Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

I hope your week is shaping up well.

Last Friday, I saw the wonderful news that A/Prof Siva Karuturi (SoEng, above) has been awarded a prestigious ARC Mid-Career Industry Fellowship, for “Revolutionising Electrolysers for Low-Cost Green Hydrogen Production”. As many will remember, Siva began his journey at ANU as a research fellow in EME in 2014, working with Professors Hoe Tan and Chennupati Jagadish. From 2015-18, he held a DECRA fellowship in Physics and later continued as a joint research fellow with the School of Engineering until 2021, when he converted to an ongoing academic role. I’m so pleased to see Siva thrive and delighted to see his commercial work so well supported by industry partners.

Last week, the College celebrated the amazing contributions of two Pennys (see below). Prof Penny Brothers (left, Director RSC) is soon to retire, returning to New Zealand. It has been an absolute pleasure working with Penny and I will greatly miss her endless and positive energy. She has been a tremendous colleague, through thick and thin. Prof Penny King (RSES), well known to many in Physics is stepping down as the inaugural CoS Associate Dean (Research). Penny has absolutely defined the role, bringing in many innovations including peer review, grant writing workshops for women, research expos and many more. She is looking forward to returning to her multi-disciplinary research, and I hope to see her around Physics. Prof Adrienne Nicotra (RSB) will step into the role for three years. Adrienne is a plant evolutionary ecologist with interest in the capacity of plants to respond to environment and environmental change, a topic that has seen collaborations across the College, including in Physics.

Many of you who will have worked with Kiara Bechta-Metti from Business, Engagement and Commericalisation will be terribly sad to see that she will be leaving ANU to take up a role at UMelbourne. I can’t overstate the pivotal role she has played in supporting industry engagement and spin-out culture at ANU, and particularly in Physics. Please join us at Badger & Co, Kambri on Thursday from 5pm and thank her in person for an incredible few years. 

At the bottom, some significant steps to getting our new labs operational; the first charge of our new liquid nitrogen tanks, and three bunnies (guess who!) working on the hazardous chemistry systems in the cleanroom. Training for these systems commences this week.

I’d like to thank Dr Sergey Kruk (FTP) for updating the Women* in Physics notice board outside my office. This board is covered by research highlights led by women* in our School. Check it out next time you’re swinging by my office.

School Exec will meet this Wednesday. Please speak to your Heads if you have topics you would like raised.

Have a great week,
Tim

If you wish to display physics posters, brochures etc. at this year’s open day, please contact: pec.physics@anu.edu.au

A big thank you to our Open Day volunteers!

Starting from 4th March, the ANU MakerSpace at Physics North will no longer be included in the default Physics card access group. Everyone who enters this space will need to be a fully inducted MakerSpace member. This includes people who choose to transit through the space to visit the Physics North Mechanical Workshop.

If you are unsure whether your induction is current, check your induction status via our Induction Checker.

To sign up for an induction, start here.

TMOS is running an Agile Project Management training course in from 8th - 11th April 2024 in person, in Canberra. This Foundation & Practitioner course gives participants an internationally recognized certification in project management. 

The cost of the training will depend on the number of participants and will be a maximum of $2539 and minimum of $2010 (all prices ex. GST). More information about the qualification can be found here.

If you would like to attend, please forward your supervisor's approval to team@tmos.org.au by COB Friday 15th March.

The Equity and Diversity Committee is always looking for new people to help contribute to improving the environment in Physics. There are a number of ways to get involved, with a variety of events and tasks throughout the year. If you would be interested in joining the committee, or even just helping organise a one-off event during the year, please contact either of the committee co-Chairs, James Sullivan or Glenn Myers. 

Meta-atoms are the building blocks of metamaterials which are employed to control both generation and propagation of light. A novel type of supercrystals composed of coupled perovskite quantum dots exhibit specific emission properties, and they can provide novel functionalities. Such effective meta-atoms can be employed in a design of many novel types of active metamaterials, said a PhD student of Nonlinear Physics Center Mr. Pavel Tonkaev, the first author of the paper published in Nano Letters.

» read more

The Australian Academy of Science 2025 awards and funding opportunities are now open. Nominations for the Academy’s prestigious honorific awards for scientific excellence close on 1 May 2024. Nominations and applications for research awards, travelling fellowships and research conference funding close 1 June 2024.

Please see below full details on funding opportunities and for further information and closing dates, please see here: 2025 awards and funding opportunities | Australian Academy of Science

If you have any questions or intend to apply for any opportunities, please contact the College Research Office.

Nominations are now open for the annual Young Tall Poppy science awards that recognise and celebrate the achievements of Australian scientists. Closing date for nominations is 22nd April 2024. Please visit the website for more details.

The ANU Women in Physics, Astro & Engineering (WiPAE) group warmly invites you to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8th March 2024, location TBD.

This year, WiPAE is hosting an event titled “Life as a Postdoc in STEM”, featuring an oral presentation competition for postdoctoral scholars who identify as women in RSPhys, RSAA, and CECC at the ANU. Participants will have the opportunity to present their innovations, achievements, and contributions. It's a chance to shine a spotlight on the remarkable work of postdocs, a group whose research contributions are not often celebrated.

We are excited to announce that there will be cash prizes awarded during the event:

• AUD 300 for the best presentation by the jury from RSPhys, RSAA, and CECC.
• AUD 200 for the winner chosen through a poll by the audience.

We encourage and request postdoctoral scholars who identify as women to submit their interest in the competition by registering through the link provided below.

Join us in celebrating IWD with fellow women scientists, as we share inspiring stories of careers, innovations, and impact. Afternoon tea and food will be served during the event!

Register here

College Hot Desking In Physics

Finance, HR & RM Teams
Thursday Mornings
^{Lv2 Tearoom, Bldg 160}

EVENTS

Departmental seminars

Dr Andrew Ratkiewicz - 15 March
Indirect Constraints for Neutron-Induced Reactions
» read more

Mr Fedor Kovalev - 18 March
Dynamic metasurfaces
» read more

From Previous Weeks...

The Ian Potter Foundation Opportunity - Environment is Open For EOI

Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Grants – Round 25 (Stage 1)

AINSE Postgraduate Research Award (PGRA) Open