The Vicphysics Teachers' Network (VicPhys) extends a warm invititation to women in, or planning for, a career in science, or engineering to join us as a guest at our breakfast in Melbourne in 2025, and hear from our guest speaker:

Dr Danielle Holmes

The University of New South Wales, Sydney

Wonders of the Quantum World: From Stars to Computers

As our guest, you will be seated at a table with curious senior secondary students and other like-minded women. You will have an opportunity to share your knowledge and passion for the sciences and answer the students' questions about university and/or working as a a professional in the field of sceince or engineering.

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Dr Danielle Holmes makes ‘qubits’ using individual atoms in silicon chips. These qubits are the building blocks of quantum computers, new technology that will revolutionise humanity’s problem-solving abilities. 

She received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Cambridge, before exploring the technologies used to build quantum computers during her PhD at the University of Melbourne. Now at UNSW as a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer, Danielle is a passionate science outreach communicator. She shares her love for quantum physics well beyond the laboratory- having even performed at the Sydney Comedy Festival!

Wonders of the Quantum World: From Stars to Computers

Tiny particles, such as atoms and electrons, behave in unexpected ways and require entirely different laws of physics – quantum physics – to explain their behaviour. Despite the miniscule scale of the quantum world, it has huge and fascinating consequences on the world around us, such as explaining why stars shine and birds don’t get lost. In this talk, I will take you on a journey to visit these surprising wonders of the quantum world. I will then reveal how scientists like me are now harnessing quantum physics to develop revolutionary computers that will solve problems that are currently out of reach, such as designing new medicines to fight disease and developing new materials to combat climate change. I love quantum physics for its power to explain the world around us and to shape its future. Come along and find out how I became a quantum physicist and what they actually do in a typical day.