The Physics Society of Iran was created in 1932. Between the years 1932 and 1942 a few physicists, with the guidance of Dr. Hesabi, would gather and hold sessions called “The Group of Physics and Chemistry”, in the Physics Lab of the College of Science of Daneshsara ye Aali. This group’s activity was quite limited and often interrupted and gradually fainted with time, even though the number of the country’s physicists was growing since 1942.


(Professors and graduates of Physics and Chemistry, Daneshsara ye Aali, June 1940. First row, seated from right to left: Dr. Rezazadeh Shafagh, Dr. Rowshan, Dr. Sheybani, Dr. Issa Sedigh A’lam, Dr. Mahmood Hesabi, Mr. Taghi Fatemi. Second row, right to left: Mr. Mahmoodian, Lab technician, Dr. Shirvani, Dr. Jenab, Mr. Sa’atchi. Third row: Mr. Farhang, Mr. Hatam.)

Between the years 1960 and 1970, thanks to the strivings of a group of physicists and the stimulus of The Ministry of Culture and Higher Education, the first steps were taken to establish the Physics Society of Iran(PSI). To this end, twelve physicists who formed the founders’ board of the PSI, along with Dr. Azad as their supervisor, wrote the PSI’s statute, containing an introduction, 42 articles and 9 amendments. The statute was signed by the members of the board on May 15, 1963. This board was composed of Ali Ashghar Azad, Ardeshir Ardalan, Parviz Asadi, Byuk Alasti, Mashalah Pourmansouri, Yusof Sabouti, Kamalodin Jenab, Kambiz Sina, Mostafa Shahrtash, Mahmood Arabof, Mohsen Alavinejad, Nosratollah Vahedi Faridi. This groups’ endeavors resulted in the first “Seminar of Teaching Physics in Universities and Higher Education Institutions” headed by Dr. Hesabi. At the end of this seminar, the first General Assembly of PSI took place and the members of the board of directors were elected (March 12th, 1972). The PSI, at the time, had four committees, those of education, human resources, finance and administration, and research. Each committee contained three members and a reporter. The latter was in charge of reporting the activities of the related committee. With the help and support of PSI, the first science and research conference of Physics was held in Sepah Bank Club(Bashgahe bank e Sepah) in Tehran. Also, a year after that, in March of 1973, the second conference of Physics in science and research, which took two days, was held at Melli University (today called, Shahid Beheshti University). In this conference, 23 research papers on different topics in the field of Physics were presented. In 1975, PSI affiliated itself with the Council of Iranian Scientific Associations (CISA). During the Islamic revolution and the first few years after that, PSI’s activities ceased. During this time, some interested physicists felt the necessity of creating a center where professors and education and research institutions across the country would connect. Their endeavors led to the restoration of PSI. At the first Physics conference after the revolution, held in 1985 in Tehran, which came together by the endeavors of  The Center of University Publishing (Markaz e Nashr e Daneshgahi), a committee, supervised by Dr. Reza Mansouri, was assigned to follow up with the affairs of the ASI and the General Assembly. Thereby, at the Physics conference of the following year(1986), the first post-revolution General Assembly of the PSI was gathered.

Aims and Objectives of PSI:

The PSI strives to:
a.    Establish and strengthen science and research related relationships between physicists and academic members of the country's institutions of higher education in the field of physics.
b.    Upgrade the standards of teaching physics across the country.
c.    Update and increase the knowledge and skills of physics faculty members.
d.    Introduce the latest teaching methods to physics instructors.
e.    Cooperate with appropriate authorities in a continuous research, evaluation, and revision of the Physics programs and textbooks, and facilitate the usage of scientific terms in order to improve the teaching of physics.
f.    Cooperate with scientific institutions and international physics societies in other countries in order to foster international collaboration and to exchange information about the latest advances in the field of research and education in physics.
g.    Publish journals containing recent developments in science and scientific news related to physics.
h.    Informing the international community of the latest developments in physics education and research in Iran by publishing research papers and theses.
i.    Establishing regular contacts among physicists across the country to promote sharing and exchanging ideas about physics education methods and know-how.
j.    Organizing scientific and educational conferences, seminars, and workshops (periodically or annually).
k.    Honoring distinguished physics researchers and educators of the country who have made significant contributions to the advancement of sciences and also those who have rendered outstanding services in advancing the objectives of PSI.
l.    Honoring world’s celebrated physicists.  
m.    Engaging in various types of studies and surveys that may promote the advancement of physics in the country and submitting the outcome in the form of proposal to the related authorities.
n.    Establish and strengthen connections between physicists and industries across the country.