APS March Meeting: Global Physics Summit Guide

The APS March Meeting, now unified as the APS Global Physics Summit, is the largest annual academic conference in the physical sciences. Organized by the American Physical Society (APS), the summit brings together over 14,000 physicists, materials scientists, engineers, and students from across the globe to present cutting-edge discoveries, coordinate international research collaborations, and evaluate emerging technologies. Researchers working across experimental and theoretical domains in physics rely on the meeting to disseminate rapid preliminary findings and establish priority for new results.

Historically focused on condensed matter and materials physics, the meeting was expanded by merging the traditional APS March Meeting and April Meeting into a single consolidated event called the APS Global Physics Summit. This unified framework links condensed matter, quantum computing, and biological physics with high-energy particle physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics under one comprehensive scientific program.

What the APS March Meeting and Global Physics Summit Is

The APS March Meeting has historically served as the premier international gathering for condensed matter physics, materials research, polymer science, chemical physics, and quantum information. In recent years, the American Physical Society restructured its flagship gatherings, combining the March Meeting with the April Meeting (which traditionally focused on particle physics, gravitation, astrophysics, and nuclear physics) to create the APS Global Physics Summit.

The summit operates as an open scientific exchange combining invited symposia, contributed oral presentations, focus sessions, poster sessions, and commercial exhibits. Researchers presenting at the meeting share peer-reviewed abstracts that are formally indexed and archived in the Bulletin of the American Physical Society (BAPS). Beyond formal technical sessions, the summit hosts committee meetings, division business sessions, career expos, and networking events for early-career researchers and international delegations.

Who Runs It and What It Covers

The meeting is organized and administered by the American Physical Society, a non-profit membership organization representing over 50,000 physicists worldwide. Scientific programming is coordinated across dozens of APS specialized divisions, topical groups, and forums, including:

Division of Condensed Matter Physics (DCMP): Superconductivity, strongly correlated electron systems, topological insulators, and electronic structure.
Division of Materials Physics (DMP): 2D van der Waals materials, magnetic heterostructures, energy storage interfaces, and synthesis methods frequently utilizing user facilities like the Advanced Photon Source.
Division of Quantum Information (DQI): Superconducting qubits, quantum error correction, trapped-ion computing, and quantum metrology.
Division of Biological Physics (DBP): Biopolymer mechanics, cellular active matter, biomolecular motors, and single-molecule dynamics.
Division of Particles and Fields (DPF) and Division of Nuclear Physics (DNP): High-energy physics, collider phenomenology, and large-scale experimental collaborations similar to those explored in our guide to megacollaboration authorship.
Division of Astrophysics (DAP): Gravitational waves, multi-messenger astronomy, dark matter candidates, and relativistic astrophysics.

With an annual attendance surpassing 14,000 registered participants across in-person and digital formats, the summit represents the highest concentration of physical science research presentations globally. Over 10,000 technical papers, posters, and invited lectures are delivered across five intense days of programming.

How to Search or Use It

Navigating the abstract submission process, registration, and session scheduling requires interacting with official APS meeting platforms. The following seven steps outline the operational workflow for attendees and presenters:

Confirm Membership or Society Reciprocity: Contributed abstracts must be submitted by an active APS member or an active member of a formal reciprocal society (such as the European Physical Society, Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, or Physical Society of Japan). Non-members must secure an active APS member to submit the abstract on their behalf as a co-author or sponsor.
Review Abstract Guidelines and Character Limits: Prepare the abstract draft adhering to APS submission limits. Contributed abstracts are capped at approximately 1,300 characters (plain text body only, excluding title, authors, and institutional affiliations). Invited presentation abstracts are limited to approximately 2,000 characters. Mathematical symbols must follow standard Unicode formatting, avoiding complex unparsed LaTeX macros.
Select Sorting Category and Presentation Modality: Log in to the APS Abstract Submission portal. Authors must designate their primary physics sorting category (e.g., Focus Session topic or General Contributed category). Presenters must also select their presentation format: oral (10-minute presentation followed by a 2-minute question-and-answer period, 12 minutes total) or poster session. Furthermore, submitters must choose a strictly in-person or strictly virtual presentation modality.
Finalize Authorship and Credit Details: Ensure that all collaborating co-authors, institutional affiliations, and funding disclosures are accurate. Many research groups adhere to formal contributor frameworks as detailed in our guide to the author contribution statement. Submit the abstract prior to the autumn deadline (typically late October or early November).
Search the Scientific Program via the Meeting Epitome: Once the program is scheduled in January, access the online APS Meeting Epitome. The Epitome serves as the primary search interface, enabling users to query sessions by sorting category, session time block, presenter surname, keyword, or sponsoring APS unit.
Build a Custom Schedule: Utilize the official mobile app or desktop itinerary builder to construct a personalized daily schedule. Because hundreds of concurrent sessions run in parallel across morning, midday, and afternoon blocks, planning presentation transitions across convention halls is essential.
Access Published Records in BAPS: Following the conference, abstracts are permanently archived in the Bulletin of the American Physical Society (BAPS). Authors can cite their BAPS volume, session identifier, and abstract number in grant reports, or link presentation records alongside repository data per their institutional data availability statement.

Strengths and Limits

Evaluating the APS March Meeting and Global Physics Summit reveals distinct practical advantages and structural challenges for participating researchers.

