Dept News
Success for Conference for Undergraduate Women and Non-Binary Physicists
In April, the department were selected by the Institute of Physics to host the Conference for Undergraduate Women and Non-Binary Physicists (CUWiP).Link opens in a new window The four-day event brought together female and non-binary undergraduate physics students from universities across the UK and Ireland. With an impressive 185 applications received, the local organising committee allocated 100 delegate spaces, ensuring a diverse and engaged cohort of participants based on a shortlisting criterion developed by the team.
The event featured a fantastic programme of over 45 speakers including the Provost, Professor Emma Flynn and Pro-vice Chancellor (Research), Professor Caroline Meyer. The programme hosted keynote sessions, a panel session with Warwick alumni working in industry as well as a panel session with our own female academics about life in academia at different career stages. Additional sessions covered crucial topics such as belonging, led by The Blackett Lab Family, media engagement with a BBC journalist, and the importance of personal branding as well as Warwick’s own Thrive programme.
An anticipated moment for many delegates was meeting Dame Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell who joined us for our conference dinner at St Mary’s Guildhall in Coventry. The delegates were able to gain firsthand insights into Physics research through tours of our on-campus facilities and a tour at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW). Activities on the concourse, coupled with the invaluable support of our enthusiastic student ambassadors ensured the conference was a great success.
The conference was hailed as “one of the best organised and, importantly, most diversely attended of these events that I have been involved in” by Dr June McCombie, Chair of the central CUWiP committee. She thanked the team for their "considerable effort, work and astonishingly cheerful care" which shaped the event highlighting its success in creating an inclusive atmosphere and fostering a strong sense of belonging among participants.
CUWiP is a great example of empowering, connecting, and inspiring the future generation of physicists.
The Local Organising Committee were nominated for the Social Inclusion Staff Award, in the Belonging Through Culture category which recognises staff who have built inclusive environments where people feel seen, respected, and can achieve their potential.
Thank you to our sponsors who supported the conference.