Article written by Gabrielle Green, UNSW.
A love of learning and a strong sense of belonging at school shaped Professor Donna Strickland’s extraordinary career. Decades later, her pioneering work in laser physics earned her a Nobel Prize and, more recently, brought her to Australia for a national speaking tour. This was part of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, energising the physics community and audiences in Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Sydney.
The tour’s venues were as distinguished as our guest speaker, ranging from Melbourne’s iconic Capitol Theatre and Canberra’s Shine Dome to the State Library of Queensland and UNSW’s Leighton Hall. Each city hosted a public evening lecture alongside student-focused daytime events, including a digital poster session in Brisbane, Q&A panels in Sydney and Melbourne, and a fireside chat for early-career researchers at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Across the country, students and audiences alike were encouraged to embrace curiosity and pursue their passion for physics. They were reminded that with perseverance and perhaps a little luck, they too could one day follow in Professor Strickland’s footsteps.
The Scientist
At age ten, Donna Strickland’s father took her to see a laser. “It is the way of the future,” he said. Whether that early experience was the defining moment is uncertain; however, Professor Strickland found maths enjoyable, physics a natural progression, and once she entered the laser labs at the University of Rochester, there was no turning back
During her PhD in Professor Gérard Mourou’s lab, Professor Strickland developed chirped pulse amplification (CPA), a technique that packs petawatts of power into laser pulses less than a femtosecond in length, which is a millionth, billionth of a second. In the following decades, CPA opened up new frontiers in a huge range of applications, from laser eye surgery to materials processing and earned Professor Strickland and her supervisor, Professor Morou, the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Chirped Amplification
The development of Professor Strickland’s doctoral research on CPA was a three-page paper titled ‘Compression of amplified chirped optical pulses’ and published in Optics Communications, 56, 3 (1985). It would go on to make history. At the Australian National University, students were given a copy as a reminder that a short, well-executed paper can have a lasting impact.
A popular question during the tour was: ‘Why chirped? What does ‘chirped’ in CPA refer to?’ As Professor Strickland explained on stage at Melbourne’s Capitol Theatre, ‘chirped’ is a playful way of describing ‘stretched.’ The term evokes the changing pitch of a bird’s song and has since become widely adopted in physics.
“When we hear a bird chirp, it is producing a burst of sound, the pitch of which changes from the start of the sound to the end.”
CPA enabled scientists to expand the understanding of how light interacts with matter, which laid the foundation for a new era in physics. Just as lasers transform manufacturing, imaging, and our manipulation of the physical world, quantum technologies promise to revolutionise how we compute, communicate, and measure.
It is an evolution of the same spirit of discovery that CPA exemplified. Professor Strickland’s reflections resonated strongly with audiences during her tour as part of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. They were not just learning about the impact of her past research; they were directed to think about what is next.
Professor Strickland carefully balanced the promise of new technologies with a caution that overhype and underdelivering in science can harm and undermine public trust. “A general public audience can interpret a prediction of results as a promise, and it does the field no favours”.
While speaking to Tegan Taylor at Leighton Hall, UNSW’s Centre for Ideas, Professor Strickland argued that “One of the things we do wrong is overhype, or with AI, it’s not just overhyping, it’s over-scaring,” she continued. “We shouldn’t do either of those things. We need to be careful about how we communicate the implications of science.”
Doing What You Love
While Professor Strickland’s reception across Australia was met with excitement, her reflections on her remarkable achievement often turned to something quieter: a lifelong love of learning, the joy of being in the lab, and the importance of simply doing what you love.
“I liked being in school (university),” she said. “Lasers were just fun.” That sense of excitement that first sparked when she saw a laser lab has never left her. It’s exactly what she passed on to the students, researchers, and enthusiasts she met during the Australian Institute of Physics National Tour.
Professor Strickland now travels between stages and VIP events. She describes herself as someone who prefers solving puzzles in a lab to being in the spotlight. The overnight transition from academic to public figure was, as she put it, overwhelming. She frequently recalled the absurdity of her dinner plans becoming newsworthy from the day following her Nobel Prize announcement.
