"For major contributions to the understanding of energetic particle generation and transport in relativistic laser-plasma interactions, including innovative experiments relevant to fast ignition fusion concepts."

The Department of Physics has been granted an Athena Swan Bronze Award.

For further details, please see the full Story at www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/athena-swan.

The beliefs underpinning the Athena Swan Charter are:

An international collaboration led by Oxford physicists reported today in Physical Review Letters experimental measurements of how ions influence each other’s behaviour in a hot-dense aluminium plasma, leading to an effect called ionization potential depression (link to article). These results shed new light on a half-century-old debate regarding one of the most challenging properties to measure in such extreme systems.

Summer 2012

Our latest Department newsletter is now available to download in PDF format here. Have a look at the wide range of work that we do in front-line research, teaching, public outreach and school education. We would welcome contributions to future newsletters from undergraduate or postgraduate alumni and previous members of the physics department.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell has been elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics.

Katherine Blundell has been awarded the Bragg Medal "For promoting engagement in and learning of physics both by carrying research in astronomy into schools in developing countries and by helping graduate students and postdocs in the UK to talk to schoolchildren about their science."

The IceCube telescope buried beneath the South Pole has failed to detect any high energy neutrinos accompanying exploding fireballs in space, undermining a leading theory of how cosmic rays are born (Nature 484:351,2012).

Physics has long been a male-dominated subject. To fulfil the department's scientific mission, it is vital that we use the full potential of the population and redress that imbalance. Since 2010, the department has been developing a portfolio of new and existing actions to improve the employment conditions and practice for all staff and students. Good practice benefits everyone, but disproportionately benefits women. These actions, and the critical assessment that led to them, are described in our application for an Athena Swan Silver Award.

The prize is awarded annually to the candidate who has displayed excellence in the execution of the scientific method as witnessed by the award of Doctor of Philosophy in Plasma science from a UK or Irish university. The thesis content should exhibit significant new work and originality, clearly driven by the nominee, be well explained and demonstrate a good understanding of the subject. The prize consists of £500 in cash plus an expenses paid trip to the annual IOP plasma physics conference, where the recipient will be asked to give an invited talk.

Dr Kevin O'Keeffe was awarded the Cavendish Medal for the excellence of his research at the "SET for Britain" poster competition held on 12th March in the House of Commons.