The 'Science of Sport'
Midland Branch Calendar
This is an exciting and interactive show aimed to make students think about sport as they never have before. The show lasts an hour.
It is hoped that teachers will bring a group of students. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance.
Event Title: The 'Science of Sport'. Speaker(s): Helen Lloyd. Organised by: Wolverhampton Physics Centre - IOP Midland Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Clive Wormley. Contact Details: Tel: 01543 432727
Email: c.wormley@physics.org.
Monday, March 22, 2010, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Hayward Theatre, S. Peter's School, Compton Road West WV3 9DU.
The SEMATECH high resolution initiative for novel and emerging nanotechnology
Ireland Branch Calendar
Event Title: The SEMATECH high resolution initiative for novel and emerging nanotechnology. Speaker(s): Dr Patrick Lysaght, SEMATECH, Texas, USA. Organised by: Institute of Physics. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Eilish McLoughlin. Contact Details: eilish.mcloughlin@dcu.ie
+353 1 700 5862.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 4:00 PM.
DCU, Dublin.
Science Differentiation Seminar for Science Teachers
Ireland Branch Calendar
The Special Education Support Service in collaboration with the Institute of Physics in Ireland is offering a 2 hour seminar in Cork Education Support Centre that focuses on including students with special educational needs within the science classroom.
Topics will include:
A) Differentiation
How can science teachers differentiate teaching and learning in the classroom or school laboratory?
B) Accessible Experiments
A practical session of fun ideas, approaches and experiments that support all students in the science classroom.
Participants will:
1. receive a comprehensive resource pack containing PowerPoint presentations, worksheets and other differentiated activities, and
2. see simple experiments that illustrate key concepts along with instructions on how to use these experiments in the classroom.
Event Title: Science Differentiation Seminar for Science Teachers. Organised by: Institute of Physics and SESS. Requires Registration: No. Contact Details: Return the booking form to Cork Education Support Centre. Further Information: http://www.iopireland.org/Calendar/files/file_40766.doc.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM.
Cork Education Support Centre.
Paul Dirac and the religion of beauty
London and South East Branch Calendar
Paul Dirac was the greatest English theoretical physicist since Newton. He is famous for co-discovering quantum mechanics, for his beautiful equation for the behaviour of the electron and for brilliantly predicting the existence of antimatter.
Although sceptical of philosophy and religion, in later life Dirac became an apostle for the great importance of mathematical beauty
in fundamental physics. It was ‘almost a religion’ for him. In this talk the speaker will examine the basis and efficacy of this belief and also look at the remarkable character of this great theoretician, once dubbed ‘ the Mozart of Science’.
Event Title: Paul Dirac and the religion of beauty. Speaker(s): Dr Graham Farmelo,Senior Research Fellow, The Science Museum, London. Organised by: London and South East Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: C.Isenberg@kent.ac.uk. Contact Details: Dr C. Isenberg: Tel. 01227 823768.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Rutherford Lecture Theatre 1
University of Kent
CT2 7NS.
Differentiation Science and Virtual Physics Lab
Ireland Branch Calendar
The Special Education Support Service in collaboration with the Institute of Physics in Ireland is offering a 2 hour seminar in NCE-MSTL UL that focuses on including students with special educational needs within the science classroom.
The Virtual Physics Lab will be demonstrated and available free of charge.
Topics will include:
A) Differentiation
How can science teachers differentiate teaching and learning in the classroom or school laboratory?
B) Accessible Experiments
A practical session of fun ideas, approaches and experiments that support all students in the science classroom.
Participants will:
1. receive a comprehensive resource pack containing PowerPoint presentations, worksheets and other differentiated activities, and
2. see simple experiments that illustrate key concepts along with instructions on how to use these experiments in the classroom.
3. See The Virtual Physics Lab in action.
Event Title: Differentiation Science and Virtual Physics Lab. Organised by: Institute of Physics/SESS/NCE-MSTL. Requires Registration: No. Contact Details: Email: jennifer.johnston@ul.ie
Tel: +353 (0)61 234786.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
NCE_MSTL, University of Limerick, Castletroy, Limerick.
Materials’ Issues for Nuclear Generation
London and South East Branch Calendar
This talk will describe some of the work in Oxford on how we are using the latest generation of analytical techniques to study key degradation mechanisms in a number of different classes of nuclear materials with the aim of designing more robust materials for the next generation of reactors.
Over the past 2 years there has been a welcome renaissance in interest in the nuclear option for electricity generation in the UK, and so understanding how to learn from materials problems in the existing fleet has become of increasing interest as well as how to design new materials for operation at higher temperatures. There is also a growing consensus that if fusion has any potential in the longer term to meet our energy needs then new materials will have to be found to operate in uniquely harsh conditions of high temperatures and severe radiation damage.
