Event Horizon

The Australian National University

Event Horizon

Research School of Physics

Weekly newsletter | vol 51 no 4 | 2–6 February 2026

Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

This week we celebrate a remarkable 29 PhD students who are eligible to graduate, with the majority choosing to participate in this week's graduation ceremony. We'll be hosting a Graduation Afternoon Tea in celebration of these graduates and their guests at 2pm in the Level 2 Tearoom in Building 160 on Thursday 5th February. Please do come along to celebrate this wonderful milestone with our graduates. A list of graduates can be found below.

With Professor Cedric Simenel taking on the role of Associate Director Research in the school, we will need a new Head of the Department of Fundamental and Theoretical Physics. An email asking for Expressions of Interest will be sent out by the School Manager today.

This week's paper, by the team of Shankar Dutt and Patrick Kluth, demonstrates that solid-state nanopores can detect minute changes in transfer-RNA (tRNA) with a single mutation. tRNA molecules are responsible for building proteins and even tiny errors can trigger diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer. This is an excellent example of transdisciplinary research with exciting implications and the work was featured in the ANU Reporter and on our Physics news stories page last week. The paper was published in Nucleic Acids Research and can be found here.

Finally, I'd also like to draw your attention to a seminar on today, (Monday, 2nd February at 11am) in the Physics Auditorium exploring Poland's energy transformation from coal to nuclear power. The event is co-organised by the ANU Nuclear Stewardship Network and Women in Nuclear Australia.

Jodie

Congratulations Graduating Students!

Raghda Abdel Khaleq (PhD, Department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications)
Zoe Cheong (PhD, Department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications)
Ferdovs Dastgiri (PhD, Department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications)
Anneshwa Dey (PhD, Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics)
Ozlem Erkilic (PhD, Department of Quantum Science and Technology)
Ruotong Huang (PhD, Department of Materials Physics)
Navneet Krishnan (PhD, Department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications)
Neuton Li (PhD, Department of Electronic Materials Engineering)
Lachlan McKie (PhD, Department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications)
John McMahon (PhD, Department of Quantum Science and Technology)
Peter Medley (PhD, Department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications)
Ashley Pascale (PhD, Department of Materials Physics)
Emily Rees (PhD, Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics)
Sophie Stearn (PhD, Department of Quantum Science and Technology)
Pavel Tonkaev (PhD, Department of Materials Physics)
Jobin Valliyakalayil (PhD, Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics)
Yile Zhong (PhD, Department of Quantum Science and Technology)
Disha Pankaj Kapasi (PhD, Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics)
Josef Richmond (PhD, Department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications)
Dana Jones (PhD, Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics)
Bryan Teo (PhD, Department of Materials Physics)
Shridhar Manjunath (PhD, Department of Electronic Materials Engineering)
Zixin Liang (PhD, Department of Materials Physics)
Callum Sambridge (PhD, Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics)
Aditya Tripathi (PhD, Department of Fundamental and Theoretical Physics)
Justin Wong (PhD, Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics)
Musashi Ayrton Koyama (PhD, Department of Fundamental and Theoretical Physics)
Shiyu Wei (PhD, Department of Electronic Materials Engineering)

EOI For Head of Department of Fundamental and Theoretical Physics | Open Now

Head of Department of Theoretical Physics

Open – 2nd February 2026
Close – 5pm, 10th February 2026
Applications via email to the School Manager (sm.physics@anu.edu.au) with subject “FTP HOD EOI"

Details, procedures, and selection criteria are available here.

Please send EOI applications to sm.physics.anu.edu.au, with subject “FTP HOD EOI".

Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials Call For EOIs Information Session | Feb 16

The Rio-Tinto Centre for Future Materials (RTCFM) is a global research centre, a collaboration between Rio Tinto and Imperial College London, and joined by partners at the University of British Columbia, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of the Witwatersrand and the Australian National University – spanning four continents.

The RTCFM is calling for Expressions of Interest for projects aligned to Grand Challenge 2: Circularity of Energy Storage Materials (GC2), due 17 April 2026.

Information session
We are hosting an information session to provide an overview of ANU’s involvement in the Centre, to hear from some of our Grand Challenge 1 project teams, and to go over the EOI process and requirements, followed by afternoon tea. If you cannot attend in person and would like to watch the session online, please let us know via email and a link will be provided to you.

Date: 16 February 2026
Time: 1-3pm
Location: Building 160, Conference Room, Level 4

Registration: required for catering purposes REGISTER

From Coal To Nuclear: Poland's Energy Transformation | Feb 2

What does it take for a country with the EU's largest hard coal reserves to pivot entirely to nuclear power?

Join the hybrid seminar with Robert Rybski, in which he explores Poland's remarkable journey from zero nuclear capacity to constructing it's first nuclear power plant (three AP1000 reactors), which will fundamentally reshape the nation's energy landscape.

This isn't just about technology—it's about navigating the complex policy and regulatory frameworks required when a country commits to nuclear energy for the first time. From securing regulatory approvals to building institutional capacity, Poland's experience offers fascinating insights for nations worldwide considering similar transitions.

Date: 2 Feb 2026
Time: 11am - 12pm
Location: Hybrid Event - Physics Auditoirum, Bldg. 160, ANU & Zoom

_{Co-organised by the ANU Nuclear Stewardship Network and Women in Nuclear Australia (WiN Australia)}

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HR Support For CoSM SharePoint

The People and Culture division have re-aligned work within functional teams to improve consistency and quality of advice across the University.

This includes re-aligning recruitment support to the People and Culture recruitment team for CoSM. Information to assist CoSM Schools and areas, and to provide some clarity on who to contact for support, can be found at the HR Support for CoSM SharePoint.

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