Strengths:

Unmatched Scientific Scale: Gathers the world’s highest concentration of physical science researchers, offering unparalleled exposure for novel findings and preliminary experimental data.
Premier Venue for Emerging Topics: Flagship focus sessions in quantum computing, neuromorphic hardware, topological physics, and 2D materials often showcase breakthrough results months before journal publication.
Inclusive Contributed Formats: Every eligible APS member who submits an abstract conforming to scope rules is guaranteed a presentation slot (oral or poster), providing early-career scientists with valuable visibility.
Robust Career and Networking Ecosystem: Hosts dedicated job expos, industry recruiter booths, publishing workshops with physical journal editors, and division business sessions.

Limits:

Extreme Session Parallelism: Dozens of concurrent technical sessions run simultaneously across vast convention centers, creating unavoidable schedule conflicts for interdisciplinary researchers.
Strict Oral Time Constraints: Contributed oral presentations are limited to 10 minutes of speaking plus 2 minutes for questions, restricting the depth of technical discussion.
Logistical and Travel Overhead: Navigating conferences with over 14,000 attendees requires significant advance booking for flights and hotels, alongside substantial registration costs for non-subsidized researchers.
Brief Abstract Budget: The 1,300-character ceiling for contributed abstracts prevents detailed methodological descriptions or embedding figures.

Alternatives

Depending on whether a researcher’s primary focus is fundamental condensed matter physics, applied materials chemistry, optics, or quantum computing, several alternative international conferences offer specialized venues. The table below compares the APS Global Physics Summit with leading alternative conferences.

Conference Name	Organizing Body	Typical Attendance	Core Topical Focus	Presentation Format
APS Global Physics Summit (March Meeting)	American Physical Society (APS)	14,000+	Condensed matter, materials, quantum information, particles, astrophysics	12-min contributed talks (10+2), invited symposia, posters
MRS Spring Meeting	Materials Research Society (MRS)	5,000–7,000	Materials chemistry, biomaterials, electronic packaging, metallurgy	15-min contributed talks, symposia, poster sessions
DPG Spring Meeting (SKM)	German Physical Society (DPG)	4,000–6,000	Condensed matter physics, surface science, thin films, polymer physics	15-min contributed talks, plenary lectures, posters
IEEE Quantum Week (QCE)	IEEE Computer Society	1,500–2,500	Quantum software, quantum engineering, algorithms, hardware architectures	Peer-reviewed full papers, workshops, tutorials
CLEO (Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics)	Optica / IEEE Photonics Society	3,500–5,000	Ultrafast lasers, photonics, non-linear optics, quantum optics	Technical paper digests, oral sessions, posters

Frequently Asked Questions

Where will the APS March Meeting 2027 be held?

The 2027 APS Global Physics Summit (the unified successor to the APS March Meeting) will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, from April 11 to April 16, 2027. The primary conference venues include the Georgia World Congress Center, the Omni Atlanta Hotel, and the Signia by Hilton, alongside digital access for remote participants.

How many people attend the APS Global Summit?

More than 14,000 attendees participate in the APS Global Physics Summit each year. The audience includes undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, university faculty, national laboratory scientists, and commercial research leaders from over 100 countries.

When and where is the next annual convention of APS?

The APS holds its primary convention annually each spring. Confirmed dates and host cities for upcoming summit cycles include:

2025: March 16–21, 2025 — Anaheim, California (Anaheim Convention Center)
2026: March 15–20, 2026 — Denver, Colorado (Colorado Convention Center)
2027: April 11–16, 2027 — Atlanta, Georgia (Georgia World Congress Center)
2028: March 12–17, 2028 — Chicago, Illinois (McCormick Place)

What is the schedule for the APS meeting in March 2026?

The 2026 APS Global Physics Summit takes place March 15–20, 2026, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. The schedule includes weekend pre-conference workshops and short courses on March 15, followed by five full days of technical sessions, invited symposia, and exhibits running March 16 through March 20, 2026.

Where is the APS March meeting 2028?

The 2028 APS Global Physics Summit is scheduled for March 12–17, 2028, in Chicago, Illinois. Primary events will be hosted at the McCormick Place convention center complex alongside connected hotels including the Marriott Marquis Chicago and Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.

What are the abstract guidelines for the APS March meeting?

Contributed abstracts for the APS March Meeting / Global Physics Summit are subject to a strict character limit of approximately 1,300 characters for the body text, excluding title and authors. Invited abstracts are allowed up to 2,000 characters. Submissions must specify an official sorting category, indicate either an oral presentation (12 minutes total: 10 minutes speaking, 2 minutes questions) or a poster presentation, and declare an in-person or virtual format. Submitters must be active APS members or members of recognized reciprocal societies.

Sources

American Physical Society. “APS Global Physics Summit Overview and Meeting Framework.” Official conference portal. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://summit.aps.org/
American Physical Society. “Abstract Submission Guidelines and Presentation Policies.” APS Global Physics Summit attendee documentation. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://summit.aps.org/attend/abstracts/
American Physical Society. “Future APS Meetings Calendar: Dates and Locations (2025–2028).” Accessed November 7, 2026. https://www.aps.org/events/
Bulletin of the American Physical Society (BAPS). “Scientific Program Epitome and Meeting Archives.” Accessed November 7, 2026. https://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/