Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

Last week the new ARC Centres for Excellence were announced. Congratulations to the team behind Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computer Performance and Integration, led by Professor Andrea Morello at UNSW. Our own Associate Professor Rose Ahlefeldt will serve as Deputy Director of the Centre, with Dr Sophie Zhao also joining as a CI from ANU. This is a tremendous achievement and great to see ANU Physics playing a strong role in the application. Well done all involved!

This week's publication is from the Department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications, with a profile piece on HIAF appearing in Nuclear Physics News for the first time since 1999. The article, titled "NCRIS Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF) and the Department of Nuclear Physics and Accelerator Applications," showcases the facility and the work of the department to the international nuclear physics community. It’s a great read and I would encourage everyone to look it up.

Last week the School underwent a full day WHS audit by Comcare as part of ANU's self-insurance arrangements. The auditor was impressed by our WHS systems, which is a credit to the hard work of Rick, Huma, and James. Thanks to the volunteers who were interviewed throughout the day. It is great to see the high standards we have in the school being acknowledged.

Finally, last Tuesday we had the pleasure of finally thanking Tim for his ten years of service as Director. Thank you to everyone who came along to celebrate and hope you enjoy some of the photos of the morning tea (above & at the bottom). Tim was very touched and the P has pride of place in his new office!

Jodie

HR Support For CoSM SharePoint

The People and Culture division are in the process of re-aligning work within functional teams to improve consistency and quality of advice across the University. 

Part of this includes re-aligning recruitment support to the People and Culture recruitment team for CoSM. Information to assist CoSM Schools and areas with this transition, and to provide some clarity on who to contact for support, can be found at the HR Support for CoSM SharePoint.

MSI Lecture | Jan 29

'Comprehending Large Numbers'
Ian Le, Australian National University

Date: Thurs 29 Jan 2026
Time: 5:30-6:30pm 
Location: Seminar Room 1.33 7 1.37, Hanna Neumann Bldg 145

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Maitri Scholarships

Applications for Maitri Scholarships 25/26 open

The Maitri Scholarships Program supports India’s top students to study at Australia’s world class universities. The scholarships prioritise students undertaking PhD studies in STEM-related fields that align to priorities outlined in A New Roadmap for Australia’s Economic Engagement with India:

• Clean Energy
• Agribusiness
• Technology and IT
• Resources and Resources and Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS)
• Defence Industries
• Space
• Health

The next round for applications is open now and closes on 14th January 2026. 

Please get in touch with us if you are wishing to apply.

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The History and Mystery Series

The ASA ECR Chapter's online talk series "The History and Mystery Series" aims to explore aspects of astronomy (e.g., social, political, geographical, and historical perspectives) that are usually not covered in conventional scientific talks. The talks are open to all, please register here.

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College Hot Desking In Physics

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

Staff Movements

Prof Greg Lane will be away 9/12/25 - 19/12/25
^{Michaela Froehlich will be acting HoD in this period}

EVENTS

Departmental seminars

Mr Jack lang - 15 December
Beyond one-second storage in a telecom-wavelength quantum memory
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