From Cathy Foley (AIP President)
Welcome to my December blog.
The highlight of upcoming events is of course the AIP Congress, starting on Sunday in Adelaide. I hope to see you there!
At the Congress dinner, two AIP medals will be presented. I congratulate Judith Pollard who will receive the AIP Education Medal, and Tony Farmer, Tony Murphy and Trevor Macalister who will jointly receive the Walsh Medal.
Many of the plenary speakers at the Congress are also giving external talks, including public lectures by Jocelyn Bell Burnell in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney; a lecture by Michael Geyer in Adelaide; and Alain Aspect will talk at the Victorian AIP meeting. These are among the many events listed in this bulletin.
Looking forward, 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy. The AIP is keenly interested in the success of this Year. Astronomy is arguably the most accessible of the physical sciences. The program has received federal funding for overall coordination, and programs are under development. The Congress will provide a preview of the year ahead, and there are ways for you to keep in touch and be involved.
If you want to contact me regarding other AIP or physics matters please email me at aip_president@aip.org.au.
If you have any questions or comments on this bulletin, the AIP or physics in Australia please let me know.
Cathy Foley,
AIP President
In this bulletin:
1. AIP events across the country
2. Physics activities across the country – general events
3. Physics activities across the country – seminars
5. AIP Education and Walsh Medals awarded
6. AIP Honours scholarships – applications closing 30 November
7. Honours scholarships in Physics/Nanotechnology at University of Technology, Sydney
8. Nominations open for the AIP executive – closing 30 November
9. 2009 International Year of Astronomy
11. Submission deadlines for the bulletin and journal
1. AIP events across the country
WA: Wednesday 26 November, 6pm, WA AIP
TITLE: AGM and dinner
SPEAKER: Lyn Beazley, Chief Scientist of Western Australia is the after-dinner speaker
VENUE: The Club, University of Western Australia
More information: http://wa.aip.org.au/news/145
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TAS: Thursday 27 November, 5pm, Tas AIP
TITLE: The 2008 Nobel Prize in physics – broken symmetry; and AGM
SPEAKER: Bob Delbourgo, University of Tasmania
VENUE: Physics Lecture Theatre 3, Sandy Bay Campus, University of Tasmania
Half the 2008 Nobel Prize for physics went to Y. Nambu “for the discovery of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics”, while the other half was shared by M. Kobayashi and T. Maskawa “for the discovery of the origin of broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature”. Bob will discuss the historical context in which these discoveries were made and the vagaries of the awards.
Bob’s talk at 5.30pm will be preceded by the Tasmanian branch AGM at 5pm.
More information: Elizabeth.Chelkowska@utas.edu.au or phone (03) 6226 2725.
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SA: Monday 1 December, 7.30pm, University of Adelaide, SA AIP and Australian & New Zealand Solar Energy Society (SA)
Free public lecture
TITLE: Concentrated solar power on the international scene – worldwide incentives, policies and projects
SPEAKER: Michael Geyer, Abengoa Solar
VENUE: Lecture theatre 1-02, The Napier Building, University of Adelaide, North Terrace
More information: http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/aip-sa/
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SA: Wednesday 3 December, 5.30pm, University of Adelaide, AIP
Free public lecture presented by the AIP 18th National Congress
TITLE: Pulsars and extreme physics
SPEAKER: Jocelyn Bell Burnell, University of Oxford, UK
VENUE: Elder Hall, University of Adelaide, North Terrace
More information: http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/aip-sa/
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VIC: Saturday 6 December, 10am-12noon, Vic AIP Education Committee
TITLE: Medical physics in-service at Peter Mac
This is an in-service for Physics teachers, aimed at those who will be teaching the Medical Physics detailed study in 2009, including talks from practitioners and a tour of the facilities at Peter Mac.
There is no cost, but you must register as there is a limit of 20 participants.
Teachers can register by sending their name, school and phone/fax/email details to the Australian Institute of Physics (Victorian Branch) Education Committee at danok@bigpond.com or PO Box 304, Glen Waverley, VIC 3150. If you are registering by email the subject of your email should read “Booking: Peter Mac In-Service”, otherwise your email may be missed.
In recent years at the end of the in-service, some participants have adjourned to the restaurant in the Fitzroy Gardens opposite Peter Mac for a light lunch. If you are interested in coming to lunch, please include this in your registration.
More information: Kate Wilkinson at kate.wilkinson@petermac.org
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TAS: Tuesday 9 – Wednesday 10 December, Grote Reber Museum, Tas AIP
TITLE: Professional development seminar for Year 11/12 physics and chemistry teachers on developments in physics, particularly astronomy.
VENUE: Grote Reber Museum, University of Tasmania Mt Pleasant Radio Telescope Observatory, Cambridge.
