Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

It is with tremendous pleasure to congratulate Professors Nanda Dasgupta and David Hinde (NPAA) on sharing the 2023 Walter Boas Medal. The award promotes excellence in research in Physics and commemorates the life and work of Walter Moritz Boas. They join a very distinguished list of Australia’s best physicists. Please join me and congratulate this very significant career achievement.

From all accounts, this year’s John Carver Seminar Series was fantastic. It was great to hear that the presenters provided such a wonderful challenge to the judges, Prof Rob Elliman (EME/NPAA), Dr Maryna Bilokur (MP) and Zain Mehdi (FTP/QST), who had an extremely difficult job deciding the winners. My thanks for their care and diligence. Thanks also to Luda, as always, for her arranging these events so well. The winners are (left to right):

• Shiyu Wei (Director’s Prize)
• Ozlem Erkilic (Dean’s Prize)
• Ivan Toftul (John Carver Prize)
• Ash Pascale (People’s Choice)

Underneath, the contestants (absent, Logan Davis) and judges (and helper) in this year’s John Carver Seminar series (photo credit: Luda Mangos).

Below, Prof Chris Barty the CEO of Lumitron explains his laser-Compton X-ray source to ACT Chief Minister, the Honourable Andrew Barr in Los Angeles last week. My thanks to Dr Victor Pantano who coordinated this important visit, which coincided with a US trip the Chief Minister is on currently. I was joined by colleagues from the College of Health and Medicine, Prof Russ Gruen (Dean), Prof Ross Hannan (AD(R)) and Donelle Claudianos (GM) as we walked the Chief Minister through the possibilities such as source would bring to Australia.

A reminder that CBRIN First Wednesday connect kicks off at 5pm today.

Just to let you know that I’ve shifted School Executive from this week to next Thursday. Please reach out to your Head, AD or representative if you would like to table a topic.

Cheers,
Tim

For over 60 years the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering has provided grants to help students and researchers to access national facilities around the world.  As well as scholarships listed on their website, AINSE have a number of careers events that may be of interest;

Women in STEM school: WISE School – AINSE

Postgraduate careers: Postgraduate Orientation Week – AINSE

ANU Solar Oration 2023: Generation Change – and the Role of Solar PV

Australia’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 will see a transformation in our energy system from households to power stations and across the grids that connect them. At the same time, the global commitment to reduce emissions will see a change in Australia’s economy and exports.

Date: Thursday 9 Nov 2023
Time: 5.30–7.30pm
Location: T2, Upper Level, Kambri Cultural Centre, Kambri Precinct

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European Research Council Grants for Top Researchers from Anywhere in the World: Webinar

Date: 12 October 2023
Time: 6PM AEDT

Register: Webinar Registration - Zoom

Please contact the College Research Office if you have any questions.

2023 NSW Community Outreach To Physics Award

The Australian Institute of Physics in New South Wales has instituted this annual award as a means to recognise the work of individuals for community outreach to the discipline of physics. This Award now in its 10th year, seeks to acknowledge an individual, with a clearly notable record of work in contributing to outreach, physics education, and has demonstrated passion for the study of physics in New South Wales. 

The NSW Community Outreach to Physics Award will be presented each year following a selection from the list of those nominated for the Award. The Award will be awarded to individuals that seek to achieve activities that engage our community and contribute to public engagement within physics. The Award is open to everyone in NSW and will consist of a $1000 monetary award, and a framed certificate citing the achievements of the individual. 

Nominations for this Award will close on 7th October 2023 

These Awards are proudly supported by Laboratories Credit Union (LCU) 

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Teleportation Fidelity the Big Winner in the Quantum Lottery

Running your quantum system as a lottery turns out to be a way to improve the transmission of data via quantum teleportation.

Researchers at the Research School of Physics used a probabilistic twist to develop a new transmission protocol that set a new record in data transmission: 92 percent fidelity, which more than halves the loss in previous experiments.

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PLANCKS is an annual international theoretical physics competition that brings together students from around the world for a weekend-long programme of social, cultural, and educational events. Competitors will have four hours to complete an exam of ten physics questions in teams of three to four students. As teams are not expected to be from the same year, nor to have covered the same physics syllabus across the world, we would like the questions to be self-contained, i.e., if there’s a specific equation needed, or a specialised bit of physics, it should be included in the question brief. This is so we don’t inadvertently penalise students from different courses and to focus on the problem-solving and ingenuity of the individual or team. They should be of appropriate length and challenge. Marking schemes must also be included, with marks distributed up to ten. All questions in the exam will have equal weighting (regardless of topic) in order to help the organisers standardise them. Previous PLANCKS exam papers can be found here to be used as a reference. Previous PLANCKS Papers 

The deadline for submitting questions is Friday 15th December 2023.

If you have a problem to contribute or any questions at, please contact the organisers at plancks@physics.org.

Phyllis Montgomerie Award

$5000 Award for Research Support 

The Royal Commonwealth Society ACT Branch invites applications for the 2024 Phyllis Montgomerie Award of up to $5000 to help with expenses associated with a research or education project conducted in a Commonwealth country.

The 2024 Royal Commonwealth Society’s Phyllis Montgomerie Commonwealth Award will be advertised through tertiary institutions in the ACT in September 2023. The award, of up to $5000, is intended to help with expenses, including travel, associated with a research or education project that benefits the citizens of any Commonwealth country.

For guidelines, criteria, timetable, and application form, follow the Awards link at https://rcsact.org/award

Applications close Friday 13 October 2023

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College Hot Desking In Physics

Finance, HR & RM Teams
Thursday Mornings
^{Bldg 160}

EVENTS

Departmental seminars

Mr Callum Sambridge - 5 October
Sub-femtoWatt Laser phase tracking for space-based interferometry
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Director's Colloquium - 13 October

In a tight spot — What to do with light in small places - Professor Stefan Maier

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Founder's Day 2023 - 20 October

Physics Auditorium & Foyer, 9am-2pm

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Australian Academy of Science - Call for Applications now open (Theo Murphy Initiative Australia)

The Theo Murphy Initiative (Australia) grant funding to support career development opportunities is now open for applications.  There are three streams of funding available, 'read more' for further information.

Closing 5pm, 6 November 2023.

» read more