Lighting the way ahead:
A colourful career in physics spanning 40 years
At the age of seven in 1969, Sandra Chapman was fascinated by the moon landings. It was a monumental event that helped spark a lifelong curiosity passion for space and physics.
By the age of 13, she had her first telescope and was looking at the wonders of the cosmos from her back garden.
For Sandra, Professor of Physics at The University of Warwick, the cosmos is now her laboratory, with a career in physics that began in the 1980s.
"I’ve always had an infinite curiosity and fascination with space and astrophysics.
It's at the horizon, the open road, at the edge of all we know..."
“I'm 63 now, but there were no women doing physics back when I was young” she explains. “Even in my A level physics class, there were no women. There were a couple of women in maths, but we had a teacher who said ‘Oh, women can't do maths’ – that attitude wasn’t uncommon then.”
Yet at school, she found the Head of Physics to be very supportive, so much so that whilst undertaking her maths, physics, and chemistry A levels, he taught her O level astronomy during lunch breaks. After her A levels, Sandra studied physics at Imperial College London, before completing her PhD there a few years later.
"I’ve always had an infinite curiosity and fascination with space and astrophysics. It's at the horizon, the open road, at the edge of all we know about our universe. We have such a rich and complex world, a few simple physical laws can lead to beautiful complex shapes and structures, such as the humble pinecone, and other patterns and structures within the universe.”
From London to Japan
After completing her PhD at Imperial, Sandra embarked on a fellowship at Japan’s Kyoto University. "I went to Japan because supercomputing was just taking off. The first multi-processor machines were in this lab in Japan. And that’s why I went there, to learn about large scale computing and coding – which is still a big part of my work today. I was the first woman in their lab; there were no other women because Japan was very conservative and there were very few foreigners.”
Sandra then returned to the UK to undertake a lectureship at Sussex University, whilst simultaneously holding a fellowship at Queen Mary University of London. “So, I got this job at Sussex and again I was the first woman in the physics faculty there. One man even tried to give me his typing to do!”
However, she has had a lot of support from men over the years. “I've had some really inspiring male mentors over the years.”
From London to Japan
After completing her PhD at Imperial, Sandra embarked on a fellowship at Japan’s Kyoto University. "I went to Japan because supercomputing was just taking off. The first multi-processor machines were in this lab in Japan. And that’s why I went there, to learn about large scale computing and coding – which is still a big part of my work today. I was the first woman in their lab; there were no other women because Japan was very conservative and there were very few foreigners.”
Sandra then returned to the UK to undertake a lectureship at Sussex University, whilst simultaneously holding a fellowship at Queen Mary University of London. “So, I got this job at Sussex and again I was the first woman in the physics faculty there. One man even tried to give me his typing to do!”
However, she has had a lot of support from men over the years. “I've had some really inspiring male mentors over the years.”
A new dawn
Sandra left Sussex and joined The University of Warwick in 1995 after being headhunted by a senior professor. In the mid-1990s, there was no space or astronomy research within Physics at Warwick. She was the first person to pioneer research in this area. “There was a Physics Department, and they were great in the field of condensed matter, but they didn’t focus on astronomy or space research, so they hired me to create that.”
Interdisciplinary collaboration has been a key component in Sandra's research. Sandra then created a new space physics group, which has grown to become the Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics (CFSA). “I created it in collaboration with scientists at Culham (UK national lab for fusion energy) - because to solve complex problems like fusion we need an interdisciplinary approach.”
She became Warwick’s first female physics professor in 2000, and continued to undertake various fellowships as the years went by, including becoming a Johannes Geiss Fellow at The International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern, Switzerland.
"We have such a rich and complex world. A few simple physical laws can lead to beautiful complex shapes and structures, such as the humble pinecone.
The pinecone is a symbol of complexity science."
Solar Cycles
One key focus of her research has been advancing knowledge and understanding of solar cycles.
“Roughly every 11 years, the Sun's magnetic field flips - its north and south poles switch places. Over time, solar activity increases. The middle of the solar cycle is the solar maximum, which is where we are now. Each cycle is unique, and understanding and predicting cycles was a major research challenge, which involved the creation of a solar clock.
"We made a prediction about how big the solar maximum was going to be. That was correct, whilst the mainstream prediction was wrong. Satellite operators picked up on our research, and it's influenced how they manage their satellites now.”
Bridging the
arts-science divide
Sandra is also an artist who works to bridge the ‘arts-science divide.’ She has held a NESTA Dreamtime fellowship – working as an artist with the British Antarctic Survey in Antarctica.
She explains “I was fascinated with Antarctica and I wanted to visit. So, I managed to get an art grant, and spent six weeks on an icebreaker then two months at Rothera Research Station, which helped inspire my art.”
Riding the storm of health adversity
Sandra’s career journey has not been without health challenges. “I've gone through breast cancer twice, and during my PhD I was diagnosed with epilepsy.
“In recent years I’ve been working with epilepsy charities, and I'm starting to do things with breast cancer charities too. I recently gave a talk about breast cancer to female physicists about how I overcame health difficulties in the midst of pursuing my career.”
She continues: “A lot of my students have had problems, health issues, family things, and yet they go on to have great careers. The ‘normal’ is that things are not perfect – but they’re not just managing, they’re doing well. I'm motivated to push that message out because people may have different challenges, but they can still do great things.”
"People may have different challenges, but they can still do great things."
Inspiring
women
As well as being an inspiration to women in physics, Sandra is keen to highlight the female physicists who have inspired her. “I created a clock of the sun which builds on the work of Joan Feynman (American astrophysicist). Joan made pioneering contributions to the study of solar wind particles and fields, and my work has helped validate her conjecture recently.”
Although Joan died in 2020, Sandra was fortunate to meet her years ago. “She was a really inspiring woman when I was young.”
In 2024, Sandra was awarded the Hannes Alfvén Medal, a prize awarded by the European Physical Society for outstanding work in plasma physics. This was particularly significant for Sandra, as the medal had also been awarded to another female space physicist, Margaret Kivelson. “She’s the only other woman to be awarded the Hannes Alfvén medal. I’ve known her throughout her career, and it was encouraging for me in the early days of my career to meet another woman in physics when there were very few."
"You need to follow your heart."
"Don’t be afraid to compete"
Sandra is a keen advocate of increasing the number of women pursuing academic careers in physics: “Women can do this. There are loads of really great women doing physics now."
Compromise has never really been an option for Sandra, whose determination and resilience helped establish her as a leading female physics professor. “Don't be afraid to be a bit pushy and compete” she says.
“If you compromise, you're not going to do as well. You've got to take the best job you can. So, my advice is to be selfish and to get a really strong profile. Be somebody that they want.”
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