Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

I have to start this week's newsletter with a huge round of applause for this year's Physics Project Market Day which was held last week! I was so proud of the whole ANU Physics community, and I hope everyone got a lot out of the day. Over 130 students came along to nearly 50 posters, and this year we also welcomed industry partners and an alumni panel featuring Dr Andrew Wilkinson (Commissioner of Patents, IP Australia), Dr Kate Ferguson (ANU Institute for Space), Dr Richard Barry (Department of Industry, Science and Resources) and Dr James Besley (Nearmap). Hearing how physics shaped their careers gave both our undergraduate and HDR students a sense of the many paths that physics research can open up.

Market Day is a wonderful coming together of our two missions, education and research, and it simply would not be possible without the academics doing that research. My thanks go to everyone who prepared a poster and gave their time to talk with students. I want to make special mention of A/Prof Cormac Corr and Holly Zervos, who both worked so hard to make the day a success. Thank you also to our Associate Director HDR, A/Prof Vanessa Robins, for chairing the alumni panel so well, and to our four panellists for giving their time. I am also grateful to our Associate Director Translation, Prof Patrick Kluth, for organising the companies, to the IT team for printing so many posters, and to Martin Conway for putting together the booklet.

I am pleased that we can offer the Physics Student Research Summer Scholars Scheme for 2026/27, with applications opening today. It is a great opportunity for students to come to the School and work on a project over the summer, and we hope many will go on to consider us for Honours or a PhD. If you know students who might like to do a project with us, please pass the details on to them. More information can be found here.

Finally, a reminder for staff that the 2026 ANYOU pulse survey closes tomorrow, Tuesday 29 September. It takes about five minutes, responses are confidential, and you should already have an invitation from Culture Amp in your inbox. The results really do matter to us as a School. In response to the last survey, we launched a new Supports page on our website, committed to holding regular departmental and School Executive meetings and sharing the minutes so it is clearer how the School works, and increased training in respectful relationships in the workplace. Before the end of the year, we also plan to install privacy film on the office windows in B160 (and bring back the espresso machine!). More information about the survey can be found here.

Jodie

EMCR Lunch

2027 ANU Women and Non-Binary People in STEM Society!

The ANU Women and Non-Binary People in STEM Society aims to provide female, femme-aligned and non-binary STEM students at the ANU the opportunity to network with each other and other STEM professionals, improve their leadership skills, and meet others in their community in a safe and supportive environment. We aim to allow students to voice their experiences in STEM, connect with each other, and gain guidance on STEM pathways.

This flagship event is a three-day conference that aims to facilitate a positive, supportive, and educative community for Women and Non-Binary People in STEM, whilst also providing networking opportunities, skill development and insight from both academic and industry representatives. 

Position descriptions and further information can be found by following this link - https://forms.gle/JFoWEVagB1FWUUhaA

Applications close on the 20th of October. Applicants will be shortlisted, and short interviews will be conducted after the application close date. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact wis.leadership@anu.edu.au.