This book brings together a carefully curated selection of peer-reviewed contributions on innovation in physics education, reflecting the evolving challenges and opportunities of a rapidly advancing discipline. Drawn from the 2025 GIREP-EPEC conference, this book presents 20 outstanding papers chosen through a rigorous double-blind review process from over 100 submissions.

As physics expands into areas such as active matter, climate modelling, and quantum computing, the demands placed on education continue to grow. This book addresses these challenges by highlighting research-driven approaches to teaching and learning that foster critical thinking, creativity, and higher-order problem-solving skills.

This book is organized into four thematic sections: contemporary topics in physics education, showcasing emerging areas and the interplay between mathematics and physics; transforming physics learning through research and practice, including innovative methodologies such as open inquiry and interactive tools; promoting cognition and learning, with a focus on effective pedagogical strategies; and identity and belonging in physics, addressing diversity and inclusion within the field.

Combining theoretical insights with practical applications, this book serves as a valuable resource for physics educators, researchers, and policymakers. It underscores the importance of collaboration within the Physics Education Research community and offers concrete strategies to enhance teaching and learning in diverse contexts, supporting the development of the next generation of physicists.

Paul Logman directs the Bachelor labs at the Leiden Institute of Physics, where he has redesigned the curriculum to give students more room for open inquiry. He also trains physics teachers at the Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching. With a background in physics didactics, his interests span open-inquiry Bachelor experiments, the didactics of the energy concept, and teacher training.

Internationally, he serves as a board member of GIREP (International Research Group on Physics Teaching), where he co-leads its Thematic Group on Laboratory Based Teaching in Physics. He has also led several Dutch initiatives on open-inquiry science labs and international collaborations on undergraduate physics labs, and co-edited the Springer volume Physics Education Today: Innovative Methodologies, Tools and Evaluation.

Yet the summit of his life lies outside the lab: it was on the climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa, that Paul met his wife.

Eilish McLoughlin, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the School of Physical Sciences at Dublin City University (DCU). She is a fellow of the Institute of Physics and a Chartered Physicist. She has been a leader of physics education research and physics teacher education at Dublin City University since 2000. Eilish’s research is focused on physics education, and in particular physics teacher education at both pre-service and in-service levels. She has led and participated in 10 pan-european projects to enhance physics/STEM teacher education. She has been a member of the GIREP Board since 2020 and has served as the president of GIREP since 2024.