Register by Monday 8 December.
More information: John Humble (03) 6226 2396 or John.Humble@utas.edu.au
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VIC: Wednesday 10 December, 6.30pm, Vic AIP
TITLE: Bell’s inequalities and quantum information; plus awarding of the Undergraduate Practical Award
SPEAKER: Alain Aspect, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France
VENUE: Elizabeth Murdoch Theatre, Melbourne University
Drinks and food will be available from 6pm.
More information: http://vic.aip.org.au/#bm_next
2. Physics activities across the country – general events
VIC: Thursday 27 – Friday 28 November, La Trobe University, Bundoora
TITLE: STAVCON – the annual conference of the Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria
THEME: Experience, Experiment & Explore science
Including the launch of AccessNano, an Australian nanotechnology resource for secondary schools, by the Hon. Julia Gillard on Friday 28 November, 2.30pm.
Closing date for registration is Thursday 20 November.
More information: http://www.sciencevictoria.com.au/STAVCON.html
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VIC: Monday 1 – Friday 5 December, Melbourne
TITLE: The Asia Oceania week of the Australian Synchrotron
VENUE: Novotel, St Kilda, Melbourne
The AO week incorporates the: Australian Synchrotron science advisory committee meeting; the Australian Synchrotron users meeting; the 3rd AOFSRR Asia Oceania forum 2008; and the Next Generation science workshop.
More information: http://www.a-oweek2008.com/
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VIC: Monday 8 December 6.30-7.30pm, University of Melbourne
Public lecture
TITLE: Our universe in poetry, pictures and music
SPEAKER: Jocelyn Bell Burnell, University of Oxford, UK
VENUE: Elizabeth Murdoch Theatre A, University of Melbourne
A reflection on the astronomical topics and themes presented in poetry, music and the arts throughout the ages, along with an explanation of the astronomy.
More information: http://physics.unimelb.edu.au/Community/Newsroom/Events/Public-Lecture-Our-universe-in-poetry,-pictures-and-music
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NSW: Tuesday 9 December, 2-3.30pm, Sydney Observatory
TITLE: The discovery of pulsars
SPEAKER: Jocelyn Bell Burnell, University of Oxford, UK
VENUE: Sydney Observatory
In 1967, young Cambridge UK postgraduate student Jocelyn Bell noticed some interesting ‘scruff’ in the data she was analysing from a radio telescope.
Little blips were occurring on a regular basis that didn’t seem to make sense. At first, these blips were called LGMs – short for Little Green Men – because it was initially thought that perhaps they were a sign of alien communication. Yet upon further research looking at data from other sources, there were far too many of the same sort of scruff coming from lots of places in the sky. It was then determined that these sources were actually rapidly spinning collapsed stars that were sending out radio waves like a lighthouse sends out beams of light, so they are now known as pulsars. Jocelyn Bell’s thesis supervisor Anthony Hewish received the Nobel Prize in physics in part for this discovery.
More information: http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au/events/whatson.asp and bookings (essential): (02) 9921 3485
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VIC: Friday 16 January 2009, 11am, Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields, Ballarat
TITLE: Acoustics from the musician’s perspective
SPEAKER: Lamberto Tronchin, University of Bologna
More information and to purchase tickets: www.ballarat.com/organs
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NSW: Monday 16 – Wednesday 18 February, Sydney
TITLE: An international workshop in honour of Agnès Acker: Legacies of the Macquarie/AAO/Strasbourg Hα planetary nebula project
VENUE: Australia Telescope National Facility lecture theatre, Marsfield
Major topics covered: PN surveys, the galactic distance scale and PN luminosity functions in our galaxy, the Magellanic clouds and beyond, PN morphology, the PNe population of the galactic bulge and CSPN binarity
Registrations are now open.
