Physics Department News

The prize for the best First Year Physics student is presented each year, named after, and in memory of, Dr Robert Pettifer. The winners of the Pettifer Prize for 2008/09 were Samantha J Parr and Mark S Skilbeck. The presentation was made on 18th March 2010, by Dr Pettifer's wife, Mary Pettifer.

Professor Tom Marsh and Dr Danny Steeghs have discovered two stars circling each other at record speed. The mini-suns - each just eight times the diameter of the Earth in the constellation of Cancer – orbit once every 5.4 minutes. Please see the link to the press release below for more information

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/most_extreme_white/

Congratulations to Tony Arber, Steven Brown, Boris Gaensicke and Rudolf Roemer on their promotion to personal chairs, plus Peter Wheatley on his promotion to Reader. All promotions take effect from October 1^st 2010

Congratulations to Chris Jefferies, one of our first year undergraduates, who won the title of Young Technologist of the Year 2009 as part of last year’s UK National Science Competition. He also won a trip to NASA, and a significant monetary prize. As one of the 6 finalists, Chris also got a chance to visit the Diamond Light Research Centre. Chris has been invited to judge the first round of the UK Big Bang Fair in Manchester next month and has just attended a parliamentary reception. For more information see the news coverage link at

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7926796.stm