After venturing over to the dark side in September, in October we are tackling the fine line between science and pseudo-science—and how can we tell the difference?

zOOm into Physics is a monthly lightly-moderated Zoom conversation with our resident panel and special guests.

Next session is on Monday 27 October 2021 8pm-9.30pm AEDT

Further details and the all-important Zoom link: https://aip.org.au/ZiP.

TIME magazine has named Professor Lidia Morawska as one of their 100 Most Influential People of 2021.

Lidia is a Distinguished Professor at QUT and internationally recognised for her fundamental and applied research in the interdisciplinary field of air quality and its impact on human health and the environment.

She was also the 2002 AIP Women in Physics lecturer.

The TIME citation reads:

When trying to slow the spread of a fast-moving virus, it is essential to know how that virus is spread.

In the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists overestimated the potential for contaminated surfaces to spread the virus, and we underestimated how far the aerosol particles that people exhaled could travel and remain infectious.

It caused us to badly misjudge the risks in closed spaces where there was poor air circulation.

Through the fog of this viral war, some scientists saw clearly. Lidia Morawska stands out among peers for her work in recognizing the importance of aerosol transmission and marshaling the data that would convince the World Health Organization and other authoritative bodies to do the same.

She assembled a team of more than 200 scientists and public-health authorities to recognize the role of aerosols in spreading SARS-CoV-2 and change how we measure and lessen our risk of contracting the virus.

Her advocacy helped change practices everywhere from schools to workplaces, making these environments safer for more people around the world.

Read the profile here.

The AIP Summer Meeting will run as a hybrid conference from 6–9 December and will have both in-person attendance in Brisbane and an online attendance option for those who cannot travel to Queensland.

For more information and to register visit: https://aip-summer-meeting.com/

The meeting will cover the spectrum of physics, from advances in carbon materials and topological states of matter to dark matter particle physics and molecular switches. Confirmed plenary speakers include:

• Prof Michael Fuhrer, ARC Centre of Excellence for Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET) and Monash Centre for Atomically Thin Materials
• Distinguished Prof Lidia Morawska FAA, Director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health at QUT (also one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2021, and 2002 AIP Women in Physics lecturer)
• Prof Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop, UQ and Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (also 2003 Women in Physics Lecturer).

Keynote and invited speakers listed here.

The AIP strongly urges the government to consider Australia's capabilities in fundamental physics training as part of their investment in nuclear-powered submarines.

These new subs will require a highly skilled, physics-educated STEM workforce.

See our response here.

(Level C) $123,075 to $141,537 per annum plus an employer contribution of up to 17% superannuation may apply, as well as a negotiable start-up package.

Fixed term, full-time opportunity available.

We seek to appoint a research leader who aims to be one of the nation’s brightest stars of the future.

The successful candidate for this exciting opportunity will already be on a remarkable career trajectory and we, in turn, will surround the candidate with the tools needed to succeed at the highest level. This appointment will allow a complete focus on research and will be of five years duration in the first instance, with potential extension dependent on funding and performance.

The Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), one of six Research Institutes at the University of Adelaide, fosters excellence in research in physics, materials science, chemistry, biology and medicine. IPAS works to create new sensors that can measure the immeasurable, stimulate the creation of new industries, and improve productivity in existing industry. This appointment will enable you to join the leadership of this highly successful institute and enable outstanding networking opportunities with their wide range of partners and sponsors.

IPAS is headquartered in a $100M bespoke research building on the University of Adelaide’s beautiful city campus. It has a research budget of more than $15M p.a. and a membership of more than 250 people. IPAS has a superb range of diagnostic and manufacturing equipment including in-house precision manufacturing equipment such as 3D metal and plastics printing, glass and optical fibre manufacture as well as MBE facilities for creation of semiconductor and quantum materials. In addition, IPAS provides strategic grants support, business development support and facility management through its high-performing and professional team that will accelerate the career of the successful candidate.

The role is set to ultimately take a leadership role of a cohesive team of 25 staff and students who work at the leading-edge of modern precision measurement. The appointee will support those IPAS researchers in their existing funded programs while also establishing and sustaining a dynamic research program in their own field. The successful appointee will be an active contributor to the research and outreach activities in the vibrant interdisciplinary culture of IPAS as well as to the School of Physical Sciences and the wider academic community.

IPAS is a diverse, supportive, and collegiate workplace and it is important that all members live these values. In light of that, we especially encourage applications from women to ensure that we have a representative workforce. More broadly, the University of Adelaide is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and strongly encourages women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who meet the requirements of this position to apply.

To be successful you will need:

• PhD or equivalent degree in Experimental Physics.
• Demonstrated outstanding publication track record in leading scientific journals and a record of invited talks at prestigious scientific conferences.
• Demonstrated success in obtaining external funding for experimental physics research.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a research group to a successful outcome.
• Demonstrated ability to initiate a new scientific direction and then execute on that vision.

The individual must be eligible for Australian Department of Defence Security Clearance.

