Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

Last week was a busy one across the school, and a particular highlight was hosting ANU Council on Friday. The day began with a briefing on the InXight Centre and OreAI project with Rio, followed by a tour of the CT labs, before Council members joined staff and students for lunch in our tearoom. By all reports the informal setting was genuinely appreciated, and it was a wonderful opportunity for Council to connect with the people and work that make this school what it is. Thank you to everyone who took the time to chat with them.

I am pleased to announce that Dr Lilli Sun from the Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics will be joining the HDR team as a new HDR Convenor. I know she will bring real care and commitment to the role. Congratulations also to Prof Hoe Tan, who has been appointed to serve on ANU's Research Infrastructure Committee. It is wonderful to see Hoe's expertise recognised at the university level, and I know he will represent the school well.

This week's research highlight comes from the Department of Fundamental and Theoretical Physics. A recent paper published in Physical Review Research reports a significant advance in attosecond science, led by E/Prof Anatoli Kheifets in collaboration with colleagues in the USA. The study demonstrates how spin-orbit coupling can serve as an intrinsic control mechanism for accessing distinct regimes of ultrafast photoionization.

Finally, it is with sadness that I share the news of the passing of Dr Michael Hall after a long illness. Michael completed his PhD thesis, "Locality, Probability and Quantum Mechanics," in the Department of Theoretical Physics in 1989, and his connection to the school spanned decades, including a distinguished career at the patents office (he was fond of claiming he was a better patent officer than Einstein) and a period at Griffith University. He will be deeply missed. Details of a celebration of his life are included below.

I am on leave this week and I am grateful to Prof Hoe Tan for stepping in as Acting Director in my absence. (Note that I will still be approving International travel as the system is tricky in terms of delegations.)

Jodie

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

Celebration of The Life of Michael J.W. Hall

The Hall/Seth-Purdie family wish to invite friends & colleagues of Michael Hall to celebrate his life on Saturday 2 May 2026. 

Date: Sat 2 May 2026
Time: Drop-in between 10:30am-1pm (formalities from approximately 11:30am)
Venue: 15 Goodparla St Hawker ACT
RSVP: By Saturday 25 April 

No flowers please - but donations welcomed to the Garvan Institute.

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Welcome Message From The New Physics HDR Student Reps & Call For Participation

Dear Fellow HDR students,

We are writing to introduce ourselves as your HDR Rep team, and we are also looking for new members to join us. As the team is currently going through a transition period, with previous members moving on and new members just coming in, we thought this would be a good time to reach out. At the moment, there are two of us: Lakshmi from MP and Lingxiao from FTP.

We would especially love to have people from different departments involved, so that the team can better represent the wider HDR student community.

As HDR Reps, we attend some meetings that may affect HDR student life, listen to ideas and concerns from fellow students, and put forward proposals on issues that matter to our community. The role is not too heavy, and it is not a huge time commitment, but it is a good chance to contribute and help make sure HDR student voices are heard. It can also be a useful way to better understand how the university works behind the scenes, including some of the administrative side of things. We are also working to rebuild the presence and influence of the HDR Rep team, and we think there is a lot more the team could do.

If you are interested in helping improve HDR student life, representing your peers, and contributing to positive change, we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch with us at hdrsreps.physics@anu.edu.au.

Best regards,
Lakshmi & Lingxiao

The Brian Robson Award | Applications Open Now

Each year the Research School of Physics may offer one or more awards known as the Brian Robson Award. Funding for this Award has been provided by an endowment made to The Australian National University in 2025 by Emeritus Honorary Professor Brian Robson.

The objective of the Award is to assist international or domestic Honours students, postgraduate research candidates and early career researchers (ECR) working in the area of Theoretical Physics in the Research School of Physics to attend a conference or workshop, make a collaborative visit to an overseas institution or in an Australian university, host a collaborator, or organise a scientific event (workshop, summer school). It is the intention of the Research School and the donor, that the Award is used to enhance career opportunities and experience of ECRs and students in theoretical physics, preferably in the research area of nuclear and particle physics.

For eligibility and how to apply, please 'read more'.

Applications close May 1st.

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