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Bulletin

AIP Summer Meeting, Awards, Hidden Physicists and jobs; new committees, and more physics in December

In this bulletin – the last for 2019 – we meet our final Hidden Physicist for the year – Max Post, who is using his physics smarts learned at RMIT university in his role as an Area Operations Manager at Holcim Australia. We hope you have enjoyed seeing the amazing careers undertaken by physics graduates in Australia. I know I have really appreciated hearing about them and we be continuing the series in 2020 in keeping with our commitment to promoting diversity of careers.

This month’s photo is a happy selfie taken by Professor Ken Baldwin at Science Meets Parliament last week. Dr Tim Van Der Laan, who is a Special Project Officer for AIP Outreach, had the pleasure to present Ken with the AIP Award for Outstanding Service to Physics in Australia for his vision and support in establishing Science Meets Parliament. More below.

I had a wonderful visit to Sydney to take part in the NSW Postgraduate Awards and Career day and am looking forward to attending the AIP summer meeting in Melbourne this week. As part of this event, the Physics Industry and Job Fair will be held on Tuesday, 3 December, between 1:30pm and 3pm in the RMIT. More details below.

The AIP has been busy with lobbying – with two members (both early career physicists) attending Science Meets Parliament. I wrote an article on the delays in funding announcements from the ARC in The Conversation, which resulted in a discussion of this issue on the floor of parliament.

Also in this month’s bulletin you’ll find details for two of next year’s AIP state branch committees, plus some well-deserved congratulations on awards and grants. 

Finally, a reminder that with the end of the year comes AIP membership renewal time and we are changing some of the ways we handle our database. You will see some big changes in this in the new year. More below.

All in all, it’s been a great year for the AIP – and for physics around the world. And next year, with all that’s going on and all that’s planned, promises to be better still.

On behalf of the AIP, may I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season, and an optimistic New Year. 
  Kind regards,

Jodie Bradby
President, Australian Institute of Physics
aip_president@aip.org.au

Continue reading AIP Summer Meeting, Awards, Hidden Physicists and jobs; new committees, and more physics in December →
Branch AGM, TAS

2019 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING TAS BRANCH

Members of the Tasmanian Branch of the Australian Institute of Physics are invited to attend the upcoming Annual General Meeting.

The AGM will be held on the 28 November, 5pm – 5.30pm, Physics Lecture Theatre 1, Clark Road, University of Tasmania.

Order of Proceedings

  • 5.00pm: Opening and declaration of a quorum
  • Minutes of 2018 AGM
  • Annual Report – Chair
  • Treasurer’s Report
  • Election of the 2020 Committee. Please send your nominations to the Secretary (krzysztof.bolejko@utas.edu.au). Current nominations are:
    • Chair – Dr Stanislav Shabala
    • Treasurer – Dr Elizabeth Chelkowska
    • Secretary – Dr Krzysztof Bolejko
    • Committee – Dr Andrew Cole, Mr Jason Dicker, Ms Aikaterini Vandorou
  • Other business
  • 5:30pm: Pre-lecture light refreshments in Physics/Maths Tea Room.
  • 6.00pm: Free Public Lecture – Physics Lecture Theatre 1 by Raymond Volkas.
  • 7:30pm AGM Dinner – TBD (local restaurant). RSVP to krzysztof.bolejko@utas.edu.au by 5.00 pm Tuesday 26 November. Members and partners welcome.

Public Lecture, TAS

PUBLIC LECTURE – 28 November 2019

Thursday, 28 November 2019, 6:00 PM
Physics Lecture Theatre 1, Sandy Bay Campus, University of Tasmania

The quest for new physics

Professor Raymond Volkas, School of Physics, The University of Melbourne

The standard model of particle physics is an extremely successful theory, but we know that it is an incomplete description of nature. I will review the evidence for “new physics”: interactions and particles that extend the standard model. The evidence ranges from the experimental detection of neutrino masses through the existence of dark matter to puzzles such as the lack of antimatter in the universe and various technical problems with big bang cosmology that may be solved by a period of cosmological inflation. I will also survey some other hints for new physics in the form of anomalous experimental results, and touch on some past disappointments in the quest for new physics. The conclusion will be that new physics certainly exists, and that a wide-ranging experimental and observational program is needed to discover its underlaying nature.

Further details: Krzysztof Bolejko (krzysztof.bolejko@utas.edu.au)

Bulletin

2019 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded; Eleven physicists among 2019 Future Fellowships; and more physics in November

We’re heading into an exciting time for AIP. There are some great events set to run in NSW and WA this month. And in Melbourne, the second biennial AIP Summer Meeting will be held at RMIT on Friday, December 6. Hurry, though – registration closes on November 16!  

Last month we issued a statement in support of AIP member and Murdoch University physicist Dr Gerd Schröder-Turk. We stand by our statement of support and urge the university to drop their legal action. Read the full statement here.

