Dr Rebecca Nealon will join the Department of Physics to research protoplanetary discs as one of the first nine Stephen Hawking Fellows. Announced today, the fellows will continue Professor Stephen Hawking’s legacy by furthering our understanding of the universe and communicating the wonders of science to the public. As the planets in our solar system are all aligned so their orbits are in one plane, we might imagine that discs where planets are formed around other stars are also aligned. However, recent observations have shown that there are a number of systems where this is not the case. Dr Nealon’s research will focus on how these discs are created and evolve as well as their potential impact on planet formation, leading to a more comprehensive picture of disc and planet formation.

Farzana Meru from the Astronomy and Astrophysics group will be swapping simulations for legislation when she visits Matt Western MP at the Houses of Parliament and Whitehall for a week in Westminster. The week (2 – 6 March) is part of a unique pairing scheme run by the Royal Society with support from the Government Office of Science.

During her visit, Farzana will shadow Mr Western, who is Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington, and learn about his work. As well as attending seminars and panel discussions about how evidence is used in policy making, Farzana will attend a mock Select Committee.

We predict 3D active defect loop motion with analytics and full hydrodynamics.