Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fly through the atmosphere of Uranus or land on Venus? Buckle up and join Professor Patrick Irwin from Oxford University’s Department of Physics as he takes you on a space odyssey…

Dr Kevin Olsen from the University of Oxford’s Department of Physics, working with international colleagues, has spotted new gas signatures that shed new light on the mystery of methane in Mars’ atmosphere – a gas strongly associated with biological or geological activity.

A team from Oxford’s Department of Physics has observationally confirmed a long-standing hypothesis that aerosols can extend the lifetime of low-level cloud, thereby cooling the earth.

The observational results suggest that the enhanced aerosol cooling potential from longer-lived clouds is essential to include in climate models in order to accurately predict global mean temperatures as greenhouse gases and aerosol emissions continue to change in the future.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has released a comprehensive analysis of the largest three-dimensional map of the Universe ever created, filling in the most significant gaps in our possible exploration of its history.

Dr Simon Calcutt from Oxford’s Department of Physics along with Professor Tom Pike from Imperial College London are leading on a new research project to improve the precision of maritime navigation.

The project aims to develop the MEMS component of a hybrid cold atoms MEMS gravity gradiometer and is funded by the UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing, led by the University of Birmingham. It will extend the Hub’s map-matching navigation technology to applications in maritime environments.

The Department of Physics is delighted to welcome eight new Associate Professor Tutorial Fellows to its academic staff.

‘We are thrilled to be joined by such fantastic new colleagues,’ enthuses Professor Ian Shipsey, Head of Department. ‘Each one brings with them their rich experience, cutting-edge research and insightful teaching practice. As leading experts in their fields, the entire department is very excited for what the future holds. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the search committees for their excellent work in identifying such exceptional talent.’

Royal Society Research Professor in Climate Physics Tim Palmer has been elected as an International Member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of his distinguished and continuing achievement in original research.

Professor Raymond Pierrehumbert, the Halley Professor of Physics at Oxford, has been elected as Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of his outstanding contribution to scientific understanding.

Professor Pierrehumbert works on the physics of the climate of planets – including Earth – and his research explores the past four billion years of the Universe and extrapolates to the next several billion years, extending from the Solar System out to the newly discovered exoplanets. He came to Oxford University in 2015 and became a Professorial Fellow of Jesus College.