IOP Publishing (IOPP) and TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology have renewed their longstanding business relationship for another three years: Researchers at the 80 German institutions that participate in the TIB Consortium, continue to benefit from unlimited open access (OA) publishing opportunities in 53 hybrid and 22 fully OA journals from the IOPP portfolio.

Projections show that over 2,000 articles by affiliated researchers will be made freely available for the global scientific community to read and re-use under the agreement, increasing the visibility of and accessibility to crucial research results. Access and usage rights for the paywalled content also remain part of the deal for researchers and students at participating institutions. 

“We are happy to have concluded an agreement that allows physicists to continue publishing their work open access in the renowned IOPP journal portfolio without financial or administrative barriers. Furthermore, we appreciate IOPP’s willingness to meet central demands of the German scholarly community, such as implementing a more transparent pricing structure based on objective criteria and agreeing on researcher-friendly contract terms”, comments Dr. Irina Sens, Deputy Director of TIB.

Julian Wilson, Chief Sales Officer at IOPP adds: “The renewal of our agreement with TIB marks an important milestone in the strong partnership we’ve developed together. It reflects the trust we have built over many years and our shared commitment to delivering high quality services that support German institutions and the researchers they serve, now and into the future.” 

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Headlining the event is Professor Shoba Shukla, one of India’s most prominent physicists, who will share how her research on high‑performance sensors and photonic devices is contributing to solutions ranging from clean water and desalination to climate‑resilient infrastructure in India and beyond. 

As chair of the event, Professor Shukla – a globally recognised leader in nanophotonics and advanced materials, and a member of the Editorial Board of IOP Publishing’s Journal of Physics: Photonics – will also bring together senior women physicists from academia and industry. Speakers include Kaveri Hukku, CEO of ATOS Instruments, Asima Pradhan from IIT Kanpur and Urbasi Sinha from the Raman Research Institute, who will share their insights and experiences. Together, they will explore difficulties faced by women in higher education, practical strategies for overcoming them and emerging opportunities in physical science research. 

“This webinar brings to life the lived experiences of women physicists – including my own. We will share our journeys, the biases we have encountered and the practical ways we have navigated and overcome persistent challenges. Creating space for our stories is vital if we are serious about advancing equity and inclusion in science. When women are given a seat at the table and their expertise is valued, their research can deliver powerful real‑world impact, clearly demonstrating the societal benefits of inclusive research cultures,”  says Dr. Shobha Shukla, Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.

The webinar, Celebrating women in physics in India, is hosted by IOP Publishing and takes place on 23 April at 12pm IST. It is free to attend and delegates can register at: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7901113001684925788 

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This new three-year ‘read and publish’ agreement marks IOPP’s first national level arrangement in Turkey and provides authors across all the country’s 236 universities with unlimited open access publishing in IOPP journals and select partner titles. The agreement significantly broadens opportunities for researchers to share their work openly and boosts the global visibility of research produced by institutions throughout Turkey. 

Mehmet Mirat Satoğlu, Director of TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM says: “In parallel with the developments in the global academic publishing system, this Transformative Agreement for open access signed between TÜBİTAK and IOP Publishing represents an important step in supporting the transformation of Turkey’s scholarly publishing output. 

Through this agreement, our researchers will not only gain access to high-quality publications from around the world but will also have the opportunity to increase the visibility of their work by publishing it as open access in IOPP journals. We believe that this collaboration will make significant contributions to Turkey’s alignment with open science policies and to enhancing the international impact of our research outputs.” 

Julian Wilson, Chief Sales Officer at IOPP says: “High‑quality research is thriving across Turkey and its visibility on the global stage continues to grow. TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM’s sustained support for open access plays a crucial role in enabling that progress. Through this nationwide agreement, we’re proud to help ensure that researchers across the country can share their findings openly and maximise their contribution to the wider scientific community.” 

For more information check out IOPP’s dedicated support page.

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The course has been developed in direct response to demand from the physical and environmental science communities. In 2024, IOP Publishing released a major study analysing data sharing practices across more than 30,000 published articles. It showed that although more researchers want to share their data, many still encounter a wide range of practical, ethical and technical barriers. 

