The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) is governed by its General Assembly. The General Assembly is the highest governing body of the Union, appoints the members of the Executive Council and various International Commissions, and nominates representatives to serve on various inter-union bodies.

33rd
General Assembly
Hainan, China
2024
32nd
General Assembly
Geneva
2023
31th
General Assembly
Trieste (virtual)
2022
30th
General Assembly
Geneva (virtual)
2021
29th
General Assembly
Sao Paulo
2017
28th
General Assembly
Singapore
2014
27th
General Assembly
London
2011
26th
General Assembly
Tsukuba
2008
25th
General Assembly
Cape Town
2005
24th
General Assembly
Berlin
2002
23rd
General Assembly
Atlanta
1999
22nd
General Assembly
Uppsala
1996
21th
General Assembly
Nara
1993
20th
General Assembly
Dresden
1990
19th
General Assembly
Washington
1987
18th
General Assembly
Trieste
1984
17th
General Assembly
Paris
1981
16th
General Assembly
Stockholm
1978
15th
General Assembly
Munich
1975
14th
General Assembly
Washington
1972
13th
General Assembly
Dubrovnik
1969
12th
General Assembly
Basle
1966
11th
General Assembly
Warsaw
1963
10th
General Assembly
Ottawa
1960
9th
General Assembly
Rome
1957
8th
General Assembly
London
1954
7th
General Assembly
Copenhagen
1951
6th
General Assembly
Amsterdam
1948
5th
General Assembly
Paris
1947
4th
General Assembly
London
1934
3rd
General Assembly
Brussels
1931
2nd
General Assembly
Brussels
1925
1st
General Assembly
Paris
1923

IUPAP was established in 1922 at Brussels with 13 member countries. The history of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics is described in twenty-one previous publications (Documents IUPAP- 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 the souvenir-albums IUPAP – 50 years, and IUPAP-70 years).

The Union is composed of members representing identified physics communities. Adhering bodies act through their Liaison Committees. Delegates from these Committees meet in the General Assemblies of the Union which are held every three years. The General Assembly appoints the members of the Executive Council and various International Commissions, and nominates representatives on various inter-union bodies. The Council usually meets once each year.

The Union adheres to the International Council for Science (ICSU), which is a non-governmental organisation with a global membership of 120 national scientific bodies and 31 International Scientific Unions. The President of ICSU (2014-2017) is Gordon McBean (Canada) and the Secretary-General is David Black (Australia).