More information: http://www.astronomy.mq.edu.au/mash-workshop/ or email cathieb@physics.mq.edu.au
3. Physics activities across the country – seminars
VIC: Thursday 27 November, 11.30am, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University
TITLE: The origin of the UV upturn in elliptical galaxies
SPEAKER: Philipp Podsiadlowski, Oxford University
VENUE: Swinburne Virtual Reality Theatre, AR Building, Room 104, Hawthorn
Upcoming colloquia (11.30am unless otherwise stated):
Friday 28 November, 2-4pm: Tim de Zeeuw, European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), Presentation on ESO with Q&A session
Thursday 4 December: George Hobbs, ANTF
Tuesday 9 December: Joris Verbiest, Swinburne
Wednesday 10 December: Roberto Abraham
Thursday 18 December: Chris Blake, Swinburne
Thursday 26 February: Michael Drinkwater, University of Queensland
Thursday 5 March: Ashley J. Ruiter, Harvard CfA
More information: http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/research/colloquia.html or Sarah Brough or George Hau on colloquium@astro.swin.edu.au
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QLD: Friday 28 November, 4pm, University of Queensland
TITLE: Xerocoat
SPEAKER: Paul Meredith, University of Queensland
VENUE: Parnell Building Room 222, University of Queensland
Upcoming colloquium:
Friday 12 December: Karen Kheruntsyan, University of Queensland – Hubble Theory and experiments with colliding Bose-Einstein condensates
More information:More information: coll_sched@physics.uq.edu.au or http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/colloquium/?cat=3
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NSW: Tuesday 2 December, 4-5pm, School of Physics, University of NSW
TITLE: Quarks, hadrons and the constants of nature
SPEAKER: Craig Roberts, Argonne National Laboratory, USA
VENUE: School of Physics Common Room, Room 64, Old Main Building, Kensington, Sydney
More information: Adam Micolich mico@phys.unsw.edu.au or (02) 9385 6132 or http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/phys_about/COLLOQUIA/school_colloquia.html
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WA: Tuesday 27 January, 3.30-4.30pm, School of Physics, University of Western Australia
TITLE: TBA
SPEAKER: Andre Luiten, University of Western Australia
VENUE: Room 2-15, School of Physics, University of Western Australia
Upcoming seminars:
Tuesday 3 February: Jean-Pierre Macquart, Caltech, USA
Tuesday 10 February: Ivan Baldry, Liverpool John Moores University, UK – Accounting for stellar and baryonic mass in the galaxy population: checks and balances
More information: http://www.physics.uwa.edu.au/about/seminars, email owner-seminar@physics.uwa.edu.au or (08) 6488 2738
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NSW: Wednesday 17 December, 3.30-4.30pm, Australia Telescope National Facility and Anglo-Australian Observatory
TITLE: Pulsar timing and the gravitational wave background
SPEAKER: Joris Verbiest, Swinburne University of Technology
VENUE: ATNF Marsfield Lecture Theatre
More information: Tobias Westmeier (02) 9372 4622 tobias.westmeier@csiro.au or http://www.atnf.csiro.au/whats_on/colloquia/
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NSW: Monday 1 December, 3.15pm, School of Physics, University of Sydney
TITLE: The 1011 Msun question: massive galaxy formation and the rise of the red sequence
SPEAKER: Edward Taylor, Leiden University
VENUE: Slade lecture theatre, School of Physics A28, Physics Road, University of Sydney
Upcoming colloquia:
Monday 8 December: Dr Peter Papathanasiou, Australian National University – Stem cells: Don’t believe the hype! Believe the science
Monday 15 December: Indra Bains, Swinburne University
More information: Bruce Yabsley (02) 9351 5870, colloquium_chair@physics.usyd.edu.au or http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/local/coll/index.shtml
4. AIP Congress
It is only days away until the largest gathering of Australian physicists happens in Adelaide at the University of Adelaide. There will be some excellent plenary lectures including Jocelyn Bell Burnell who discovered pulsars and is the new IOP president.
There will be: seven parallel session covering all aspects of physics; a women in physics sponsored forum on work life balance; physics Heads of Department meetings; AIP medals awarded and scholarships awarded at the Congress dinner; public lectures; an outreach program and much more.
It is not too late to register.
More information: http://www.aipc2008.com/
5. AIP Education and Walsh Medals awarded
The winner of the AIP Education Medal is Judith Pollard from the University of Adelaide for the development of university education of physics programs.
The AIP Walsh Medal for industry application of physics has been awarded to Tony Farmer, Tony Murphy and Trevor Macalister from CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering. They were awarded for the development of Plascon used for the plasma destruction of ozone depleting substances and its commercialisation and use internationally.
These medals will be presented at the AIP Awards dinner which is also the AIP Congress Dinner.
6. AIP Honours scholarships – applications closing 30 November
Two honours scholarships will be available this year.
One scholarship will be merit only based of the value of $10,000. This is funded by a generous donation from an AIP member and AIP funds.
A second scholarship is being sponsored by CSIRO. It is again merit based but has the additional requirement that the student have some interaction with CSIRO either by joint supervision or time spent undertaking research in a CSIRO division during the term of their project.
Applications will close at the end of November.
Applicants are to submit their application to the head of school in their university who will put forward the best candidate for each category to the local branch president. The branch will then select the best in each category and submit these to the AIP executive by mid December. The AIP executive will select the best application from each category and winners will be notified by the end of December.
7. Honours scholarships in Physics/Nanotechnology at University of Technology, Sydney
The Department of Physics and Advanced Materials, at the University of Technology, Sydney, is offering up to eight Honours scholarships, worth $5,000 each, to students undertaking a one-year program for an Honours degree in Physics or Nanotechnology in 2009.
