Last year’s 2021 AIP Summer Meeting was the most attended AIP Summer Meeting to date with 455 registrations.

The event was held 6-9 December, both in-person at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, and online. 

The scientific program featured a diverse range of work at the vanguard of Australian physics, including plenary lectures delivered by Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska FAA (QUT), Professor Michael Fuhrer (Monash) and Professor Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop AO FAA (UQ).

Focused Sessions provided an opportunity for members of the physics community to bring together eminent speakers working on cutting-edge research topics.

The meeting included:

·       11 topic streams with over 30 keynote and invited speakers

·       More than 280 talks and 45 posters

·       Three workshops and two pitch sessions

·       In relation to the meeting’s diversity agenda, 42% of plenary/keynote/invited speakers identified as female, 55% were male-identifying and 3% were unspecified. Almost all Australian states and territories as well as universities were represented. More info here.

A list of student prize winners for posters and oral presentations can be found here– congratulations to all the participants.

On behalf of the organisers, we would like to thank everyone who participated in the meeting, including our volunteers and sponsors without whom the event would not have been possible!

The boundary of chaos, optical metasurfaces, AIP Vice President Professor Nicole Bell on the AIP’s advocacy on the ARC ‘no-preprint rule’, and the difference between weight and mass for young physicists.

Members can read these stories and more online in the latest edition of Australian Physics.

If you have a physics-related article, poem or book review you would like to have included in future editions, you can send through proposals and finished items editors to Peter Kappen and David Hoxley via email: aip_editor@aip.org.au.

As reported by UN Women.

The world needs science, and science needs women and girls.

On 11 Feb, use the hashtag #WomeninScience to spread messages that defy gender stereotypes and let everyone know that we need more women and girls in science!

Women have led ground-breaking research into public health, vaccines, treatments and innovative technology, and been on the front lines of COVID-19 response as scientists, health care workers and more.

Yet, the gender gap in science and technology holds women back.

According to UNESCO’s forthcoming Science Report,  only 33 per cent of researchers are women, despite the fact that they represent 45 and 55 per cent of students at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels of study respectively, and 44 per cent of those enrolled in PhD programs.

While 70 per cent of health and social care workers are women, they are paid 11 per cent less than their male counterparts.

The COVID-19 pandemic is poised to widen the existing gender disparities, especially for women scientists at the early stages of their career, unless we act deliberately to keep women in the career pipelines in STEM.

It’s more important than ever to recognize women’s contributions in science, smash stereotypes and defeat discrimination against women and girls in science.

Support the women researchers you know.

Do you or someone you know have a physics PhD, and have had an unexpected career path, including roles outside of academia?

We’d love to hear your story and how physics has got you to where you are.

Past examples include physicists that have gone on to have careers in epidemiology, patent law, comms, medicine, education and even visual effects! Check out their career profiles in our shiny new #PhysicsGotMeHere page. 

Email your interest in sharing your story to aip@aip.org.au to have it featured in our monthly bulletin and website.

Open_Letter_Minister_Robert.pdf

On Christmas Eve 2021 it was announced that 6 ARC Discovery Projects were vetoed by the acting Minister for not demonstrating value for taxpayers’ money nor contributing to the national interest. This was despite the projects having been selected through a rigorous independent peer review process. It is shocking to see this kind of political intervention in a country like Australia where we expect a fair go for those who follow the grant rules. We expect our rigorous grant allocation systems to be guided by excellence and merit and to be determined by experts. Last-minute intervention from politicians should not be a routine part of this process and does not result in good value for money for the Australian taxpayer. We call on all our STEM colleagues from around Australia to join us in standing strong with our colleagues in humanities against political interference in the independent grant processes.

The Australian government has announced reforms to Australian Research Council processes, outlined in a recent letter from the Minister. 

We are very concerned about the rapid timeline for reform and lack of consultation. Commitment to a new direction offers the opportunity for long overdue consultation with the Australian research sector, and guidance from best practice internationally. 

We urge the government to undertake such consultation as a matter of priority. Changes at the ARC - the national funding body for all research outside the medical sector - will have long term impact.

