Astrophysics
3 March 2020
Shedding new light on black hole ejections
A research group led by Oxford’s Department of Physics has observed a black hole ejecting material at close to the speed of light, out to some of the largest separations ever seen. These observations have allowed a deeper understanding into how black holes feed into their environment.
20 February 2020
New invention: broadband quantum limited frequency up-converter
Researchers at Oxford have devised a broadband high efficiency frequency up-converter based on the nonlinear wave mixing mechanism in a travelling wave parametric device. The up-converter exhibits quantum-limit noise performance, high conversion efficiency and cleanly defined spectral components. Key application areas include quantum-computing, astronomical experimentation and cryogenic readout applications.
Guest lunch with Dr Sam Henry
Come and join the Women in Physics society for lunch with special guest Dr Sam Henry. Want to know more about the recent UCU strike action or interested in addressing the gender pay gap? Bring along your questions for Sam. We'll also be hearing all about Sam's outreach and public engagement activities. Lunch is provided - sign up at the OxWiP website: https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/oxwip .
29 January 2020
Man vs machine: citizen science project discovers its first exoplanet
Citizen science project Planet Hunters TESS proved its worth when its army of volunteers discovered an exoplanet – a planet beyond our own Solar System – that computer algorithms had missed.
Academic Consulting Seminar (POSTPONED)
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED
Consulting Services is the consulting arm of Oxford University Innovation Ltd, the University’s technology transfer company.
Come and join us on 18th March 2020, 11.00am in the Simpkins Lee Room, Beecroft Building, to learn about how you can undertake consultancy activity as an integral part of your research activity whilst at Oxford. This seminar will be of interest to academics, researchers and DPhil students.
Enterprising Women POSTPONED
POSTPONED
Hear from two enterprising and successful women, who have helped form spin-out companies from Oxford Physics research, sharing their personal journeys into entrepreneurship and advice for students and researchers.
Ilana Wisby (CEO of Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC)) gained a PhD in quantum physics, after which she entered the world of start-ups and is now leading an Oxford University spin-out company, creating the core of the quantum revolution.
10 January 2020
Royal Astronomical Society recognition for two Oxford astrophysicists
Two astrophysicists from Oxford’s Department of Physics have been awarded prestigious medals by the Royal Astronomical Society in the society's bicentenary year: Professor Rob Fender (left), Head of Astrophysics at Oxford and Visiting SKA Professor at the University of Cape Town, receives the Herschel medal while Professor Steve Balbus (right), Savillian Professor of Astronomy and Fellow of the Royal Society, is awarded the Eddington medal.
17 December 2019
Public lecture: the first image of a black hole
Professor Heino Falcke of Radboud University, Nijmegen delivered the 19th Hintze Lecture at Oxford University's Department of Physics on 14 November. During this public lecture, he reviewed the latest results of the Event Horizon Telescope, its scientific implications and future expansions of the array.
10 December 2019
The search for extra-terrestrial neighbours continues
Astronomer Suzanne Aigrain from the Physics Department at Oxford University has been awarded almost 2 million Euros from the European Research Council to develop novel data analysis techniques that are essential to find Earth-like planets orbiting nearby stars.
21 November 2019
Telescopes document extreme explosion
Astronomers at Oxford University’s Physics Department have been involved in the first-ever detection of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) by a ground-based high-energy telescope. The GRB, likely associated with the catastrophic explosion of a massive star, was first detected on January 14, 2019, by the orbiting Swift and Fermi satellites.
A major breakthrough