Today, UKRI announced the launch of the Quantum Technologies for Fundamental Physics (QTFP) programme that will support scientists using quantum technology to study the universe in new ways in order to determine the nature of dark matter, detect gravitational waves and study the physics of black holes. Professor Ian Shipsey is Head of the Department of Physics at Oxford and has championed the programme since its inception:

Oxford’s Department of Physics is playing a key role in three of the seven quantum projects supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) including Quantum Sensing for the Hidden Sector (QSHS). With QSHS, we are joining forces with six other universities as well as the National Physical Laboratory on a multi-million-pound project which could open up a new frontier in physics.

Professor Amalia Coldea from Oxford University’s Department of Physics has been awarded the Institute of Physics’ Brian Pippard Prize. The prize is awarded every two years to a scientist working in the UK who has made a significant contribution to the field of superconductivity, with particular emphasis given to recent work.

Some 52 researchers from the University of Oxford have been named on this year’s Highly Cited Researchers list – eight of which are from the Department of Physics. The annual list identifies researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade.

The following academics from the Department of Physics appeared in this year’s list: Michele Cappellari, Yulin Chen, Laura Herz, Geert Jan Oldenborgh, Michael Johnston, Henry Snaith, Stephen J Tucker and Wei Zhang.

For the first time, researchers from Oxford’s Departments of Physics and Materials have managed to image hybrid metal halide perovskites with atomic-scale resolution providing new insights into these wonder-materials. A paper published in Science shares the groups’ findings about the materials’ remarkable self-healing powers; the findings further our critical understanding of how such perovskites work and are an essential step closer to the commercial production of perovskite solar cells.

The Physics of Life UK Network (PoLNET) steering group has been awarded the Institute of Physics’ Rosalind Franklin Medal and Prize.

The medal is in recognition of the network bringing physicists and biologists together to stimulate new, adventurous partnerships at the interface between physics, the life sciences and medicine.