Dear {Contact_First_Name}, |
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I’ve just returned from Adelaide, where I had the pleasure of delivering the opening plenary talk at a STEM Enrichment Academy conference for year 9 girls – a hands-on 3-day event organised by Professor Maria Parappilly at Flinders University to inspire the next generation of STEM students.
I’m thrilled to announce the winners of our 2023 Bragg and TH Laby medals. Congratulations to Dr Kirill Koshelev and Martha Reece, both from ANU, for their exceptional PhD and Honours theses, respectively. Read on for details of their great research.
We also congratulate quantum computing trailblazer AIP Fellow Professor Michelle Simmons, who has just received the 2023 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science, and nanoscientist Professor Yuerui (Larry) Lu (catch his Plenary Lecture at the AIP Summer Meeting in Canberra next month) who was awarded the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year. It is wonderful to see this well-deserved recognition of Australian physicists.
The AIP has renewed its membership agreement with the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics (APCTP) for another three years, following feedback that this membership is greatly valued by the Australian theoretical physics community.
This year is the AIP’s 60th anniversary. It is noteworthy that 12 of our founding members are still actively engaged with the organisation! To mark this anniversary, the Executive is pleased to offer free lifetime membership to these individuals. Their longstanding support of the AIP is deeply appreciated.
We have also marked the 60th anniversary with a major public outreach activity, featuring Professor Geraint Lewis, who delivered a series of public lectures across Australia on the ‘Dark Side of the Cosmos’. I had the privilege of attending one of these talks a few weeks ago and can attest to the enthusiastic response from an audience of all ages.
I offer warm congratulations to our 2023 Women in Physics Lecturer, Dr Karen Livesey, on a successful national tour that culminated in a sold-out show in Newcastle. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm with school students, public audiences, and radio listeners around the country, allowing them to peer into the tiny but impactful world of nanomagnets, and no doubt sparking many to find an interest in physics.
Finally, I hope to see you in Canberra for the AIP Summer Meeting in early December – draft program available here! It’s shaping up to be the biggest event for physics in Australia in 2023. |
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Challenging nuclear vibrations and trapping light: 2023 TH Laby and Bragg medals
Two Australian students have been recognised with AIP awards for achieving outstanding results in their university research theses:
Martha Reece (ANU) receives the 2023 TH Laby Medal for her Honours thesis, which advances our technical capability to study collective features of atomic nuclei through Coulomb excitation.
Dr Kirill Koshelev (ANU) receives the 2023 Bragg Gold Medal for his PhD thesis, which opens the door to new nanodevices capable of computational signal processing using light.
Read more
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Nano-magnets attract packed crowd for Women In Physics finale
After 11 public talks, 16 school visits, 7 technical seminars and 8 radio interviews around the country, Karen Livesey presented her final Women In Physics lecture to a packed crowd in her home town of Newcastle.
Karen received the AIP Women In Physics Lecturer medal at the lecture, presented by AIP Past President, Emeritus Professor John O'Connor.
Read more
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Shaping science superstars
Over 150 year-9 girls gathered at Flinders University for the STEM Enrichment Academy, which delivers hands-on activities and opportunities to engage female students in STEM. AIP President, Professor Nicole Bell, opened the event with a plenary on ‘The hidden universe – neutrinos and dark matter’. Dr Stephen Warren-Smith and Dr Darryl Jones from the AIP SA branch led high school girls through experiments on 'mind-bending light', which included activities such as bouncing laser light around inside a 'jelly waveguide'. Read more
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Record-breaking fast radio burst offers path to weigh the Universe
An eight-billion-year-old burst of energy has been discovered by Australian researchers, demonstrating that we can detect and measure matter between galaxies. The discovery opens a path to using fast radio bursts to explore the expansion of the Universe and ultimately even ‘weigh’ the Universe. But it will require even more powerful telescopes. Read more
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Renew now for 2024!
From 1 November 2023 to 31 January 2024, AIP members can receive $10 off their annual membership fees when they renew for membership in 2024. This fee deduction will be automatically applied to your membership level during this period. For any questions email aip@aip.org.au.
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News and opportunities
Australian Physics magazine is calling for technical article submissions. All members of the physics community are encouraged to contribute, especially early-career physicists. Note, as Australian Physics magazine is not a peer-reviewed research publication, it cannot publish articles containing the results of original research that has not already been published in the peer-reviewed literature. If you would like to write an article for Australian Physics, please contact the editors at editors@aip.org.au.