I spent a great day with participants at a Women’s writing workshop supported in part by the AIP. (See pic)

The Vicphysics Teachers’ Network invites women in physics or engineering to be a keynote speaker at one of its Girls in Physics Breakfasts. The events give students in Years 10 to 12 the opportunity to network and meet women in the early stages of STEM careers. Nominations close Friday, 29th November. More below.  

Congratulations to the new ARC Centre of Excellence of Transformative Meta-Optical Systems and the eleven physicists awarded ARC Future Fellowships in October! Read more about them below.

We are excited to host the IUPAP International Conference on Women in Physics, to be held in Melbourne July 2020. Read more below.

Hopefully you’ve been enjoying the diversity of careers highlighted in our Hidden Physicist column. This month we meet Virginia Drumm, a radiation oncology medical physicist who looks after a linear accelerator used to deliver radiotherapy at millimetre accuracies to treat cancer patients. More below.

(And don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like to nominate someone for the column!)

And at the WA Branch AIP AGM on Thursday, November 14, hear from David Blair about what the OzGrav Centre of Excellence and the LIGO-Virgo teams have discovered. Enquiries and tickets here.

Also in this month’s bulletin: the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics, Dirac medal nominations open, and find an opportunity in our Jobs Corner.

Kind regards,

Jodie Bradby
President, Australian Institute of Physics
aip_president@aip.org.au

Continue reading 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded; Eleven physicists among 2019 Future Fellowships; and more physics in November →
Bulletin

Three Australian physicists with exciting research; Australian Space Agency partners with NASA; and more physics in October

I hope you have been enjoying the diversity of careers highlighted in our Hidden Physicist column. This month we meet Mark Turner, an Australian physicist who recently launched a start-up on laser micro-machining in Silicon Valley in the US.

The call for abstracts for the second AIP Summer Meeting is has been extended a few more days, and the early-bird registration is now open. We are excited to offer this conference, which aims to showcase upcoming talent in physics. I hope to see you at RMIT in Melbourne in December!

Nominations for the 2019 NSW Community Outreach to Physics Award will close on Friday 11th October. More below.

Congratulations to the three physics projects among the 2019 Australian Laureate Fellows announced in September, and to the Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA) team at the University of Adelaide for creating the first ATTA facility in the Southern Hemisphere. Read more below.

An opportunity has arisen to help deliver the Australian Science Olympiads physics program as the Deputy Program Director of the event. Details below.

Also this month: The Australian Space agency partners with NASA, apply for the CSIRO Alumni 2020 Scholarship in Physics, and find an opportunity in our Jobs Corner.

Kind regards,

Jodie Bradby
President, Australian Institute of Physics
aip_president@aip.org.au

Continue reading Three Australian physicists with exciting research; Australian Space Agency partners with NASA; and more physics in October →
Bulletin

AIP Summer Meeting; jobs; conferences; and more physics in September

The call for abstracts for the Summer Meeting is now open. We are excited to offer this conference as a ‘cheap and cheerful’ opportunity on our off-Congress years. All welcome and we especially hope to see lots of our students and ECR members there.

Senior Instrument Scientist and neutron-scattering expert Helen Maynard-Casely’s Women in Physics Lecture Tour has finished after a mammoth 40+ lectures! I attended her talk in Canberra and loved going on a journey through the amazing crystals of solar system. I was so impressed by her storytelling skills. More below.  

Congratulations also to Pegah Maasoumi, who has been touring around Queensland spreading the word about foldable mobile phones, Ironman’s suit and solar panel winners on the John Mainstone Youth Lecture Tour.

National Science Week was again a success last month and featured everything from coffee in space with our Australian Physics co-editor Davis Hoxley, the Einstein Lecture with Elisabetta Barberio, and a look at whether bigger telescopes are always better, with Richard de Grijs. Well done to everyone who helped to spread the word about physics during the week.

Congratulations to the Dark Matter Particle Physics team with the announcement of their Centre of Excellence. More below.

Congratulations as well to all winners at last week’s Eureka Prizes. While seven physicists were finalists this year, sadly none walked away with a trophy. Next year!

Also this month: Register your interest for the International Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors 2020; Virginia Trimble receives cultural award in physics; meet Jane Turner – our September Hidden Physicist; and find an opportunity in our Jobs Corner.

Kind regards,

Jodie Bradby
President, Australian Institute of Physics
aip_president@aip.org.au

Continue reading AIP Summer Meeting; jobs; conferences; and more physics in September →
Uncategorized

Look out for Science Week events near you!

Find your science this August with hundreds of amazing science-themed events and activities across the country. National Science Week will be running from 11th to 19th August 2018, with a range science events held throughout August.

With festivals, quiz nights, workshops, performances, shows, a tea party and science cafes discussing everything under (and close to!) the sun, there’s sure to be something for everyone!

For more events and information, visit the National Science Week website at scienceweek.net.au.