Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

Last week it was a pleasure to welcome Australia's Chief Scientist, Professor Tony Haymet, to the school. He was clearly impressed by our facilities, and it was a good reminder of the calibre of research and infrastructure we have to be proud of here in The Research School of Physics.

One quick update from last week's school executive meeting: in 'any other business', a question was raised about whether we might find ways to reflect the rich history of our school in the new building, capturing both our heritage and our research story. The opening of the refurbished Oliphant building, due in July or August, feels like a natural milestone to work toward. If you are interested in being part of a small working group, please get in touch with me directly.

This week's research highlight comes from PhD student Kar Meng Kwan from CGA who led an experiment to demonstrate quantum amplification of quantum squeezed vacuum, an idea proposed at the same time (more than 40 years ago) as injecting squeezed light in gravitational wave detectors, but only demonstrated now using 2um lasers and squeezers. This is important for some proposed gravitational wave detectors or other applications at wavelengths where high quantum efficiency photodetectors are not available. The paper has been selected as an Editor's Suggestion in Physical Review Letters and can be found here. Congratulations to Kar Meng and the whole team!

On an administrative note, Nikki, Amanda, and Belinda have now moved into the college structure. They remain a most valued part of our school and continue to operate here as normal, so nothing changes in terms of how you work with them. Regarding Stores and Workshops, detailed discovery work is currently underway to understand the current operating model before any changes are made. I want to be clear that the school remains firmly committed to protecting our support and technical capabilities.

Finally, Physics staff and students are warmly invited to an informal meet-and-greet with members of the ANU Council on Friday 24th April, around 1pm, in the Level 2 Tea Room in the new Physics building. It will be a relaxed drop-in with some food provided. If you are planning to attend and have strict dietary requirements, please let Nikki know as soon as possible.

If you would like your work featured as a future research highlight, submissions can be made here, or feel free to email me directly.

Jodie

^{For meeting requests for the Director please use the jodie.bradby@anu.edu.au calendar}

Join Dr Sean Hodgman on a deep dive into his group's recent work on entanglement of helium atoms' momentum.

The video on this research has attracted thousands of comments, so we sat Sean down and went through the questions. 

He talks about what exactly the team measured, why it's so new, and takes us on a deep dive into exactly how the experiment worked. 

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Industry Opportunity | Applications Open

Opportunity to work with industry! This Industry Challenge may be relevant to colleagues working in optical systems and sensor technologies.

Collection, Sorting, and Separation Technologies for Flexible Packaging. PepsiCo is seeking innovative solutions or expertise to collect, sort, and separate flexible packaging.

Application deadline April 29th, 2026.

» read more

Quantum photonics is set to be a pivotal part of future quantum technology, if the right materials can be created, a new review paper has found.

Photonics provides one approach to developing quantum technology by using light. The authors believe that if a programmable photonic platform can be developed, it could enable exciting future technologies such as quantum neural networks and distributed quantum computing.

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First Wednesday Connect | May 6

CBRIN’s fast-paced pitching and networking event

All ANU staff and students are invited to connect with local industry and external stakeholders right here on campus, hear what others are building, and showcase the exciting research translation happening across ANU.

Researchers, startups and project teams are invited to deliver a 1-minute pitch introducing their startup, technology or research opportunity. It’s a great chance to raise visibility, spark new collaborations and celebrate innovation in action.

Date: Wed 6 May
Time: 5.00–6.30pm
Location: School of Cybernetics, Birch Building bldg. #35

Professor Aaron Quigley, Dean of the College of Systems and Society, will open the evening. Catering will be provided by the Commercialisation and Innovation team in collaboration with the School of Cybernetics. Networking from 5.00pm, pitches from 5.30pm.

^{If you would like to pitch but can’t attend yourself, you are welcome to nominate someone else from your team — please email and copy in your delegate so presenters can be kept track of.}

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Staff Movements

Prof Jodie Bradby will be on leave from 28/4/26 returning 4/5/26
^{Prof Hoe Tan will be acting Director during this time}

College Hot Desking In Physics

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

RSPhys Executive Meeting Minutes

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EVENTS

Director's Colloquium - 30 April

100% renewable energy and all that - Professor Andrew Blakers

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