AIP photography competition: Share your physics-inspired photos in the AIP Photography Competition for a chance to be featured on our homepage and emails in 2024. Submit your entries to aip@aip.org.au by 3 November. Find out more about our 2023 winner, 'Frozen Bubble' by Chad Clark, in COSMOS Magazine.
Nominate to be on the AIP NSW Committee in 2024: Current financial members are encouraged to nominate for a spot on the AIP NSW committee OR nominate for Chair, Secretary or Treasurer. Email your interest to the Branch Secretary by COB Friday 17 November. Elections will take place at the AGM on 21 November. Read more.
Congratulations to AIP Fellow Professor Michelle Simmons AO on being awarded the 2023 Prime Minister's Prize for Science, for creating the new field of atomic electronics, and discoveries that are powering the transition from the digital to the quantum age. Read more.
Congratulations to Professor Yuerui (Larry) Lu on being awarded Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year at the 2023 Prime Ministers Prizes for Science. He was recognised for his discovery of interlayer exciton pairs, and making the world's thinnest micro lens for lightweight, compact optical systems. Read more.
Submit your abstract to be part of the 46th Annual Condensed Matter and Materials Meeting in Wagga Wagga. Submissions close 15 November. Read more.
The AIP NSW Branch congratulates the 2023 postgraduate nominees on their accepted presentation titles and abstracts for the upcoming Annual AIP NSW Postgraduate Awards event, happening on Tuesday 14 November at the Concord Golf Club, Sydney. All are welcome at the event. Read more.
Applications for the CSIRO Alumni Scholarship in Physics are now open, offering postgraduate scholarships of $6,000, which can be used to fund travel costs to visit and/or conduct research overseas or interstate. Apply by 1 December. Read more.
AIP Tas held their PUBlic Physics evening in October, with talks from PhD students and an industry Q&A session. The event was well attended by undergraduate students, offering the opportunity to talk with PhD students and industry professionals, and have their ‘life after uni’ questions answered. See photos from the event.
Vale Ian Sefton: The AIP recently learned of the death of one of our earliest members, Ian Sefton from the University of Sydney, who joined the AIP in 1964. An online tribute in the Sydney Morning Herald reads "Vale Ian Sefton, a remarkable physics educator and a wonderful member of the University’s academic community. You taught physics so well to me and my generation of medical students. You were one of those teachers who will always be remembered."
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A brilliant career peering at diamonds through optics
“I am in the gem industry, or more specifically, the diamond industry. A few years ago, I started a couple of businesses: one making instruments for gemmologists and another running a diamond laboratory specialising in certifying Argyle origin of pink and violet diamonds,” says John Chapman.
“Physics has played a role in both those enterprises as they involve the light spectrum from ultraviolet to infrared,” he says.
Read more about how John is using optics to see diamonds more clearly.
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Do you know someone with training in #physics who has followed an interesting career path outside of academia? We would love to profile them for our #PhysicsGotMeHere career profiles, which explore all the places your physics training can take you. Get in touch. |
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Australian physics in the news
This fast radio burst took 8 billion years to reach Earth (Nature News) Quantum physicist Michelle Simmons wins 2023 Prime Minister's Prize for Science (ABC News) What has the Nobel Prize in Physics ever done for me? (ABC News) The Art of Physics (The University of Sydney) Australian researchers claim to have detected ‘dark photons’ (The Sydney Morning Herald) ANSTO welcomes federal funding announcement to support research infrastructure and expertise (ANSTO) Why a 'hologram revolution' could be on the way (BBC News)
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Postdoctoral Fellows – Astronomer and Astrophysicist, The Australian National University Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics Two roles available – an astrophysicist to work in gravitational wave theory and data analysis, and an astronomer to work on optical follow-up of gravitational wave events and other transients. Read more
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Are you looking for a new career opportunity? See our Jobs Links section (best viewed on desktop) for a list of selected physics-related job openings: Team Manager (Science Museum); Medical Physicist; Data Scientist (Geoscience); Chief Science Officer (Physicist), Physics and Science Teacher, and many more.
Each year, Physics World publishes Physics World Careers, a guide aimed at helping those with a physics background make informed decisions about their career path. Download a copy of Physics World Careers 2023 .
We can provide a free link to your physics-related job or PhD opportunity. If you would like to advertise your job, we can feature more details and a picture for a small cost. Email Michael Schmidt for more information.
Need help? Contact aip@aip.org.au.
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