Tea/Coffee from 18:00.
Event Title: Materials’ Issues for Nuclear Generation. Speaker(s): Prof. Chris Grovenor, Head of Department of Materials, University of Oxford. Organised by: London and South East Branch. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: Len Lewell (branch secretary). Contact Details: Email: londonsoutheast@physics.org
Please do not use the RSVP system of MyIOP for booking.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM.
Institute of Physics
76-78 Portland Place
London
W1B 1NT.
The life and work of Michael Faraday
London and South East Branch Calendar
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) is one of the major scientific figures of all time. His discoveries, made in the basement laboratory of the Royal Institution, of electro-magnetic rotations and induction laid the foundations for electrical engineering. This illustrated talk, with a couple of demonstrations of his key discoveries, will examine all these aspects of Faraday’s life and how they relate to each other.
His discoveries of the magneto-optical effect and diamagnetism paved the way for his enunciation of the field theory of electro-magnetism which became and remains one of the cornerstones of modern physics.
But Faraday was also heavily involved with the practical application of science and in communicating science to a wide audience.
Frank James is Professor of the History of Science at the Royal Institution and editor of the Correspondence of Michael Faraday.
This event is free but places may need to be reserved.
Event Title: The life and work of Michael Faraday. Organised by: London and South East Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Dr Diane Crann. Contact Details: Email: d.crann@herts.ac.uk.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
The Lindop Building, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, AL10 9AB.
Science Differentiation Seminar for Science Teachers
Ireland Branch Calendar
The Special Education Support Service in collaboration with the Institute of Physics in Ireland is offering a 2 hour seminar in limerick Education Centre that focuses on including students with special educational needs within the science classroom.
Topics will include:
A) Differentiation
How can science teachers differentiate teaching and learning in the classroom or school laboratory?
B) Accessible Experiments
A practical session of fun ideas, approaches and experiments that support all students in the science classroom.
Participants will:
1. receive a comprehensive resource pack containing PowerPoint presentations, worksheets and other differentiated activities, and
2. see simple experiments that illustrate key concepts along with instructions on how to use these experiments in the classroom.
Event Title: Science Differentiation Seminar for Science Teachers. Organised by: Institute of Physics and SESS. Requires Registration: No. Contact Details: Return the booking form to Limerick Education Centre. Further Information: http://www.iopireland.org/Calendar/files/file_40767.doc.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM.
Limerick Education Centre.
The SEMATECH high resolution initiative for novel and emerging nanotechnology
Ireland Branch Calendar
Event Title: The SEMATECH high resolution initiative for novel and emerging nanotechnology. Speaker(s): Dr Patrick Lysaght, SEMATECH, Texas, USA. Organised by: Institute of Physics. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Eilish McLoughlin. Contact Details: eilish.mcloughlin@dcu.ie
+353 1 700 5862.
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 4:00 PM.
Tyndall National Institute, UCC.
A Physicist in the City: Stranger in a Strange Land
Manchester and District Branch Calendar
In the last twenty years, it has become commonplace for physicists to leave their careers - at any point from graduate to post-doc - to go into the City. Some are famous for doing it. Most are not. It turns out that the combination of mathematics and computing, modelling and data handling that becomes second nature to a physicist is a valuable skillset in the financial markets.
Many of the mathematical methods used in the physical sciences are applicable to the financial markets, and the association goes back further than folk realise. Newton was master of the Mint. Einstein's equations for Brownian motion were independently discovered 4 years earlier to explain the behaviour of the stock market. This talk will explore the many connections, give some examples of financial analysis, and a quick tour of life on the trading floor.
Talk starts at 18.30 with coffee served from 18.00, before the talk starts.
Event Title: A Physicist in the City: Stranger in a Strange Land. Speaker(s): Dr Jessica James, City Group, City Bank, London. Organised by: Manchester and District Branch and Merseyside Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: christie.theodorakou@physics.cr.man.ac.uk. Contact Details: Christie Theodorakou.
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM.
Daresbury Laboratory
WA4 4AD.
Physics and Finance
Merseyside Branch Calendar
In the last twenty years, it has become commonplace for physicists to leave their to go into the City. Many of the mathematical methods used in the physical sciences are also applicable to the financial markets. This talk will explore the many connections, give some examples of financial analysis, and a quick tour of life on the trading floor.
Event Title: 'A Physicist in the City: Stranger in a Strange Land'. Speaker(s): Dr Jessica James, Managing Director, CitiFX Citibank. Organised by: Merseyside Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Ann Marks. Contact Details: liviop@amarks.co.uk.
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM.
Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus, Daresbury, Warrington, Cheshire WA4 4AD.
