Dept News
Work experience opportunities now available!
Each year, our department offers a small number of work experience placements for students in Years 10-12. The placement will provide a broad insight into physics and what it would be like to work in a busy university physics department.
Applications are now invited for work experience taking place 11-14 April 2022 (inclusive).
Scientist Experience open for Year 12 female students
Launched in 2015, the XMaS Scientist Experience is a national competition for Year 12 UK identifying as female students to win an all expenses paid for 4 day trip to the ESRF in Grenoble. The Scientist Experience encourages students to consider science careers, foster a sense of community, and encourage self-belief.
Tiny electrical vortexes bridge gap between ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials
Detailed in a new study for the journal Nature, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, and the Royal Society, the results give the first evidence of a process in ferroelectric materials comparable to the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in ferromagnets. This particular interaction plays a pivotal role in stabilising topological magnetic structures, such as skyrmions, and it might be crucial for potential new electronic technologies exploiting their electrical analogues.
Why are we seeing more northern lights this year?
Spectacular auroral displays have been seen in the sky in more places this year, with greater frequency. Professor Sandra Chapman, Head of Centre for Fusion Space and Astrophysics answers the question in The Conversation.