The biennial conference of PANE was successfully organized at Assam University, Diphu Campus (AUDC) from 21st to 23rd November, 2018. The three-day event brought together a vibrant community of physicists, researchers, and students from across Northeast India and beyond, fostering academic exchange and collaboration.

A major highlight of the conference was the Bipin Pal Das Memorial Oration delivered by Prof. Pijushpani Bhattacharjee from the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP). His lecture, titled "Mass Discrepancy of the Universe", offered deep insights into one of the most intriguing issues in astrophysics.

The academic programme featured four plenary talks and nine invited lectures delivered by distinguished experts. These sessions covered a broad spectrum of topics, including:

High Energy Physics

Astrophysics and Cosmology

Condensed Matter Physics

Plasma Physics

Optics and Photonics

Space and Atmospheric Physics

Electronics

A dedicated session for research scholars provided valuable guidance on academic writing and presentation. Dr. Akash Chakraborty, Associate Editor at Springer, delivered a talk on preparing manuscripts for scientific journals. Additionally, Prof. Mandar Deshmukh from TIFR, Mumbai conducted a session on designing effective scientific posters for conferences.

The event saw enthusiastic participation from a large number of students, faculty members, research scholars, life members, and invited dignitaries. It served as an important platform for young researchers to present their work and engage with eminent physicists from across the country.

In recognition of outstanding contributions, several awards were presented:

Best Oral Presentation Awards:

1st Prize: Donney Jigdung (CPP-IPR)

2nd Prize: Madhurjya Lalung (Tezpur University)

Best Poster Presentation Awards:

1st Prize: Sujit Chatterjee (Gauhati University)

2nd Prize: Asha Tongbram (Sikkim University)

The Young Scientist Awards included book coupons worth 150 Euros each and certificates sponsored jointly by PANE and Springer.

Prof. Bipul Bhuyan, General Secretary of PANE and faculty at IIT Guwahati, expressed satisfaction with the quality and impact of the event. He noted that the conference provided a valuable opportunity for young scientists from the region to showcase their work and interact with leading physicists.

Overall, the conference was a resounding success, reflecting the growing momentum of scientific research and collaboration in Northeast India. Prof. Ranjit Singha was the convener of the conference. The proceedings of the conference was published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Volume 1330).