Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

It was wonderful to see so many graduates, their families, and the staff who supported them at Thursday's Physics afternoon tea. We managed to capture the traditional photo with the Physics sign, though this represents just a subset of our graduates who we were able to gather at that moment. The energy and pride in the room was lovely as we celebrated the achievements of our graduates together. Thank you also to the academics who attended graduation ceremonies last week. In particular, I want to thank Adrian and Patrick who agreed to attend at the last minute when the 17th and final ceremony of the series on Friday morning was looking very light on academic representation. I would encourage all academics to registrar to future ceremonies – it's easy to sign up and was a lovely experience. 

Last week Professor Vince Craig let me know he would like to step down from his role as Associate Director HDR. Supporting our amazing HDR students is one of the most important roles in the school and Vince has done an outstanding job through significant transitions and challenges. I am sure there will be cake to properly thank Vince in the coming weeks but for now I would just like to say thank you on behalf of the school. 

An Expression of Interest will be sent around later today and Vince has indicated he is happy to talk to anyone about the role. 

Last week also saw a delegation from the Department of Physics at Ewha Womans University in Korea, hosted by Professor Hoe Tan. These kinds of international connections are very important for our research community, opening doors for collaborative projects and providing opportunities for our students and early career researchers to build networks that will sustain them throughout their careers. It's always energising to see these partnerships in action. Thank you for organising Hoe.

We don't have a featured research paper this week, but we now have a link to submit papers for consideration in the newsletter. Please do submit your publications - I've gotten some great feedback about featuring these works – we all enjoy learning about research happening in other parts of the school. 

Jodie

Pint of Science Festival 2026 | EoI

The Pint of Science festival, held annually in May, offers researchers the opportunity to engage with their local community and share their recent work in a relaxed and casual pub environment.

We love having researchers from all discipline areas and levels of experience and want the community where you work or live, to hear and learn about what you do!

Expressions of interest are now open! Please fill out the form to register.

^{Please note that completing an EOI form only expresses your interest and does not commit you to present at the festival. You will hear back from us closer to the festival to confirm your availability and interest.}

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Statistical Support For HDR Students

As the academic year is about to begin, it's a good time to remind researchers across the University that the services of the Statistical Support Network are available to Masters and PhD students for their research projects. Statistical support is available for design of experiments and surveys, data management, exploratory data analysis, statistical modelling and data presentation.

Students and their supervisors are welcome to book an initial consultation with the SSN lead via this link. Consultations are free. Depending on the nature of the support required, students may be provided with links to relevant videos, text-based or web-based tutorials, or may be connected with SSN members in Colleges who have volunteered their time to advise research students.

If you have any queries about the Statistical Support Network or the services it provides, please contact ssn@anu.edu.au. The network members look forward to collaborating with you on your projects!

When Honorary Professor Brian Robson arrived at The Australian National University (ANU) as a 25-year-old research fellow in April 1960, he joined a university already known for excellence and innovation.

“ANU was a top university from the beginning,” Professor Robson recalled at a celebratory event at the ANU Research School of Physics (RSPhys) earlier this year. “The School had the best director of its time, Sir Mark Oliphant. He had worked at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, which was then the premier laboratory in the world, and modelled the Research School of Physical Sciences on it.”

Over 65 years later, Professor Robson’s name is synonymous with Theoretical Physics at ANU. His career has spanned nuclear theory, particle physics and cosmology, and his leadership has helped shape a generation of researchers. 

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Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials Call For EOIs Information Session | Feb 16

The RTCFM is calling for Expressions of Interest for projects aligned to Grand Challenge 2: Circularity of Energy Storage Materials (GC2), due 17 April 2026. 

Information session
Date: 16 February 2026
Time: 1-3pm
Location: Building 160, Conference Room, Level 4

Registration: required for catering purposes REGISTER

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College Hot Desking In Physics

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

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EVENTS

Director's Colloquium - 13 February

Brillouin microscopy: From fundamental optics to the clinic....and back - Professor Giuliano Scarcelli

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Departmental seminars

Mr Ivan Toftul - 12 February
Resonant metaphotonics: From optical manipulation to chiral metasurfaces
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Mr Hendrik Heimes - 25 February
Squeezing And Twisting Carbon Until It Gives Up
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