Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

This week’s pic celebrates the success of a five-year, eight-university collaboration which led to a recent article in Advanced Photonics. In this work they demonstrate how a compact metasurface composed of GaAs semiconductor nano-antennas can upconvert short-wave infrared wavelengths into visible wavelengths, all within a thin film imaging device. My congratulations to lead researcher, Dr Rocio Camacho-Morales (EME), featured above and in the Canberra Times article (image: Jamie Kidston, ANU) and to her co-authors, who include ANU colleagues; Lei Xu, Zhonghua Ma, Andrei Komar, Mykhaylo Lysevych, Fouad Karouta, Hoe Tan, Chennupati Jagadish, Mohsen Rahmani and Dragomir Neshev.

With all the collected learnings over the past 18 months, James Irwin and the Heads last week submitted our COVID-safe plans against the different ANU traffic-light stages to the Dean. In this initial plan we tentatively listed the key staff and students anticipated to require access the School under different levels of COVID alert. It is important to note two things; we have not yet specified a schedule of access times, and recognise that the actual list of names my vary. The details of our actual response will very much depend on timing and how severe the alert is. With advice from the Heads I am confident that we can finesse the recommendation to the Dean if we progress beyond blue-mask conditions.  

The image at the bottom of this week’s Event Horizon shows 50 spools of engineered electrical cable, kilometres worth, awaiting a massive electrical upgrade of the Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility. Together with replacement of aging switch boards this upgrade started design phase well before COVID and has remained central university supported throughout. My sincere gratitude to colleagues at Facilities & Services, our School Facilities team and the technical staff in Nuclear Physics for their combined expertise on this complex project, valued at close to $1M.

Have a good week,
Tim

(PS: Test’n’tag chocolates still waiting for a good guestimate.  Hint, it’s somewhere between 8,000 and 22,000! And, thank for all your assistance as the T’n’T team moves through the laboratories.)

Black Holes Swallow Neutron Stars like “Pac-Man”
CGA scientists are among the international gravitational wave collaborations (LIGO-VIRGO-KAGRA) to celebrate the first confirmed detection of two neutron star and black hole binary mergers. The gravitational waves detected from these two merger events (#GW200105 & #GW200115) that occured a billion years ago, were detected by LIGO and VIRGO detectors in early 2020.

» read more

Australia-India Strategic Research Fund

The Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF) Round 14 is currently open and closes on 26 August 2021.

Grants of AU$500,000 to $1,000,000 per project, with projects to be completed by 1 January 2025.

The Australian National University (ANU) may only submit two Project applications this round in total, but only one application per priority area.

To facilitate a potential ranking process, please notify science.jaeger.rm@anu.edu.au before 5PM, Friday 9 July 2021.

» read more

The team from Nonlinear Physics Center with collaborators from the Jilin University (China) and Institute of Crystallography (Russia) suggested and demonstrated a novel concept of maximum chirality with metasurfaces. Chirality is the geometric property assigned to objects that cannot be superimposed on their mirror images, and it has numerous applications in physics and biochemistry.

» read more

There has been a significant increase in the number of travel adaptors discovered during testing and tagging and workplace inspection programs recently at the University. These adaptors are being utilised to adapt non-compliant and potentially dangerous electrical appliances to socket outlets.

» read more

1. National Graduate Innovation Forum – application deadline extended (applications close 5 July 2021)
2. SAAFE Research Internship Program – applications are open (applications close 15 September 2021)
3. AINSE 2021 Early Career Researcher Grants (ECRG) – applications are open (applications close 31 July 2021)

» read more

3MT: Three Minute Thesis (College final)

The College of Science and College of Health and Medicine are hosting a 3MT Final on Tuesday 20 July from 1pm-3pm.

The event will be held in the China in World Auditorium and will be followed by afternoon tea in the atrium.

» read more

STAFF MOVEMENTS

Cedric Simenel will be on leave 5/7/21-9/7/21

Need to Schedule a Meeting with the Director?

For ANU Outlook users
Open a new invite for Director.Physics@anu.edu.au, and use Scheduling Assistant to propose a mutually convenient time and send.  

For all others
Please send an email request to Director.Physics@anu.edu.au 

Tim will reply to any meeting requests ASAP

Building and Room Security Access

Please note that the school now has a general access restriction of 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.  

If you need to complete a new after-hours risk assessment, please see the new top section here: https://physics.anu.edu.au/intra/whs/

EVENTS

From Previous Weeks...

ANU Enterprise Training Sessions

National Graduate Innovation Forum (NGIF)

Exploring Learning and Teaching (ELT)

Workshop for Physics HDR Students - “Raising Your Research Profile”