We need to get it right this time.

• Read about the ARC reforms in their media release here.
• Read the letter from the Minister here.
• Read coverage of the issue in The Australian here.

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has announced the outcomes of the ARC Appeals committee on preprints and six additional funded research projects.

“The ARC Appeals Committee upheld all 28 appeals submitted to the Committee for having included preprints in their applications. The Committee also extended the ruling for 4 other applicants that did not submit an appeal.”

In addition, “6 of the 32 now eligible applications had been ranked highly in the grants assessment process and were recommended for funding—including 5 Discovery Early Career Researcher Award and 1 Future Fellowships application.”

• Read appeal outcomes Communique: www.arc.gov.au/news-publications/media/communiques/outcomes-arc-appeals-committee-preprints.
• Read media release, including details of newly funded projects: www.arc.gov.au/news-publications/media/media-releases/additional-funded-research-projects-following-arc-appeals-process.
• Read response from Science & Technology Australia: scienceandtechnologyaustralia.org.au/arc-appeals-decision-a-relief-a-new-delay-a-concern/

“This outcome is the result of the strong response of the sector, ranging from vocal individuals to the joint stand of the professional bodies,” says Australian Institute of Physics President Professor Sven Rogge.

“It is very late, but it is fair. I am thrilled since I know that some of these newly announced fellowships will change the career paths of fantastic upcoming scientists. At the same time, we are worried since other rounds are massively delayed. I expect that the ARC will also apply the same framework to all the grant rounds that are not yet announced. These need to be announced as soon as possible to provide certainly to the researchers involved."

“The AIP is looking forward to working with the ARC on reforms to ensure better consultation and transparency. We hope to avoid a single discipline, especially its early career researchers, being impacted so severely.”

The AIP NSW branch welcomes its new office bearers for 2022 following last month’s AGM on 16 November:

Chair: Professor Michael Lerch

Deputy Chair: Associate Professor Matthew Arnold

Secretary: Dr Frederick Osman

Treasurer: Dr Phil Burns

Committee Members: Associate Professor Graeme Melville. Dr Scott Martin, Dr Timothy Van der Laan, Dr Danica Solina, Dr Marc Galí Labarias and Dr Andrew Manning.

For excellence in physics research as well as clear and engaging presentation skills, Joe Zhiyu Chen (UNSW) and Zain Medhi (ANU) have won the 2021 AIP NSW branch Postgraduate Physics Award and Royal Society for NSW Jak Kelly Award, respectively.

The awards were based on the online student presentations given on 9 November from the top physics postgraduate students nominated by each NSW university.

Joe Zhiyu Chen’s talk explained how he was using supercomputing to model galaxy distribution in the presence of neutrino masses.

Zain Mehdi’s presented his work on modelling two types of thermal energy loss during turbulence in quantum fluids.

The other contenders were awarded AIP NSW Postgraduate Excellence Certificates in recognition of nomination by their universities based on their high standing. They included Sobia Rehman (Macquarie Uni), Florian List (USYD), Matthew James (UNE), Simon White (UTS), and Ankit Shrestha (University of Wollongong).

The AIP NSW branch also wishes to congratulate Philip Mai (UNSW) and Bailey Thompson (University of Wollongong) for winning the 2021 Best Graduating Student Prizes. The prizes recognise their clearly outstanding work in their undergraduate Physics programs.

Lastly, ‘Drones, Droids and Robots’ was the theme of this year’s projects in contention for the AIP NSW Most Outstanding Physics K-12 Prizes and Science Teachers Association of NSW Young Scientist Awards.

First prize for ‘Automated Hand Injury Assessment and Treatment Device (MedLab)’ went to Yasiru Puhule-Gamayalag (Cherrybrook Technology High School). ‘Remote Control Raft Cleaner’ by Max Zhao (Barker College) won second prize. Thaddeus Candra (Redeemer Baptist School) was given third prize for ‘The Mars Ninja Warrior Conquers Mount Midoriyama’.