Enjoy an outstanding career environment

The University of Adelaide is a uniquely rewarding workplace. The size, breadth and quality of our education and research programs - including significant industry, government and community collaborations - offers you vast scope and opportunity for a long, fulfilling career.

It also enables us to attract high-calibre people in all facets of our operations, ensuring you will be surrounded by talented colleagues, many world-leading. Our work's cutting-edge nature - not just in your own area, but across virtually the full spectrum of human endeavour - provides a constant source of inspiration.

Our culture is one that welcomes all and embraces diversity consistent with our Staff Values and Behaviour Framework and our Values of integrity, respect, collegiality, excellence and discovery. We firmly believe that our people are our most valuable asset, so we work to grow and diversify the skills, knowledge and capability of all our staff.

We embrace flexibility as a key principle to allow our people to manage the changing demands of work, personal and family life. Flexible working arrangements are on offer for all roles at the University.

In addition, we offer a wide range of attractive staff benefits. These include: salary packaging; flexible work arrangements; high-quality professional development programs and activities; and an on-campus health clinic, gym and other fitness facilities.

Learn more at: adelaide.edu.au/jobs

Your faculty's broader role

The Faculty of Sciences is a multidisciplinary hub of cutting-edge teaching and research in: agriculture; food and wine; animal and veterinary sciences; biological sciences; and physical sciences. It develops future science leaders, and actively partners with innovative industries to solve scientific problems of global significance.

Learn more at: sciences.adelaide.edu.au

If you have the talent, we'll give you the opportunity. Together, let's make history.

Click on the link below to view the selection criteria and to apply for this opportunity:

https://careers.adelaide.edu.au/cw/en/job/506069/senior-physicist-school-of-physical-sciences

Please ensure you submit a cover letter, resume, and upload a document that includes your responses to all of the selection criteria for the position as contained in the position description or selection criteria document.

Applications close 11:55 pm, 30 September 2021.

For further information

For a confidential discussion regarding this position, contact:

Professor Andre Luiten
Director, IPAS
P: +61 (0) 404 817 168
E: andre.luiten@adelaide.edu.au

For a confidential discussion regarding the recruitment process for this position, contact:

Michelle Carter
HR Coordiantor, Faculty of Sciences
P: +61 (8) 831 39271
E: michelle.carter@adelaide.edu.au

The University of Adelaide is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. Women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who meet the requirements of this position are strongly encouraged to apply.directed to an external site aft

The Australian Institute of Physics is part of the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS). Each year the AIP has the opportunity to present research highlights and news from the Australian physics community to the Asia Pacific community through the AAPPS Bulletin. In order to have the appropriate source material to coordinate Australia’s submission in this year’s October issue two type of contribution are sought:

1. Research highlights (RH) - these should be between 150 and 350 words on what is judged to be the most significant new results in research by an identified, team, institutional group, or research centre published in the year July 2020 to June 2021. Key research publications should be referenced and appended. Please also append a suitable high-quality image that can be published without any copyright issues. If the research involves international collaboration please be very specific about the contribution to a larger outcome that has been carried out by researchers living and working in Australia.

2. News (N) - capturing the outcomes of key conferences, outreach, or educational events, that have taken place in Australia, are welcome. Also, tributes to individuals and teams who have marked major anniversaries or received significant awards are noteworthy.

Please email the contributions for consideration to Deb Kane at deb.kane@mq.edu.au by 30th September. A consultative process will be implemented to lead to the Australian RH&N content to be forwarded to AAPPSB. 

Let’s communicate our Research Highlights and News to the AAPPS.

The National Committee for Physics of the Australian Academy of Science is preparing an end-of-term report on the Physics decadal plan 2012-2021: building on excellence in physics.

The committee is seeking images for the final report that feature and represent Australian physics and its diversity.

Images need not be limited to academic environments or applications. They could include individuals or groups in any physics discipline, in the field or the lab.

The images should be publication quality, accompanied by a short description, credit and permission of use from the image owner.

Images must be uploaded by the end of September 2021.

Congratulations to those awarded and commiserations to those unsuccessful.

The Australian Institute of Physics congratulates all recipients of the recently-announced ARC Future Fellowships and Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards, and express commiserations to those who were unsuccessful.

It was great to see seven physical sciences Future Fellowships and 11 DECRAs awarded this year.

These projects are vital to the continued development of Australia’s outstanding physics community and provide excellent career opportunities for those selected. We are excited to see where these projects take physics in Australia.

We’re on the hunt for a beautiful graph or eye-catching laboratory photo to place on the banner of the AIP website through 2022.

If your work or workplace captures an attractive physics aesthetic, send your image to us at aip@aip.org.au

Your chance to be published in the Australian Physics magazine.

The Australian Physicist, now Australian Physics, has been produced by the AIP since 1964. It is the oldest science magazine in Australia.

Current editors Peter Kappen and David Hoxley are always on the hunt for material to include in forthcoming issues and invite members to submit: 

• pitches for articles describing current research
• physics-themed cartoons
• reviews of physics-themed books (they might even get the book for you!)
• physics poetry
• obituaries of recently passed members.

Proposals and finished items can be sent to aip_editor@aip.org.au