About CUPS
Traditions, not a founding date
History
No founding date survives in the society's own records, so this page doesn't invent one. What is on record are the fixtures that repeat every year.
- The Garden Party
- Held during May Week, once exams are over — the social high point of the year, open to every member.
- The Omega Dinner
- A dinner each Easter Term for the outgoing committee, marking the handover to whoever the AGM has just elected.
Elected each Easter Term
Committee
The committee is elected each Easter Term at the AGM by single transferable vote, with up to three ordinary members alongside the five named officers above. Any full member may stand.
President
Chairs committee meetings, confirms the term card and introduces every speaker.
Speakers Officer
Invites speakers, agrees dates and honoraria, and archives slides after the talk.
Secretary
Minutes, the member directory, and running check-in and the ballot on the night.
Treasurer
Reconciles Stripe payouts against the ledger and settles reimbursements.
Webmaster
Owns the site, the committee mailbox and the automations behind them.
Every talk
How the speaker dinner ballot works
Check in
Scan the QR code on the projector during the talk and fill in your CRSid, name and email — that is your attendance record, and each CRSid counts once per talk.
Opt in
Tick the speaker dinner ballot box, rate the talk and tell us who you would like to hear from next term. Attendance is recorded either way.
The draw
After the talk the committee draws a winner at random from that evening’s entrants, excluding anyone who has already won a dinner in the current term.
The invitation
The winner gets an email with the restaurant, the time and a link to confirm. Dinner is with the speaker and the committee, and CUPS covers the bill.
In brief
The constitution
- Membership
- Open to all members of the University, either annual — to the end of the following Easter Term — or lifetime. Only full members may vote or stand for committee.
- Meetings
- The committee meets at least twice a term. A General Meeting can be called by the President, the committee, or ten members in writing.
- Finance
- The Treasurer keeps accounts and presents them, audited, at the AGM. Any expenditure over £200 needs both the President and Treasurer to sign it off.
- Amendment
- This constitution can be amended by a two-thirds majority at a General Meeting, with the change circulated in the notice beforehand.
This is a summary; the full constitution is lodged with the Junior Proctor and the Societies Syndicate. Ask the Secretary if you would like to see the whole document.
Get in touch
Contact
Committee
Sponsorship
Write to us
Cambridge University Physics Societyc/o Cavendish LaboratoryJJ Thomson AvenueCambridge CB3 0HEUnited Kingdom