The SEMATECH high resolution initiative for novel and emerging nanotechnology
Ireland Branch Calendar
Event Title: The SEMATECH high resolution initiative for novel and emerging nanotechnology. Speaker(s): Dr Patrick Lysaght, SEMATECH, Texas, USA. Organised by: Institute of Physics. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Eilish McLoughlin. Contact Details: eilish.mcloughlin@dcu.ie
+353 1 700 5862.
Friday, March 26, 2010, 4:00 PM.
UL, Limerick.
The definite particle: IOPI Spring Weekend Meeting
Ireland Branch Calendar
An academic and social meeting for physicists to get together with their friends and families. The Hodson Bay is in the heart of Ireland with breathtaking views onto the scenic shores of Lough Ree.
Online registration: http://www.iopireland.org/activity/weekend/page_32164.html
Earlybird rates up to 7 Mar
To book the hotel contact: T +353 (0)90 6442000 E info@hodsonbayhotel.
Reference ID: 748274 Institute of Physics
Special Offer including Saturday Conference Dinner €159 pps 2 nights BB + Sat Conf Dinner
€40 per night single occupation
Programme:
The definite particle
Friday 26 March
18.00 Rosse medal judging starts
21.00 Pub quiz with a physics twist (prizes sponsored by Technology from Ideas)
Saturday 27 March
09.30 A Century of Particle Physics: Prof Peter Kalmus, Queen Mary, University of London
10.00 On the inside track at CERN: Dr Steve Myers, Director of Accelerators, CERN
10.30 First physics results from the LHC: Dr Ronan McNulty, University College Dublin
11.00 Rosse medal a…
Event Title: The definite particle: IOPI Spring Weekend Meeting. Organised by: The Institute of Physics in Ireland. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact Details: alison.hackett@iop.org
01 7162216.
Friday, March 26, 2010, 6:00 PM – Sunday, March 28, 2010, 2:00 PM.
Welsh Institute of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics
Wales Branch Calendar
Event Title: Welsh Institute of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics. Organised by: The British Society of Rheology. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: KenThomas1 AT BTInternet.com. Contact Details: Prof Ken Thomas. Further Information: http://www.bsr.org.uk/meetings.asp?type=future.
Monday, March 29, 2010, 12:00 PM – Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 1:00 PM.
Lake Vyrnwy Hotel & Spa
Llanwddyn
Powys
SY10 0LY
Telephone 01691 870692
Fax 01691 870259
Email: info@lakevyrnwyhotel.co.uk.
Travelling Through Time
London and South East Branch Calendar
The future is the only place really worth visiting. But what are the chances of jumping the queue to get there, or of visiting the past?
This talk discusses the mystery of time, the scientific objections to travelling through time, and the extent to which established physics supports the possibility of time travel. Subjects covered will include the role of special and grneral relativity, the value of wormholes, and the chrononautical significance of quantum physics. Don't miss this talk; it may be your only chance to hear it, unless ...
There is parking near the lecture theatre.
Event Title: Travelling Through Time. Speaker(s): Dr Bob Lambourne. Organised by: London and South East Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Tracy Bartlett. Contact Details: Tel: 01908 652 514
Email: t.a.bartlett@open.ac.uk.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM.
Berrill Lecture Theatre, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA.
Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology
Midland Branch Calendar
There are several drivers that account for the recent extraordinary growth in the global market for solar cells. These include increasing energy demand, security and cost of oil supplies as well as concerns over global warming. Approximately 85% of solar cell production is currently based on first generation crystalline silicon, but second generation solar cells based on thin film technology are now emerging and rapidly increasing their market share.
This Photovoltaics Laboratory at CREST has facilities for producing crystalline silicon solar cells as well as thin film photovoltaics and dye solar cells. It is the best equipped University facility in the UK.
The Visit will include a guided tour of the facilities and a 30 minute talk on the current state of the art in Solar Cell technology.
This event is free of charge (maximum of one guest each).
Closing date 27 March 2010.
Event Title: Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology. Organised by: Midland Branch. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: John Pelmore.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), Garendon Wing, Holywell Park, Loughborough University, Leicestershire,
LE11 3TU.
For more info visit www.lboro.ac.uk. Extreme weather
Yorkshire Branch Calendar
A public lecture by: Dr Ross Reynolds,
Department of Meterology, University of Reading.
Event Title: Extreme weather, from Tornadoes to Hurricanes. Speaker(s): Dr Ross Reynolds. Organised by: Yorkshire Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: John Sutcliffe. Contact Details: johnfsutcliffe@googlemail.com.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM.
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre,
University of Leeds,
Leeds,
LS2 9JT.
Surfaces: Incubators of Homochiral Complex Matter?
Merseyside Branch Calendar
This talk will outline the mechanisms that underpin mirror-symmetry breaking during self-organisation of molecules at surfaces, leading to the expression of homochirality across a large length-scale.
