Women aged 18 and above who are working in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or medicine, and living in Australia, are invited to share their experiences in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine).

The study involves completing an anonymous online survey, which takes approximately 15-20 minutes.

Data collection will continue until late July.

To participate or find out more: https://researchsurveys.deakin.edu.au/jfe/form/SV_6LqZtOAamWWTvrE

This study has ethical approval from Deakin University (HEAG-H 04_2024).

"We are the Universe, so we should get to know it better.”

Congratulations to AIP member Dr Sara Webb of Swinburne University of Technology for winning the 2024 David Allen Prize for exceptional achievement in astronomy communication.

Sara is not only chasing gravitational wave counterparts, hunting for fast radio burst progenitors, cataloguing the fastest flare stars in the galaxy and building AI tools to help astronomers work faster. She has also built an impressive outreach presence across multiple forms of media, with over 17 million social media views, and a reach of tens of millions annually through traditional media.

Making bright young radio galaxies:

Congratulations to AIP student associate Sophie Young of University of Tasmania for winning the Bok Prize 2024 for outstanding research by an honours student or eligible masters student.

The distant universe is packed with radio galaxies emitting intense bursts of light from supermassive black hole jets. Most of them are young, small, and difficult to study. Sophie created a theoretical sample of these radio galaxies that can now be used to help study them in real life. She showed how they influence their neighbourhood by injecting energy and momentum into the gas clouds between stars.

Read more about all six winners of the Astronomical Society of Australia’s awards here.

Celebrating and revealing the beauty of the science that we use daily to connect with the world, light our homes, fight disease, and scan our groceries.

The United Nations has declared 2025 to be the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.

Australia’s physicists are inviting scientific, cultural and industry organisations across the country to join them in a national celebration of the impact of quantum science.

Register your interest at quantum2025.org.au.

“Quantum science is both fascinating and beautiful. It only seems mysterious because it’s far from our everyday experience and intuition,” says Professor Nicolas Menicucci, a quantum physicist at RMIT and Chair of the Australian Institute of Physics’ Quantum Science and Technology Topical Group.

“The Quantum Year will showcase the impact of once-esoteric fundamental physics on our everyday lives,” says Professor Nicole Bell, President of the Australian Institute of Physics.

The laws of quantum mechanics were discovered in 1925, allowing scientists to explore Nature at the subatomic scale, where fundamental particles behave as both waves of energy and particles of matter.

“During the Quantum Year, we invite all Australians to learn how this fascinating branch of science has transformed our understanding of Nature and the Universe – and how the technologies built on these principles continue to transform our world,” Professor Menicucci says.

We use quantum science every day in devices that are central to modern life, including:

• The LEDs that light our homes and our TV screens in the 21st Century
• The lasers that scan our groceries and correct our vision
• The microchips at the heart of every smartphone, computer and modern car
• The medical imaging devices that have saved countless lives in the fight against cancer and other diseases
• The solar panels and batteries that will enable us to live at net zero

Today, Australia is at the forefront of the race to develop new quantum technology that will enhance our lives. We’re developing navigation systems that don’t require satellites. We’re creating miniaturised sensors that can detect disease, monitor metal fatigue and find critical minerals. We’re inventing cheaper and more efficient solar and battery technologies, and racing to create quantum computers.

“2025 will be a year where we, as scientists, hope to share and illuminate the beauty of quantum physics, and inspire the public with what new promising technologies quantum physics could enable in the next 100 years,” says Dr Xanthe Croot, a researcher and Lecturer in Quantum Science at the University of Sydney.

Advances in quantum technology will enable new computing and communication models with the potential to accelerate innovations in materials science, medicine, and cybersecurity, among other fields. In this way, quantum science and technology is poised to help address the world’s most pressing challenges — including the need to rapidly develop renewable energy, improve human health, and create global solutions in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“This second quantum revolution is leading to breakthroughs in using quantum effects like superposition and entanglement for new applications,” said John Doyle, Henry B. Silsbee Professor of Physics at Harvard University, co-director of the Harvard Quantum Initiative, and president-elect of the American Physical Society. “When these phenomena can be applied broadly to control and engineer matter at the level of single quanta, and even single atoms, they will spark transformations in a multitude of technologies.”

“Over the coming months, the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) will hold briefing events across Australia, starting in Canberra and Sydney in July, about the exciting events to come during the Quantum Year of 2025. The AIP will run our own program of events, and we invite museums, artists, media, industry and others to celebrate the Quantum Year in your own unique way – with events of born of your own imagination and excitement about quantum science and technology,” says Professor Menicucci.

To find out more about plans in Australia for the Quantum Year or to get involved, visit quantum2025.org.au.

