why would you expect me to remember that?”: Thomas Kuhn and the uses of oral history
April 3, 2026
Ex Libris Universum
Article
Into the Gloria Lubkin papers: A behind-the-scenes look at her reporting in China for Physics Today
APR 02, 2026
History
AIP History March Update
March 2026
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Image Credits
NASA, photo of George Carruthers and others with the Lunar Surface Ultraviolet Camera | AIP, “Who’s Hiring Physics PhDs?” Jan. 25, 2024 | 1983 Meeting of the Corporate Associates of the American Institute of Physics, John J. Hopfield, “Collective Properties of Neuronal Networks” | Former AIP Niels Bohr Library location in New York City, AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives | AIP history director Spencer Weart demonstrates computerized Niels Bohr Library & Archives resources, AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives | Participants at the Fifth Early-Career Conference at the Niels Bohr Archive in Copenhagen, Denmark, photo courtesy of Christian Joas