The Society of Physics Students (SPS) is a professional association explicitly designed for students and their advisers. Membership, through collegiate chapters, is open to anyone interested in physics. The only requirement for membership is that you be interested in physics. Besides physics majors, our members include majors in astronomy, chemistry, computer science, engineering, geology, mathematics, medicine, and other fields. SPS is open to everyone.
Within SPS is housed Sigma Pi Sigma, the national physics honor society, which elects members on the basis of outstanding academic achievement. This unique two-in-one society operates within the American Institute of Physics, an umbrella organization for ten other professional science societies.
Purpose and Mission
SPS is a chapter based society that exists to help students transform themselves into contributing members of the professional community. Traditional coursework develops only one range of skills. Other skills needed to flourish professionally include effective communication and personal interactions, leadership experience, establishing a personal network of contacts, presenting scholarly work in professional meetings and journals, research experiences, and outreach services to the campus and local communities. Through its members, advisers, chapters, and leadership, SPS enables national initiatives and local impacts within the community. SPS supports students, advisers, and departments to improve the overall community.
SPS wants to support every undergraduate student with an interest in physics and astronomy excel. SPS seeks to assist every undergraduate department help students succeed. Locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, the SPS offers the opportunity for these important enrichments to the student’s experience.
We are SPS. We are Sigma Pi Sigma. And, we support people.
The Society of Physics Students was formed in 1968 with a constitution that combined its two "parent" organizations, The AIP Student Sections and the Sigma Pi Sigma honor society. SPS now has over 820 chapters on campuses across the country. The associated honor society, Sigma Pi Sigma, now exists in about 575 of those chapters with over 100,000 inductees throughout its history.