Event Title: Surfaces: Incubators of Homochiral Complex Matter? Speaker(s): Professor Rasmita Raval, Department of Chemistry University of Liverpool. Organised by: Merseyside Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Dr Steve Barrett. Contact Details: S.D.Barrett@liv.ac.uk.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010, 6:30 PM – 7:20 PM.
Surface Science Research Centre
Liverpool University
L69 7ZE.
Measurement of Time
Lancashire and Cumbria Branch Calendar
The past few years have seen enormous advances in the development of new types of atomic clock based on optical atomic transitions. Applications range from improved satellite navigation to test of fundamental physics. Such clocks operate at a much higher frequency than the current generation of microwave atomic clocks, so they divide time into smaller slices, and therefore offer the prospect of significantly better stability and accuracy. NPL is developing an optical clock based on an extremely narrow electron transition in a single trapped strontium ion.
Event Title: Measurement of Time. Speaker(s): Dr Helen Margolis, National Physical Laboratory. Organised by: Lancashire and Cumbria branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: John Bradshaw. Contact Details: john.bradshaw@physics.org.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM.
Cavendish Colloquium room,
Faraday Building
Lancaster University
LA1 4YW.
The Antikythera Mechanism
South Central Branch Calendar
What may well be the most extraordinary surviving artefact from the ancient Greek world was discovered just over a century ago. In 1900 sponge divers off the coast of the Mediterranean island of Antikythera found a wreck which was to yield a device containing over thirty gear wheels dating from the 1st century B.C. and now known as the Antikythera Mechanism. This device is an order of magnitude more complicated than any surviving mechanism from the following millennium, and there is no surviving precursor. It is clear from its structure and inscriptions that its purpose was astronomical, including eclipse prediction.
In this illustrated talk, I will outline the results from our international research team, which has been using the most modern imaging methods to probe the device and its inscriptions. The extraordinary sophistication of the Mechanism's design has fundamental implications for the development of Greek astronomy and technology. The latest results may suggest a link back to Archimedes, and show…
Event Title: The Antikythera Mechanism. Speaker(s): Prof Mike Edmunds. Organised by: South Central Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Paul Stevenson. Contact Details: p.stevenson@surrey.ac.uk.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM.
Lecture Theatre M, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH.
Tick, tick, tick pulsating star, how we wonder what you are - pulsars and extreme physics
Manchester and District Branch Calendar
This will be an accessible introduction to some of the most bizarre stars in the galaxy (pulsars), and will be suitable for a wide audience including sixth form physics students.
The talk is free, but booking is required.
Bookings should be made through the Manchester Lit and Phil: tel 0161 247 6774 or e-mail admin@manlitphil.co.uk, by 15 April 2010.
An optional meal will be available after the lecture, at the Tai Pan Chinese restaurant at a cost of £16.50. To book a place which includes the meal, send a cheque by 15 April 2010, with a short note giving your details and mentioning that you are from the IOP to:
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, MMU Business School, Aytoun Street, Manchester, M1 3GH.
Event Title: Tick, tick, tick pulsating star, how we wonder what you are - pulsars and extreme physics. Speaker(s): Dame Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Organised by: Manchester Lit and Phil. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: Louise Butcher. Contact Details: Louise.butcher@iop.org. Further Information: http://www.manlitphil.co.uk/12.html.
Thursday, April 22, 2010, 7:00 PM.
Schuster Building, University of Manchester, Brunswick Street, Manchester M13 9PL.
The Implications of Moores Law for Organic Electronics
North East Branch Calendar
Following the Branch's successful visit last May to NETPark, we are delighted that Dr Bill Ecclestone of Liverpool University and involved in PETEC, the UK national flagship centre for the development of printable electronics technologies, will talk about the promise of organic electronics and their potential to compete or interact with silicon technologies. Pre-booking will be requested to assist catering.
Event Title: The Implications of Moores Law for Organic Electronics. Speaker(s): Dr Bill Ecclestone. Organised by: North East Branch. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: awilson.craw@blueyonder.co.uk. Contact Details: Alasdair Wilson.
Thursday, April 22, 2010, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM.
PETEC
NETPark
nr Sedgefield
http://www.uknetpark.net/.
Did we land on the moon?
South West Branch Calendar
More than 40 years after Apollo 11 there are a surprising number of
theories around - in books, documentary programmes and the internet - that Neil Armstrong's famous "One small step" was an elaborate hoax,
filmed in secret here on Earth.
Conspiracy theorists point to a range of "evidence" to support their claim, including waving flags, strange shadows, no stars in the sky and deadly solar radiation.
In this talk, using real Apollo video footage and a series of simple
demonstrations, we will take a closer look at the science behind "moon hoax"claims, and ask whether we really did land on the Moon.