Would you like to grow your network across the Australian physics community and make connections with those working in many physics sub-disciplines?

The Australian Institute of Physics is looking for a new volunteer to join the national AIP Executive.

AIP Executive is making strategic decisions to grow the Australian physics community.

Each member of the AIP Executive focuses on one area, ranging from industry engagement, advocacy, the development of policy statements, to AIP finance and the day-to-day running of the AIP.

It is expected that Executive members would perform this role for 2 to 3 years, attend national Executive meetings (currently virtual and monthly), and take on the responsibility for one area.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact us at executive@aip.org.au today.

We welcome Dr Karen Siu to the role of AIP Operations Manager.

Karen holds a PhD in X-ray physics and has been an avid user of synchrotrons across Europe, Japan, the UK, and USA. More recently, she has been working in research strategy and support across industry and academia.

Karen takes over the Operations Manager role from Nicole Reynolds, who recently finished her work with the AIP after four years of dedicated service.

"I am very much looking forward to engaging with the physics community again on a daily basis and supporting the Institute in all its endeavours."

We cannot predict when solar storms or flares will occur.

The recent intensification of the aurora australis in Earth's atmosphere over the weekend of 11/12 May 2024 caused much conversation and photo sharing.

The AIP's solar physicists and space science researchers have written a number of explainers:

Why are auroras so hard to predict? And when can we expect more? (The Conversation)

Will we see more intense auroras this year? The science of solar storms explained (ABC News)

Expert Commentary: What caused so many auroras this weekend, and could we see more? (CSIRO)

The submission deadline for the C. N. Yang Award 2024 is 3 June 2024. Submissions must be made to the secretary of AAPPS and the administrative office of APCTP at award@apctp.org.

The C. N. Yang Award has been established to honour young researchers with prominent research achievements and to promote the development of leaders in physics in the Asia Pacific region.

Each division chair from each member society with divisional structure is invited to nominate one (1) candidate who has obtained a Ph.D. in physics or an equivalent degree for no more than 10 years. The president of each member society without divisional structure is invited to nominate up to three (3) candidates.

Nominees should demonstrate a commitment to both excellence in scientific research, as evidenced by scholarly publication and cooperation with scientists in physics in the Asia Pacific region.

Please visit the C. N. Yang Award website for more details, including:

• Eligibility
• Channels of Nominations
• Nomination Package
• Prize
• Procedure for the final selection process
• Information on past winners

The Australian Institute of Physics is kicking off a new event this year, our annual National Careers Fair. This event will be scheduled to run concurrently across our branches at 6:30pm AEST on 29 May.

Events will be run in-person in Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, ACT and Queensland. State branches will provide more details in the coming weeks regarding plans for local events.

We are excited about this opportunity to showcase the incredible career prospects for physicists to our student cohort and increase awareness of the important role physicists play in industry.

There are still opportunities to advertise roles (current or upcoming) at both the state and national level. If you would like to be involved, please reach out to outreach@aip.org.au.

Images are from AIP SA Branch’s local job fair in 2023.

It is with sadness that we share the news that Emeritus Professor Robert “Bob” Leith Dewar FAA, FAPS, FAIP passed away this April. A long-time AIP member (since 1974) and AIP fellow, Bob made a significant impact on the physics community, locally and abroad.

Bob was a giant in the field of theoretical plasma physics, with important contributions in Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and in dynamical systems. These include MHD equilibrium and stability, MHD ballooning modes, Taylor relaxation and Hamiltonian maps. Bob worked closely with computer simulation and with experimentalists and has made important contributions to magnetic fusion research and to astrophysics.

Recently he has been instrumental in the development of a multiple region relaxed MHD model to describe general stellarator fields, and he was presently working on a generalisation of such models to systems that preserve magnetic helicity with a weak ideal Ohm’s law constraint.

He initiated several major collaborations across physics and mathematics, including the National Plasma Fusion Research Facility, the Australian Research Council Complex Open Systems Research Network, and led the ANU’s plasma theory and modelling group until retirement in 2011.  Perhaps most importantly, he has left a legacy in both research and teaching, spanning 5 postdocs, 16 PhD, and many Masters and Honours students.  Many of these now hold prominent positions in the field.

Read more about Vale Professor Bob Dewar’s life and tributes made in his honour on the tribute page. Information about a service or a research symposium celebrating his contributions will also be included on that site as details come to light.

Registrations for the Congress open on 20 May. Early bird registrations close 28 August. The abstract submission deadline is 7 June.

We will be calling for Focus Session suggestions in the coming weeks. We encourage all delegates to engage in this process, so that we can provide focused sessions aligned with the interests of the community.

Stay in the Congress loop by subscribing for the latest notifications at
aip-congress.org.au, or directly via this link.