Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

It is a tremendous pleasure to congratulate all those promoted in the 2022 round.

Level B - Andrei Komar (EME), Sam Legge (QST), Qingbo Sun (DMP), Taiki Tanaka (NPAA), Yulai Zhang (DMP)
Level C - Daria Smirnova (EME)
Level D - Andrew Kingston (DMP)
Level E - Steve Madden (QST)

Please join me and congratulate our colleagues when you see them next.

I was lucky to be among those gathered at Parliament House last Wednesday to celebrate the largest intake of new Academy Fellows on record, and most impressively gender balanced. Six-eight of Australia’s top researcher leaders were officially inducted into the Academy of Science after a three year gap in face-to-face activities. It was a truly uplifting evening and I’ve included a few images above Distinguished Prof and Academy President Jagadish with Prof Lynn Beazley, Academy Executive; and below Minister for Industry and Science, Hon Ed Husic with Kalie Noon, Indigenous Astronomer RSAA.

My thanks to Dr Nikolai Lobanov (NPAA) who walked some of our retired technical staff with other retired Canberra “techos” through the Heavy Ion Accelerator on Friday. I’ve included some pictures from the tour below. I’m very grateful to Tony Cullen for arranging the group visit and I welcome all friends and alumni to visit anytime.

I can highly recommend a podcast on lessons learnt in spinning out companies in which Dr Victor Pantano is interviewed in two parts. Victor is a familiar face in our School, working with many over the years to help us translate successfully our discoveries.

Director’s Prize nominations close this Friday (see EH #45). They are a great way for us to thank our valued colleagues. There are three categories for recognition of service to the School; individual staff member, a team award within Physics and an award for teams outside Physics who have contributed to the School. Nominations should include a citation of no more than 200 words. A diverse School committee will be selected to judge the nominations, which should be sent to James Irwin, the School Manager by Friday.

Have a good week,
Tim

We are excited to welcome a very special guest to the school next week - Nobel Laureate Professor Donna Strickland.

Save the dates for these two events:

Dec 7th - Afternoon Tea - Meet and Chat with Nobel Prof Donna Strickland

Dec 8th - Panel Discussion and Morning Tea with Prof Brian Schmidt and Prof Donna Strickland

» read more

Women physicists from across the campus came together last week to change the culture and create a better work environment for the women-identifying members of the school. 

Sixty-one women joined the full-day event, undergraduates and PhD students up to distinguished professors, from the Research School of Physics, and the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, for networking, prizes, jobs and community-building.

» read more

Physics North is in need of more First Aid Officers. If you are a first aider, or would like to be, please contact Christian Notthoff for more information.

We are currently in the process of establishing the Andrew Papworth Prize Endowment Fund to commemorate the outstanding contribution Andrew Papworth made to undergraduate physics at the ANU. The fund will primarily be used to award prizes to physics undergraduates for outstanding laboratory work.

If you wish to make a donation either by cashing out long service or annual leave or in cash you can do so now by contacting Kellie Takenaka. If you have any questions or would like to know more please contact Vince Craig.

Australia Awards Fellowships Application - Now Open

Please note that applications for the Australia Awards Fellowships are now open, closing 22nd of January 2023. The maximum amount available per fellow is $30,000. ANU can submit 5 applications, with each application having a maximum of 15 fellowships. 

Fellowships can be for short-term study/training, professional development and related activities, with a minimum duration of 2 weeks (up to 52 weeks) and 70% of the activities taking place in Australia. Priority areas are Climate change and resilience (including green energy transition), Health and health security, Gender equality and social inclusion, Digital economy (including cyber and critical technology engagement), Maritime and the blue economy, and, Infrastructure and connectivity.  

See here for further details.

If you have any interest in applying for this round please contact the Research Management team a soon as possible as application limits apply. 

Please reach out to science.jaeger.rm@anu.edu.au if you have any queries. 

College Hot Desking In Physics

EVERY TUESDAY
Mornings (10-12) - HR Team
Afternoons - Finance Team

EVERY THURSDAY
Mornings - RM Team

» read more

EVENTS

Panel Discussion & Morning Tea - 8 December

with Prof Brian Schmidt and Prof Donna Strickland

» read more

Afternoon Tea - Meet & Chat - 7 December

with Nobel Prof Donna Strickland

» read more

From Previous Weeks...

Mandatory Training Courses for School Induction and Building Access - All Persons