Event Title: Did we land on the moon? Speaker(s): Dr Martin Hendry, University of Glasgow. Organised by: South West Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Prof James Annett. Contact Details: Email: chair-sw@physics.org.
Thursday, April 22, 2010, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
BAWA Health and Leisure Centre, Filton, Bristol , BS34 7RG.
Control of large-scale ocean structure by small-scale physics
Ireland Branch Calendar
Event Title: Control of large-scale ocean structure by small-scale physics. Speaker(s): Dr Raymond W. Schmitt, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA. Organised by: Institute of Physics. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Nicholas Devaney. Contact Details: nicholas.devaney@nuigalway.ie
+353 91 495188.
Monday, April 26, 2010, 4:00 PM.
NUIG, Galway.
Environmental radioactivity
Yorkshire Branch Calendar
Professor Richard Wakeford to talk on "Environmental radioactivity : The 1957 Windscale Fire ( the west’s worst nuclear accident )”.
Event Title: Environmental radioactivity. Speaker(s): Professor Richard Wakeford, University of Manchester. Organised by: Yorkshire Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: John Sutcliffe. Contact Details: Email: johnfsutcliffe@googlemail.com.
Monday, April 26, 2010, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM.
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, Michael Sadler Building, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT.
Weaving the Cosmic Web
Yorkshire Branch Calendar
Our local star, the Sun, is just one of the many billions that form the vast collection we call the Milky Way Galaxy. As we look up into the night sky we know there are at least as many galaxies in the universe as there are stars in the Milky Way. We now know that these galaxies are not randomly distributed throughout the Universe, but form a spidery network that has a filamentary structure dubbed the ‘cosmic web’.
Come with us on a journey to discover and explore the structure of the Universe. We will reveal its shape and show how, using supercomputers, cosmologists are getting close to answering the question “How did the universe evolve into the beautiful place we see today?”.
Event Title: Weaving the Cosmic Web. Speaker(s): Dr Pete Edwards, Dept. of Physics, Durham University. Organised by: Yorkshire Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: John Williams. Contact Details: Email: j.williams@sheffield.ac.uk.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH.
Control of large-scale ocean structure by small-scale physics
Ireland Branch Calendar
Event Title: Control of large-scale ocean structure by small-scale physics. Speaker(s): Dr Raymond W. Schmitt, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA. Organised by: Institute of Physics. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Nicholas Devaney. Contact Details: nicholas.devaney@nuigalway.ie
+353 91 495188.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 3:00 PM.
RCSI, Dublin.
Expanding the Frontiers of Neutron Science
London and South East Branch Calendar
Accelerator Driven Sources have delivered a paradigm shift in our ability to produce neutron beams for condensed matter research. ISIS at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory has for twenty years been the world’s leading pulsed neutron source delivering beams of neutrons to probe the microscopic structure and dynamics of condensed matter.
Applications range from archaeology and engineering science to the understanding of superconductivity and quantum complexity. The newly commissioned Second Target Station at ISIS is further expanding the frontiers of research in soft matter and advanced materials.
Dr Andrew Taylor, Director ISIS pulsed neutron and muon source, Rutherford and Appleton Laboratory.
Event Title: Expanding the Frontiers of Neutron Science. Speaker(s): Dr Andrew Taylor. Organised by: London and South East Branch. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: Branch Secretary. Contact Details: londonsoutheast@physics.org.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM.
Institute of Physics
76-78 Portland Place
London
W1B 1NT.
The GAIA Mission: Design and Test of a Spacecraft Attitude Control System
London and South East Branch Calendar
ESA's GAIA Spacecraft, due for launch in 2012 will survey the stars in our galaxy and the local group in order to build up a 3D map and gain further insight into the composition, formation and evolution of the galaxy. To achieve these aims, the spacecraft attitude needs to be accurately controlled throughout the mission, presenting challenges for the design of the GAIA Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS).
Victoria Hodges is an AOCS Engineer at Astrium Ltd. She is responsible for the Inertial Guidance Mode for the GAIA AOCS.
She was recently awarded the 2009 Institute of Physics, Women in Physics Group, Very Early Career Woman of the Year Prize.
Event Title: The GAIA Mission: Design and Test of a Spacecraft Attitude Control System. Speaker(s): Vicki Hodges. Organised by: London and South East Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Dr Diane Crann. Contact Details: Email: d.crann@herts.ac.uk.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
The Lindop Building, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, AL10 9AB.
Control of large-scale ocean structure by small-scale physics
Ireland Branch Calendar
Event Title: Control of large-scale ocean structure by small-scale physics. Speaker(s): Dr Raymond W. Schmitt, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA. Organised by: Institute of Physics. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Nicholas Devaney. Contact Details: nicholas.devaney@nuigalway.ie
+353 91 495188.
