The biennial Physics Congress in Brisbane
4 to 8 December
Researchers from every State plus international and Asian leaders
All stories embargoed until released during the Congress.
The biggest discovery of 2016 – gravitational waves. Hear from one of the leaders on what’s next.
Einstein said we’d never find them. But we did. Have more been found? What’s Australia’s role, and why should we care? Researchers from Canberra, Melbourne, and Perth will talk about their work on gravitational waves.
Our neutrino world – explained by 2015 Nobel Prize winner Takaaki Kajita
We live in a world of neutrinos. Thousands of billions of neutrinos—mostly created by the Sun—are flowing through your body every second. You cannot see them and you do not feel them. So how did we discover they have mass, and why does that challenge our standard model of the Universe? Kajita will also be meeting with school students.
$20 billion, with a result is expected in 2035. The world’s largest science experiment hopes to crack fusion power.
Speakers from around the world, including senior advisor to the ITER project Jean Jacquinot, will speak about the global race to harness the process that powers our Sun. Researchers from ANU will be available to speak about Australia’s involvement. [Read more…] about A week of physics stories – starting Monday
We live in a world of neutrinos. Thousands of billions of neutrinos—mostly created by the Sun—are flowing through your body every second. You cannot see them and you do not feel them; and they are very hard for scientists to measure.
Then, when scientists were finally able to catch them, there were fewer than they expected. But why? Was our Sun losing its power?
Transforming Indonesia and Australia with science and innovation
Australian and Indonesian Ministers open international science symposium
Monday 28 November at the Shine Dome, Canberra Opening ceremony 8.30 am, press call with Ministers 9:20 am with
Senator the Hon. Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific
Dr Bambang PS Brodjonegoro, Indonesia’s Minister of National Development Planning
Professor Andrew Holmes, President of the Australian Academy of Science
Professor Sangkot Marzuki, President of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences
Indonesia is on track to become the fourth largest economy in the world by 2050. It’s undergoing massive economic and social change. Poverty is falling, health is improving, the nation is urbanising. The nation is hungry for energy, health, water and food security. Its people are early adopters of new technologies from social media to big data.
Dr Bambang PS Brodjonegoro, (Indonesia’s Minister of National Development Planning), Professor Sangkot Marzuki (President of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences), Senator the Hon. Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific) and Professor Andrew Holmes (President of the Australian Academy of Science) (photo credit: Bradley Cummings)
One of the highlights on the Australian Institute of Physics’ (AIP’s) calendar is its biennial Congress, where physicists from all over Australia and overseas come together for a week-long program of plenary, keynote and contributed talks, social events, and the opportunity to network.
We are delighted to announce that the next (22nd) such Congress will take place in the vibrant and progressive city of Brisbane from 4-8 December, 2016. Brisbane is a significant physics ‘hub’, with major research facilities and groups at the University of Queensland, Griffith University, Queensland University of Technology, and the nearby University of Southern Queensland.
Furthermore, and most importantly, the Congress will be held in conjunction with the 13th Asian-Pacific Physics Conference, the triennial meeting of the Association of Asia-Pacific Physics Societies that brings together physicists from across the entire Asia-Pacific region. This will be the first time that both meetings have been held jointly, and is certain to enrich the scientific program, as well as facilitate new links to be made between the Australian physics community and those throughout the Asia-Pacific region – something that is a high priority for the Australian Institute of Physics. We are also very pleased that these two joint meetings will incorporate the Annual Meeting of the Australian Optical Society.
We very much look forward to your attendance at this joint 13th Asia Pacific Physics Conference and 22ndAustralian Institute of Physics Congress and making it an outstanding success, both scientifically and collegially.
The 2016 CSL Young Florey Medal was presented at the Association of Australian medical Research Institutes (AAMRI) dinner at on Wednesday 9 November in the Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra
Professor Mark Kendall helped create a small rocket for vaccine delivery.
Then he invented a radically simpler concept that could replace the needle and syringe we’ve been using for 160 years.
A small square of silicon with 20,000 microscopic spikes delivers vaccines directly to the skin’s immune cells.
It’s painless, requires a fraction of the dose, doesn’t need refrigeration, and eliminates needle phobia.
Now human clinical trials are underway in Brisbane, and the WHO is planning a polio vaccine trial in Cuba in 2017.
Professor Mark Kendall is planning to dispatch the 160-year-old needle and syringe to history. This Queensland rocket scientist has invented a new vaccine technology that’s painless, uses a fraction of the dose, puts the vaccine just under the skin, and doesn’t require a fridge.
Human trials of Mark’s Nanopatch are underway in Australia, and the concept has broad patent coverage. It’s being supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Merck and the WHO. A polio vaccine trial is being planned for Cuba in 2017.
But it’s not been an easy path. Mark has had to push the science and business worlds to see the value of a new approach to vaccine delivery. It took 70 presentations before he secured funding for the UQ spin-out company Vaxxas.