She remains grateful for the recognition the Prize brought. In her Nobel Lecture, which was delivered to the public in Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, and a final student group at the University of Sydney, she not only credited her collaborators but highlighted the many researchers whose work deserved equal attention. Not everyone who achieves remarkable research can win a Nobel Prize, and as she discussed at her first student Q&A held at RMIT, luck played a role in placing her on that stage.
But what does remarkable research combined with luck bring? In Professor Strickland’s case, it meant not just global recognition but a complete shift in her career. The Nobel Prize opened doors to speaking engagements, formal events, and unexpected meetings, from prime ministers to pop stars. Yet, behind the glamour lies a demanding schedule, long flights, packed itineraries, and a life increasingly removed from the lab. The transition from researcher to public figure is a reward, but it comes at a cost. Still, through it all, Professor Strickland’s enthusiasm for her work remains the consistent theme of her speaking tour.
Physicists in the Spotlight
The excitement surrounding her visit was evident at every event. High school and university students, researchers, and members of the general public asked to take selfies and questions, many left momentarily tongue-tied in her presence. A reminder that even the most accomplished among us are still capable of being starstruck, and better yet, it can be achieved by a physicist.
Consistent themes emerged through question times. How can physics be thought of as a career? Her response was along the lines of, “Growing up, all the exciting role models were either doctors or lawyers,”. There was little else on television to suggest alternative careers. Ignoring the pressure, Professor Strickland stayed in school to do what she loved in a place she loved to be.
Somewhat reluctantly, Professor Strickland acknowledged the positive influence of the popular television series The Big Bang Theory. While the show still portrayed scientists as geeks, she noted, it at least brought physicists into the mainstream spotlight.
Donna herself doesn’t identify as a geek and actively challenges the stereotype that science is only for the nerdy.
The Legacy
How did Professor Strickland find her way to Australia for the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology? The short answer: volunteers. Her visit was made possible by the dedicated efforts of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology Executive Committee, in partnership with the Australian Institute of Physics, Science in Public, researchers, and professional staff from universities and Centres of Excellence nationally.
What began as two lectures for the University of Sydney’s Harry Messel International Science School quickly grew to six, and one city became four. The conversations, collaborations formed, and inspiration ignited remind us of what is possible when science is shared openly and with passion. Watching this tour unfold, it became clear how a Nobel Prize can energise an entire community.
Donna Strickland’s visit didn’t just bring a Nobel Laureate to our stages; it brought the physics community together. Her infectious narrative became a catalyst for others to share their own stories.
This tour has offered a rare view of how science and celebrity may intersect. A Nobel Prize shifts researchers into the public eye, and Professor Donna Strickland spoke about her hope that more public figures, particularly athletes, might one day discuss the science of their field. Bringing science into everyday conversations is key to changing how it is perceived. Even when limited to lecture halls and universities, her visibility had the power to shift perceptions. Still, she acknowledges the limits of what she alone can achieve and hopes to encourage more people to see science as something they too can be part of.
That first glimpse of the fun she could have in a laser lab built a career. Decades later, she continues to inspire, not only through her pioneering research but through the worldwide curiosity to meet a Nobel Laureate. Professor Donna Strickland brings conversations and a sense of wonder wherever she goes.
Acknowledgements
Now that the tour has concluded, it is important to acknowledge that none of this would have been possible without the support of our National Tour Partner, Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG). From the outset, DSTG has been a strong supporter of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology through the Australian Institute of Physics. This partnership has brought science to audiences across Australia.
The dedication of our organising partners in each state, the Australian Academy of Science, RMIT University, the University of New South Wales, the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS) and Centre of Excellence in Quantum Biotechnology (QUBIC) and networking partner Quantum Australia. Their collaboration ensured the smooth delivery of the tour and enabled the scale of impact we were able to achieve.
During The Australian Institute of Physics, Professor Donna Strickland’s National Tour for the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology:
- 1,475 attended a lecture either in-person or online
- 8 participating universities
- 6 lectures, 1 livestreamed
- 4 breakout student events
- 2 sold-out venues - Melbourne and Sydney
- 1 Nobel Laureate
Read more: A bird’s chirp and lasers more intense than the sun: The science behind a Nobel Prize in Physics