Friday, April 30, 2010, 3:30 PM.
NUIM, Maynooth.
Laser fusion and ultra-high power lasers
London and South East Branch Calendar
Three days after the birth of the laser in 1960, scientists predicted that it could be used to initiate fusion power production - the combination of hydrogen atoms into helium to release energy.
50 years later, the $4 billion National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the USA is due to demonstrate net energy production by laser fusion --- a truly momentous achievement. Fusion offers abundant, safe, secure, carbon-free energy at a level that can meet the demands of our civilisation for the truly long term. Within Europe, scientists from 26 institutions across 10 nations are working together on the HiPER project - to build from the scientific proof-of-principle provided by NIF to demonstrate the path to bulk energy production, and open out a wealth of new scientific discovery. This journey is being led by the UK - by scientists from the Central Laser Facility, home to some of the world's most powerful, most intense lasers. The talk will describe these lasers and how they can be used to generate fusion energy.…
Event Title: Laser fusion and ultra-high power lasers. Speaker(s): Prof. Mike Dunne, Science and Technology Facilities Council, UK. Organised by: London and South East Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: T Bartlett. Contact Details: Tel: 01908 652 514
Email: t.a.bartlett@open.ac.uk.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM.
Berrill Lecture Theatre, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA.
Radiating Health: an alpha, beta, gamma of Radionuclide Imaging
Midland Branch Calendar
Although comparatively unknown, radionuclide images can provide very useful information about the function of the major organs of the body. Examples of clinical images will show how the technique is important in a wide range of diagnoses.
Event Title: Radiating Health: an alpha, beta, gamma of Radionuclide Imaging. Speaker(s): Dr Liz Parvin. Organised by: Midlands Branch/Coventry Physics Centre. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Jon Duffy. Contact Details: Tel :02476 522410
Email: j.a.duffy@warwick.ac.uk.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
Physics Lecture Theatre, Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL.
Scanning Microscopies and AGM
Lancashire and Cumbria Branch Calendar
Followed by AGM.
Event Title: Scanning Microscopies and AGM. Speaker(s): Dr Oleg Kolosov, Lancaster. Organised by: Lancashire and Cumbria branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: John Bradshaw. Contact Details: john.bradshaw@physics.org.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM.
MB49
Maudland Building
UCLAN
Preston
PR1 2HE.
How to Keep a Good Woman Down
London and South East Branch Calendar
Tea and coffee from 18:00.
Ask anyone to name a female scientist and there's a good chance it will be Marie Curie. However there were many, many more successful women scientists whose names should also be remembered but who have been overlooked, or even erased from history. Was this a conspiracy to keep good women down?
This talk will explore the lengths that the science community has gone to in the past to keep good women scientists out of the limelight. Was this a deliberate attempt to perpetuate the myth that only men can do science? Have we moved on or are there practices in place to ensure that good women are still kept down? And why is it that successful scientists never wash their own socks?
Professor Averil Macdonald is Director of the STEM Engagement Centre at the University of Reading, chair of the IOP Physics Communicators Group and a member of Council.
Event Title: How to Keep a Good Woman Down. Speaker(s): Professor Averil Macdonald CPhys FInstP, FRSA, MRSC. Organised by: London and South East Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Branch Secretary. Contact Details: Email: londonsoutheast@physics.org.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
Institute of Physics
76-78 Portland Place
London
W1B 1NT.
Outside Visit to Kielder Observatory
North East Branch Calendar
Details still to finalise, e.g. group transport and a meal on the way. There is a meteor shower due so some observing may be possible at the end of the visit. Please send notice of your intention to come to our Hon Sec, Gareth Roberts.
Event Title: Outside Visit to Kielder Observatory. Organised by: North East Branch. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: Gareth.Roberts@newcastle.ac.uk. Contact Details: Gareth Roberts. Further Information: http://www.kielderobservatory.org.
Thursday, May 13, 2010, 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM.
Kielder Observatory.
The science of chocolate making
Merseyside Branch Calendar
This talk looks at the history of chocolate and then reviews its method of manufacture. Here science plays an important role in that both the flow properties and the crystallisation. Both must be correct in order to obtain a product with the required weight-control, shape, texture and shelf life.
Event Title: Chocolate Food of The Gods. Speaker(s): Dr Stephen T. Beckett - Retired. Formerly Nestle Product Technology Centre. Organised by: Merseyside Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Dr Stuart Ross. Contact Details: No registration is required for attendance at the actual lecture but the lecture is to be followed by a supper at the LMI for which numbers are required. Contact Stuart Ross by email.
stuart.ross@physics.org. Further Information: http://www.lmi.org.uk.
Thursday, May 13, 2010, 6:30 PM – 7:20 PM.
