Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

Congratulations to Distinguished Professor Yuri Kivshar (MP) and Dr. Daria Smirnova (EME) on receiving major honorific awards from the Australian Academy of Science for their outstanding work. Yuri is honoured with the Flinders Medal and Lecture, one of the premier career recognitions from the Academy. His truly inspirational citation and acceptance can be viewed here. Daria received the prestigious Pawsey Medal, recognising outstanding research in physics by scientists up to 10 years post-PhD. Her visionary citation and heartfelt acceptance can be viewed here. They are amazing individuals. I’m so pleased to see their research leadership and qualities recognised by the Academy.

It is with sincere gratitude that I announce a very significant donation to our school community. Our longest serving colleague, Honorary Professor Brian Robson has created a perpetual gift in support of the vital role theory plays in physics. Brian’s gift generously provides; 

… support of Honours/Postgraduate students and/or early career researchers within the Research School of Physics, working in foundational theoretical physics with a preference given to nuclear and/or particle physics. The award can be in the form of a top-up to Honours/Postgraduate students, or to support travel for presenting theoretical work at conferences.

I’m so pleased to see foundational research supported by this enduring gift. Please join us to thank Brian on Tuesday 15th of April at 1030 in the foyer of the new building (yes, sausage rolls!). Below, seen a few years after he joined the School Brian mastered the IBM 1620, the first computer at ANU (1962).  

Also below, a great photo of colleagues from Material Physics gathering to enjoy Prof Adrian Sheppard’s seminar on “Directionality of Ostwald ripening in underground CO2 (and H2) storage” (credit: J. Bradby).

Tim

Schmidt Science Fellows For 2026 - Applications Due By COB 15 April

RSPhys HDR candidates are invited to apply for the 2026 Schmidt Science Fellows award.

Interested candidates should provide:

• current CV with details of relevant publications, and academic history.
• a letter of recommendation from their supervisor.
• a personal statement outlining their motivations aligning with the selection criteria; and 
• a brief description of their PhD research including PhD topic title.

Please send your nomination documents to hdr.physics@anu.edu.au by COB 15 April 2025

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MSI Seminar - April 14

The Mathematical Data Science Centre seminar series
'An Overview of Scientific Machine Learning'
Diego Marcondes, Australian National University

Scientific Machine Learning (SciML) is an emerging research area that applies machine learning techniques to solve scientific computing problems, such as numerically solving forward and inverse problems associated with partial differential equations. In this accessible talk, we will present the main SciML techniques and discuss how they can be applied not only to problems in numerical analysis but also to statistical learning based on prior information. 

Date: Mon 14 April 2025
Time: 1-2pm
Location: Seminar Room 1.33, Hanna Neumann Building 145

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Join us for an evening of numbers, patterns, and surprises at Math in the Pub, where local experts will explore the beauty of mathematics in a fun and casual setting.

Date: Tues 13 May 2025
Time: 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Location: Smith’s Alternative, 76 Alinga St, Civic

Register

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Oliphant Bldg. Meeting Rooms - Closed

All Oliphant (Bldg. #60) Meeting rooms will be closed from 12/12/24.

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College Hot Desking In Physics

Finance & HR Teams
Thursday Mornings
^{Lv2 Tearoom, Bldg 160}

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EVENTS

Departmental seminars

Professor Adrian Sheppard - 9 April
Directionality of Ostwald ripening in underground CO2 (and H2) storage
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Dr Pieter Claeys - 10 April
DUAL-UNITARY CIRCUITS AS MINIMAL MODELS FOR QUANTUM MANY-BODY DYNAMICS
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