News

2 November 2012

Dr Leigh Fletcher awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship

Dr Leigh Fletcher, currently Violette and Samuel Glasstone Science Fellow (Atmospheric, Oceanic & Planetary Physics), has been awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in the 2012 round which he plans to take up in January 2013.

Leigh obtained his DPhil here in Oxford in 2007 and then held a post-doctoral position at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, USA before moving back to Oxford in 2010 to take up his Glasstone Fellowship.

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29 October 2012

Prof Giulia Zanderighi awarded a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Humboldt Foundation

Giulia Zanderighi, Professor of Physics at the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, has obtained a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Humboldt Foundation, Germany. These are awarded to internationally renowned academics from abroad in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in research to date and their exceptional promise for the future.

Giulia's research is focussed on the phenomenology of elementary particles.

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29 October 2012

Iron-based molecular sandwich is a new superconductor

Scientists at Oxford have synthesised a new superconductor in which a molecular spacer layer has been inserted in between layers of iron selenide. Pure iron selenide had already been shown to lose all electrical resistance, but only when cooled below about 8 degrees above absolute zero. As described in a Letter published in Nature Materials, the new compound retains superconductivity at temperatures more than four times higher.

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26 October 2012

Single-molecule cellular biophysics sheds new light on machines that remodel DNA

In new research1 published in the journal Science, pioneering single-molecule biophysics has been used to probe the mode of action of nanoscale molecular machines that remodel DNA inside living cells, from collaborative research involving Mark Leake’s team in the Condensed Matter Physics sub-dept of Oxford Physics and David Sherratt and co-workers in Oxford Biochemistry.

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25 October 2012

Prof James Binney awarded ERC advanced grant

The European Research Council has awarded Prof James Binney a five-year Advanced Grant of nearly 2m Eu to fund work on extracting science from large surveys of our Galaxy.

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16 October 2012

DAVID RYAN PRIZE 2012

Condensed Matter Physics is delighted to announce that Miss Katherine Dunn, second year postgraduate student, has been awarded the David Ryan Prize 2012 for the best research presentation by a postgraduate student in their second year at the annual poster session.
Well done, Katherine!

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9 October 2012

Professor Peter Norreys awarded Fellowship of the American Physical Society

"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."

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3 October 2012

Oxford Climate Research Network launched

The newly launched Oxford Climate Research Network (OCRN) is a cross-divisional initiative aiming to promote collaborations between scientists who investigate climate-related issues in various departments at Oxford, and increase the visibility of climate research both within and outside the University.

OCRN is harnessing Oxford’s diverse strengths to address key challenge in understanding and managing climate change.

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27 September 2012

Dr Sam Stranks awarded the IoP's Roy Thesis Prize

Congratulations to Dr Sam Stranks, who was recently presented with the Institute of Physics’ Roy Thesis Prize. The prize is awarded annually to the best nominated thesis in condensed matter and materials physics.

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26 September 2012

Dr Andrei Starinets awarded ERC starting grant

Dr Starinets has been awarded an ERC Starting grant for research on non-equilibrium gauge-string duality.

The goal is to study non-equilibrium states of strongly coupled quantum systems relevant for heavy ion and condensed matter physics by using existing and developing new methods of gauge-string duality (also know as holography or AdS/CFT correspondence). The gauge-string duality is a set of non-perturbative tools developed within string theory over the last fourteen years. The duality methods can be used independently of the final status of string theory itself.

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