Liverpool Medical Institution
114 Mount Pleasant
Liverpool
L3 5SR.
The European Extremely Large Telescope
Midland Branch Calendar
Dr Fraser Clarke (University of Oxford) explores the next major project for ground based astronomy. Due for completion in 2018 the Extremely Large Telescope will be the largest telescope in the world, opening up new frontiers in astronomy and probing fundamental theories of Physics.
Event Title: The European Extremely Large Telescope. Speaker(s): Dr Fraser Clarke (University of Oxford). Organised by: Hereford and Worcester Physics Centre - IOP Midland Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: J E Beale or Dr A C Smith. Contact Details: J E Beale
Tel: 01684-895548
Email: john.beale@physics.org
Dr A C Smith
Tel: 01684-569503
Email: alancsmith@physics.org.
Thursday, May 13, 2010, 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
The University of Worcester, Main Building, Henwick Grove, Worcester WR2 6AJ.
RAF Museum - London
Midland Branch Calendar
Conducted tour and visit.
Cost: £4 maximum per person (maximum of three guests each).
Option to meet for lunch at museum.
The closing date is 29 April.
Event Title: RAF Museum - London. Organised by: Midland Branch. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: John Pelmore. Contact Details: Email: jmpelmore@btinternet.com.
Saturday, May 15, 2010, 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM.
RAF Museum, Grahame Park Way Hendon
LONDON NW9 5LL.
For more info visit www.rafmuseum.org. Physics Summer School 2010
Scotland Branch Calendar
The Summer School will provide:
• support for various aspects of the new Higher Physics arrangements
• workshops using motion analysis software and techniques
• an introduction to the wireless sensor networks developed by Edinburgh University
• a forum to discuss school to university physics transition issues
Delivery modes will include lectures, hands-on workshops, outdoor activities and ‘talk and discussion’ sessions. There will also be social activities and delegates will receive some free resources.
Cost:
The cost of the residential Summer School is £170. Thanks to support from Research Councils UK all delegates will be able to reclaim a bursary of £200 for their school.
Closing date for bookings: 31st March.
There is a limit of 20 places.
Event Title: Physics Summer School 2010. Organised by: Institute of Physics. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: Gregor Steele. Contact Details: Email: gregor@sserc.org.uk
Tel: 01383 626070.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 – Saturday, May 22, 2010.
The Queensferry Hotel (at the north end of the Forth Road Bridge), St. Margaret's Head, North Queensferry, KY11 1HP.
Weather Rage
South West Branch Calendar
Tea and coffee available from 19:00. Non-members welcome.
The talk will describe progress in understanding the causes of severe weather and its prediction, and illustrate its effects.
Abstract: Massively powerful computers, enhanced observations and excellent research have led to improved understanding of both the origin and evolution of severe weather and of its prediction.
The talk will illustrate how severe weather forms, how it is monitored, how it is predicted and what damage it can inflict, with examples drawn mainly from the USA.
Event Title: Weather Rage: all about thunderstorms,tornadoes and hurricanes. Speaker(s): Ross Reynolds, University of Reading. Organised by: South West Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Ed Ratzer. Contact Details: secretary-sw@physics.org.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 7:30 PM.
Room TC103, Elwes Building, Park Campus, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, GL50 2RH.
Nuclear Fusion
Yorkshire Branch Calendar
Event Title: Nuclear Fusion. Speaker(s): Professor Howard Wilson, University of York. Organised by: Yorkshire Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: johnfsutcliffe@googlemail.com. Contact Details: John Sutcliffe.
Monday, May 24, 2010, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre
Michael Sadler Building
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT.
Do cosmic rays have any significant effect on climate?
London and South East Branch Calendar
Cosmic rays provide a main sources of ionization in the atmosphere and might have an effect on cloud formation and thereby,atmospheric temperature. They may have relevance to the well-known problem with the initiation of lightning, by the arrival of dense extensive air shower cores. The basic physics behind 'Climate Change' is discussed.
The study includes an examination of the 11-year cycle of cloud cover, radon, nuclear bombs and the Chernobyl disaster. Forbush decreases in the cosmic ray flux are also studied,as well a the possibility of seeing 'cigar-shaped-clouds' coming from air showers.
A brief mention will be made of the role of past very high fluxes of high energy cosmic rays, a billion years ago,and consequently lightning, in the formation of life!
This is a joint meeting with the Environmental Physics Group.
This lecture follows the Environmental Physics Group Meeting at the Institute.
Tea/coffee from 18:00.
Event Title: Do cosmic rays have any significant effect on climate? Speaker(s): Professor Sir Arnold Wolfendale. Organised by: London and South East Branch. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: Len Lewell. Contact Details: Email: londonsoutheast@physics.org.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Institute of Physics
76-78 Portland Place
London
W1B 1NT.
