A team from the Astronomy and Astrophysics group led by Dr Lauren Doyle attended the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham in June and were one of the most popular stands with students returning again and again to engage with their stall.

14 sixth form students were welcomed to the department by Ally Caldecote (Outreach Officer) to give the students the chance to find out what university physics is all about and to consider their post A-level choices.

The visit was aimed to raise aspirations, find out about university, what it’s like to be an undergraduate and what it’s like to study physics.

Find out more.

41 primary school students have completed their six-week coding programme with colleagues in the Astronomy and Astrophysics group.

The programme ‘Coding with Sophie’ has been designed and run by Dr Rebecca Nealon and Dr Farzana MeruLink opens in a new window, with the aim to improve coding literacy and to inspire children to consider coding (and more broadly STEM) in their future, as well as empowering teachers and parents to support children in their coding journey. The opportunity to visit the University and meet real researchers aims to inspire children to believe that they can have a career in science, and that science is fun.

Read more.

The Global Network on Sustainability in Space, GNOSIS, founded by and based at Warwick, supports the global scientific community to apply their knowledge to achieving sustainability in space. In the four years since the launch of GNOSIS it has grown to be a diverse global network of over 650 members from academia, the space sector and government, who work together to address the impact of debris and space weather on the rapidly growing spacecraft population.

Space sustainability leaders from across the globe, including the Chair of GNOSIS Katherine Courtney, were gathered in London on 28^th June for a series of events hosted by the UK government and King Charles III.

Read more.

Undergraduate student, Phoebe Ryder attended the World Congress on Undergraduate Research (WorldCUR) which took place at the University of Warwick campus in early April. The WorldCUR brings together the world's best undergraduate researchers to focus on some of the most significant challenges facing the global community. The students attending are invited to share their research, discuss global issues, and create or strengthen international research partnerships.

Phoebe, a third year Physics with Astrophysics student, presented her poster on the characterisation of a binary star system that was identified as a possible supernova progenitor, with the aim of finding out whether the system had sufficient combined mass to go supernova. She said,

"It was an amazing opportunity to meet students from around the globe. There was a vast range of research being showcased and it was really inspiring and encouraging to hear others at the same educational stage to myself talk so passionately about their own research. Everyone I met was really supportive and I feel I have gained a lot of confidence in my presentation skills from the experience. Also, presenting my research to people with a wide range of previous knowledge on astrophysics, but the same enthusiasm to learn, allowed me to practice presenting to many different types of audiences.

I have learned so much from all the other delegates, about their own research and their presentation styles and techniques. I also learnt a lot from the keynote speaker, Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter's presentation. He was sharing advice on how best to communicate your research to a variety of audiences, particularly his thoughts on how to simplify your research to convey the gist without losing accuracy."

STEM for Britain is a major scientific poster competition and exhibition with an aim to give members of both Houses of Parliament an insight into the outstanding research work being undertaken in UK universities by early career researchers and was held at the House of Commons on Monday 6th March, 2023. Dr Lauren DoyleLink opens in a new window was selected as a finalist within the Physics category, to represent her research on stellar flares from solar-type and low mass stars where she found these events don’t correlate with starspots like they do on the Sun. Overall, this suggests other stars have much more complex surfaces compared to the Sun which posses questions when thinking about the habitability of other planets. The event was attended by people from across the UK with representation from many institutions and organisations including The Institute of Physics and Warwick. During the event, Lauren got the opportunity to chat to lots of researchers across Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry about their research, with lots of interest from the judges about her own research. Although Lauren didn't place in the competition she told us:

"Despite this, I am really glad I went as it was an amazing experience where I was one of 20 finalists selected to represent Physics research in the UK. I was extremely proud to represent the Physics department at Warwick University and hope that others from the department will apply to attend next year."

Congratulations to Lauren for representing the department and her research at the event.

Find out more about STEM for Britain.Link opens in a new window

On Thursday 9 February, Professor Stuart Croft (Vice-Chancellor) visited the department to present a Warwick wow award to Ally Caldecote (Outreach Officer) and Tishtrya Mehta (post-doctoral researcher) for their continuous hard work and dedication to the annual Christmas Lectures. The Christmas Lectures take place in early December at Warwick Arts Centre, and have been running for 12 years. To date, over 17,000 people have attended.

We spoke to Ally, founder of the Christmas Lectures who said:

"It is an honour to see the appreciation for the Christmas Lectures! They are a labour of love each year with lots of different people coming together to showcase fantastic science and scientists. As a physics department we are deeply committed to sharing what we do with as many as possible and if we can do it wearing Christmas jumpers and Santa hats then that's just a bonus!"

Alongside Ally, Tishtrya plays a pivotal part in the Christmas lectures each year. She said:

"Being a part of the Christmas Lectures Team has been such a highlight of my time at Warwick - I've loved watching the most incredible shows put together by passionate and talented scientists and technicians and learning about the most bizarre and wonderful research, such as the secret life of Brussels sprouts!

It's a joy to see the lectures being awarded and to hear the well earned praise for Ally Caldecote and Paul Warwick (China Plate Theatre) who have been indispensable in making the lectures so full of life and loved by so many."

The wow award celebrates amazing work, projects, and achievements at the University.

Find out more about the university award and watch the video.Link opens in a new window

Launched in 2015, the XMaS Scientist Experience is a nationwide opportunity for any Year 12 UK Physics students who identify as female to join us on an all-expenses-paid 4-day trip to the ESRF in Grenoble, France at the beginning of July 2023. Our aim is to encourage students to consider science careers, foster a sense of community and encourage self-belief.

Find out more about the experience.

Watch the video that was made by the ESRF team in July 2017.

We have a small number of work experience placements available each year for students in Years 10-12. Our 2023 work experience will take place on Monday 3rd April to Thursday 6th April inclusive.

The work experience placement will provide you with a broad insight into physics and what it would be like to work in a busy university physics department. You will spend time with our highly skilled research and technical staff learning about real-life physics problems and working on exciting research projects.

Find out more and how to apply.Link opens in a new window

Huge congratulations to Robb Johnston, Technical Services Manager who has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2023 New Year Honours List. The British Empire Medal is awarded for meritorious and 'hands-on' service to the local community. Robb has been awarded a BEM for his contribution to Physics. Robb commented on the news of his award "I was very surprised and honoured to receive it."

Robb has worked in the department for 39 years in February and oversees the management of technical support staff and the building's critical services, infrastructure, and maintenance.