For further information on the scholarships and Honours research projects on offer, please take a look at the Department’s web page (http://www.science.uts.edu.au/physics), or contact Cuong Ton-That (Cuong.Ton-That@uts.edu.au).
Scholarship applications close on 5th December 2008.
8. Nominations open for the AIP executive – closing 30 November
The AIP Executive’s nominations for the 2009-2010 national executive elected positions are:
President: Brian James
Vice President: Marc Duldig
Hon Secretary: TBA
Hon Treasurer: Judith Pollard
All positions are now open for others to be nominated. Nominations should be submitted in writing with the nominee’s approval, a nominator and a seconder to Dr Cathy Foley, who is the returning officer (aip_president@aip.org.au), by 30 November 2008.
We are seeking people for the roles of secretary, policy development officer and a new role of early career/student position. The policy development officer and early career/student role are ex-officio members. If you are interested in nominating contact Cathy Foley on aip_president@aip.org.au.
9. 2009 International Year of Astronomy
One of the major events of the international IYA calendar is the “100 hours of Astronomy” running over 2-5 April. Around the world, public star-gazing sessions will give thousands or even millions of people a chance to look at the sky through a telescope – many of them for the first time. Professional observatories will take part in a 24-hour global webcast. Planetaria, museums and other outreach centres will throw open their doors for special programs.
Details of international events can be found at http://www.astronomy2009.org/, under “Global Projects”.
The Australian IYA website is http://www.astronomy2009.org.au/. If you have an event planned, please register it on this site.
Helen Sim is the single point of contact for IYA activities. She is coordinating the publicity for events, and also overseeing opportunities for collaboration between people and organisations. For example, if you are hosting an astronomy researcher, she may be able to help you line up speaking opportunities or media coverage for them, or link them in to other activities in your region. She can also provide an IYA logo, for publications or merchandise.
Helen and Niall Byrne will be releasing regular IYA bulletins over the year. If you have some ideas for Helen, contact her on iya@aao.gov.au. If you would like to receive the IYA bulletins, contact Niall on niall@scienceinpublic.com.au.
10. Physics conferences
STAVCON – the annual conference of the Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Vic
27/11/2008 – 28/11/2008
http://www.sciencevictoria.com.au/STAVCON.html
18th National AIP Physics Congress
Adelaide, South Australia
30/11/2008 – 05/12/2008
The Asia Oceania week of the Australian Synchrotron
Melbourne, Victoria
01/12/2008 – 05/12/2008
22nd Canberra International Physics Summer School
Australian National University, ACT
08/12/2008 – 19/12/2008
http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/~ccs106/SUMMERSCHOOLS/SS22/index.html
33nd Annual Condensed Matter and Materials Meeting
Wagga Wagga, NSW
03/02/2009 – 06/02/2009
http://www.acpo.csiro.au/wagga09/
2009 VCE Physics Teachers Conference
Monash Uni, Melbourne
16/02/2009
http://www.vicphysics.org/forthcomingevents.html
Legacies of the Macquarie/AAO/Strasbourg Hα Planetary Nebula project
Sydney, NSW
16/02/2009 – 18/02/2009
http://www.astronomy.mq.edu.au/mash-workshop/index.html
Brighter Deeper Greener – Geophysics in a Changing Environment
Adelaide, South Australia
22/02/2009 – 26/02/2009
http://www.sapro.com.au/aseg/home.htm
PECS VIII – The 8th Photonic and Electromagnetic Crystal Structure Meeting
Sydney, NSW
05/04/2009 – 09/04/2009
The Many Faces of Centaurus A
Sydney, NSW
28/06/2009 – 03/07/2009
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/research/cena/
Tenth International Symposium – Frontiers of Fundamental & Computational Physics (FFP10)
Perth, WA
24/11/2009 – 26/11/2009
http://www.ffp10.physics.uwa.edu.au/
11. Submission deadlines for the bulletin and journal
Our next bulletin will be for February 2009. We welcome contributions about activities, conferences and announcements. Our next submission deadline is Monday 26 January. Please send your submissions to Margie Beilharz from Science in Public on margie@scienceinpublic.com.au or (03) 9398 1416.
And the AIP’s journal, Australian Physics, welcomes your articles. The next deadlines are Friday 19 December for the January/February issue and Friday 13 February for the March/April issue. Email John Daicopoulos on ap-editor@renegadescience.tv
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For more information on physics events visit http://www.aip.org.au and click on ‘physics events’ or on your state branch.
Kind regards
Cathy
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Dr Catherine P. Foley
President of the Australian Institute of Physics
Phone: + 61 2 9413 7413
Email: aip_president@aip.org.au