The course provides clear, hands‑on guidance to making research data openly available and demonstrates how strong data practices can enhance the visibility, credibility and impact of researchers’ work. Areas of focus include ethical considerations, repository selection, licensing and long‑term data stewardship. 

Delivered entirely online and free of charge, the course enables learners to progress at their own pace, with content presented in bite-size modules. Participants receive a course certificate when passing all modules. Since the course is offered through the IOP Excellence training portal, learners can also take the popular, free Peer Review Excellence training which is offered through the same platform. 

Laura Feetham-Walker, Reviewer Engagement Manager and lead course developer says: “We listen carefully to our community, and this course was developed because researchers told us what they needed. Open data is essential to scientific progress, supporting more transparent, reusable and trustworthy research. Our training offers researchers practical support so they can share their data with confidence, meet growing funder expectations and support greater transparency.”  

IOP Publishing has long recognised the critical role that open data plays in strengthening research. Since 2022, it has required authors to include data availability statements outlining whether and how the data supporting their research can be accessed. It strengthened that policy in 2023 so that researchers who cannot share their data must explain why. More recently, in 2025, it piloted mandatory public data‑sharing in two Environmental Research journals further reinforcing its commitment to openness, reproducibility and trust in science. 

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This year’s recipients were selected from about 35,000 reviewers who submitted reports for IOPP journals in 2025. Journal editors evaluated nominees based on the volume, timeliness, and quality of their reviews. 

The awardees span 74 countries, reflecting the global nature of the peer review community. The largest groups of recipients came from China, the United States, India, Italy and Germany, with China accounting for nearly a third of all awardees. Notably, 10% of this year’s award winners were based in lower middle-income countries or territories, underscoring the breadth and diversity of expertise contributing to IOPP journals. 

Laura Feetham-Walker, Reviewer Engagement Manager at IOP Publishing, said: “High quality peer review is essential to maintaining trust in science as it safeguards the quality and integrity of academic work. From all of us at IOP Publishing, I’d like to thank this year’s Outstanding Reviewer Award winners, whose thoughtful and rigorous reviews help advance scientific discovery and strengthen the communities we serve.” 

Supporting the wider peer review community, IOPP offers IOPP’s Peer Review Excellence certification programme—the world’s first free peer review training and certification initiative dedicated to the physical sciences. The programme combines digital and in-person learning and offers participants the opportunity to review a manuscript in real time under the guidance of experienced IOPP editors and reviewers. In 2025, more than 1500 reviewers strengthened their peer review skills through this initiative. 

Discover the 2025 Outstanding Reviewers here.

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To mark this centennial milestone, the Department of Physics will host the IOP China Scientific Advisory Board Annual Gathering, followed by a one‑day international workshop on Progress in Quantum and Machine Learning (PQML). Researchers from across the globe will gather in Beijing to explore the most rapidly developing interdisciplinary fields at the intersection of quantum science, artificial intelligence and computational physics. 

Keynote presentations and panel discussions with leading international experts will include: 

• Qikun Xue — Southern University of Science and Technology, China 

• Dongling Deng — Tsinghua University, China 

• Shi Jin — Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China 

• Chaoyang Lu-University of Science and Technology of China 

• Alexey Melnikov — Terra Quantum AG, Switzerland 

• Wolfgang Mauerer — Technical University of Applied Sciences Regensburg, Germany 

• Mauro Paternostro — Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom 

• Shengyu Zhang — Tencent, China 

Founded in 1926 under the leadership of renowned physicist Prof. Yeh Chi‑Sun (叶企孙), Tsinghua University’s Department of Physics has nurtured generations of scientists who have made significant contributions to China’s scientific and technological development. Today, the department is recognised as a world‑class centre of research spanning condensed matter physics, quantum information science, astrophysics, nuclear physics and many other areas. 

To celebrate and share this important body of work, a dedicated page has been created to feature all the activities and key research from the Department of Physics, highlighting some of its most significant scientific achievements and ongoing contributions to the advancement of the discipline. 

