Henry Snaith has been named one of Thomson Reuters most influential scientific minds for 2015 on the basis of 24 recent papers, mostly on perovskite solar cells, that were highly cited in 2013-14. The full report can be found here.

Different branches of science typically deal with very different concepts and research subjects that seldom overlap. Though once in a while, a common idea can emerge, propagate across different fields, and lead to rare discoveries appreciated by scientists in all fields, showing the generality, profoundness, and beauty of science.

Condensed Matter Physics is delighted to announce that Mr Han Peng, first year postgraduate student, has been awarded the Arthur H Cooke Memorial prize 2015 for distinguished work by a first year research student in Condensed Matter Physics.

Well done Han.

An exotic particle – the Weyl fermion, has recently been discovered in a compound called tantalum arsenide (TaAs) by an international collaboration of scientists lead by Oxford physicists.

The Weyl fermion is an intriguing chiral massless particle, which was named after the mathematician and physicist, Hermann Weyl in 1930s. Over the past century, it has been the research subject of high energy physicists, and various interesting particles in the universe, including neutrinos, were speculated as Weyl fermions. However, none has been confirmed unfortunately.

The Physics Department is sad to announce the death of Professor Harry Jones.

Harry, who was 70 in February, joined the department in 1968 and served Oxford Physics for 44 years before formally retiring in 2012. He was well known around the world for his great expertise in superconducting magnets, which formed the basis of high magnetic field work done in the Clarendon Laboratory over very many years. His legacy is kept alive by the newly formed Oxford Centre for Applied Superconductivity.

Our condolences go to his wife Linda, and to his wider family.