Professor Wenhui Duan, from Tsinghua University says: “We are delighted to welcome IOP Publishing and the international community of PQML researchers as we celebrate this important milestone. Our legacy is built on innovation, curiosity and an enduring commitment to discovery—a tradition we aim to carry forward for the next 100 years. Together, we have the joint vision to foster global dialogue, accelerate innovation and define the future of physics on the world stage.” 

Emmie Yang, Head of Publishing for the APAC region at IOP Publishing says: “It is an honour to celebrate this remarkable moment in Tsinghua’s history together. Tsinghua researchers have made extraordinary contributions to physics and interdisciplinary science and many of them have published their outstanding work in IOP Publishing journals. These joint events deepen our collaboration and reflect our shared commitment to supporting global scientific collaboration and its vibrant scientific community.” 

To register of the event, please follow this link.

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New research reveals that ‘foundation models’ trained on vast, general time‑series data may be able to forecast river flows accurately, even in regions with little or no local hydrological records. The approach could improve flood warnings, drought planning and water-resource management in parts of the world where monitoring data is limited.

The study, published in Machine Learning: Earth, was conducted by researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and Hydrotify LLC.

In many parts of the world river gauges are sparse, records are incomplete and monitoring networks are difficult to maintain. Without long, reliable datasets, communities often have little warning before floods, limited insight into drought risk and fewer tools to guide water allocation and infrastructure planning. As climate pressures grow, the ability to produce useful forecasts without relying on extensive local records is becoming increasingly important.

The research team evaluated several advanced AI models known as time-series foundational models (TSFMs). Originally trained using time series data from sectors such as energy, transport and climate, these TSFMs were tested on a large US river dataset comprising more than 500 basins. One model in particular, called Sundial, performed nearly as well as a long-short term memory (LSTM) model that had been fully trained using decades of river flow records. The AI models showed their strongest performance in basins dominated by strong seasonal patterns, such as snowmelt‑driven flow.

Commenting on the findings, Dr. Alexander Sun from the University of Texas at Austin and Hydrotify LLC, said: “Reliable water information is essential for communities everywhere, but many regions still lack the long-term records needed to support traditional forecasting methods. Approaches like this show how new AI tools could help close that gap by giving more places access to data driven predictions. While there is still progress to be made, especially in more complex river systems, this work points to a future where improved forecasting is possible even in areas that have been underserved for decades.”

The authors note that the capacity of TSFMs scales with the size of their training data. As future generations of TSFMs incorporate more Earth science data, including hydrological and climate records, their value for real world water forecasting is likely to continuously grow.

Albert Sun, an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, was also part of the research team.

Read the full paper Zero-shot Forecasting of Streamflow Using Time Series Foundation Models: Are We There Yet?

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The expansion covers IOPP’s entire proprietary portfolio of OA and hybrid journals and extends APC support to authors in 122 economies through a new three‑tier discount structure: 100% for authors from eligible low-income economies, 70% for those from eligible lower‑middle‑income economies and  – for the first time – 30% for those from eligible upper‑middle‑income economies. 

To make financial support as easy as possible for authors to access, discounts and waivers will be automatically applied when all authors listed on a manuscript are based in a qualifying country. When the article’s corresponding author and the majority of co-authors meet the criteria, support will be granted on request at submission, ensuring that research teams working across institutions and geographies can still benefit. 

Miriam Maus, Chief Publishing Officer at IOP Publishing, said: “OA cannot be considered truly open when parts of the global research community are unable to participate for financial reasons. Creating more opportunities for researchers around the world strengthens physics as a discipline and ensures discoveries reflect a truly global community. Our mission is to expand the world of physics and broadening access to publishing through discounts and waivers is a vital part of enabling that.” 

For more information and the full list of eligible economies, visit Paying for open access – IOPscience – Publishing Support. 

Find out more about how IOPP is delivering a coordinated programme of activities, including an extensive global network of transformative agreements, to promote greater access, transparency and inclusivity and to enhance the reach and impact of scientific research. Open Physics – IOP Publishing.

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