Fusion Power - the Era of Burning Plasmas
London and South East Branch Calendar
In a decade, the international fusion experiment ITER will start operating in the south of France. This historic experiment will generate up to 500 megawatts and provide a proof of principle for fusion energy. Fusion has the potential to provide a large fraction of our energy for millions of years.
Prof Cowley will describe the scientific progress in fusion -- from Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington's prophetic predictions in 1920 to the remarkable results that have lead to ITER. There are challenging problems that must be solved to make fusion power a commercial option. I will outline these problems and worldwide efforts to find their solution.
Prof Steve Cowleyis Head of Research Unit, EURATOM/CCFE Association Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
There is parking near the lecture theatre.
Event Title: Fusion Power - the Era of Burning Plasmas. Speaker(s): Prof Steve Cowley. Organised by: London and South East Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Tracy Bartlett. Contact Details: Tel: 01908 652 514
Email: t.a.bartlett@open.ac.uk.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM.
Berrill Lecture Theatre, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA.
36th Stirling Physics Meeting
Scotland Branch Calendar
- The largest meeting of the physics teaching community in the UK
- A mixture of information, simulation and communication
- An effective meeting, bringing you into contact with the latest thinking in physics and physics education, and with colleagues from throughout Scotland.
Event Title: 36th Stirling Physics Meeting. Organised by: Institute of Physics in Scotland. Conference Chair: Michael McVey. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: Claire Garland. Contact Details: claire.garland@iop.org. Further Information: http://www.stirlingmeeting.org.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010.
University of Stirling
Stirling
FK9 4LA
Scotland.
Conference, Dinner and AGM 2010
Scotland Branch Calendar
This meeting is organised by the Institute of Physics in Scotland in association with the Stirling Physics Teachers' Meeting.
Event Title: Conference, Dinner and AGM 2010. Organised by: the IOP in Scotland. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: Claire Garland. Contact Details: Conferences Operations Manager
email: claire.garland@iop.org. Further Information: http://www.iop.org/Conferences/y/10/agm/page_38875.html.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010, 2:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
Stirling Management Centre
University of Stirling
Stirling
FK9 4LA.
Mysterious neutrinos
Lancashire and Cumbria Branch Calendar
The T2K (Tokai to Kamioka) experiment is a collaboration of 400 physicists from 12 countries studying the behaviour of a particle called the neutrino. What makes it so elusive? Unlike other fundamental particles, the neutrino only interacts via the weak force. In practice, this means that neutrinos almost never interact. Hence, they typically travel through enormous amounts of matter leaving no information behind. Despite that, physicists have engaged in the challenge of finding and measuring the unusual and surprisingly influential properties of this ghostly particle.
Event Title: Mysterious neutrinos. Speaker(s): Dr Laura Kormos, Lancaster. Organised by: Lancashire and Cumbria branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: John Bradshaw. Contact Details: john.bradshaw@physics.org.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM.
Cavendish Colloquium room,
Faraday Building
Lancaster University
LA1 4YW.
Thorium - an acceptable fuel for Nuclear Power?
Manchester and District Branch Calendar
It is clear that we can no longer depend on fossil fuels for our energy needs. It is doubtful whether renewable sources can fill the gap. Nuclear power is apparently the only way to avoid reverting to the middle ages. But conventional nuclear power has problems with safety, with long term waste storage, and with the dangers of proliferation. Even if technical solutions are found, the public is negative and sceptical. Accelerator Driven Thorium reactors provide an alternative to the conventional Uranium/Plutonium system in which Thorium is converted to Uranium with the help of spallation neutrons from an accelerator. This is manifestly safe, as the reactor is always subcritical and if the accelerator is switched off the reaction stops. There is no long term waste problem as the long-lived minor actinides are not produced - indeed this system can be used to consume waste from conventional nuclear power plants by transmutation. And the
manufacture of weapons is certainly very difficult and perhaps impossible.…
Event Title: Thorium - an acceptable fuel for Nuclear Power? Speaker(s): Professor Roger Barlow, University of Manchester. Organised by: Manchester and District Branch. Requires Registration: No. Contact: Christie.Theodorakou@physics.cr.man.ac.uk. Contact Details: Christie Theodorakou.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM.
E0.05
John Dalton Building
Manchester Metropolitan University
Chester Street
Manchester
M1 5GD.
AGM and Gravitational Waves
North East Branch Calendar
Our AGM at the slightly earlier time of 6.15 will be followed at 6.45 by Prof Sheila Rowan of the University of Glasgow talking about gravitational waves, their detection and implications for the theory of relativity. All are invited to join in the end of year social afterwards in the staff bar until 9.00.
Event Title: AGM and Gravitational Waves. Speaker(s): Prof Sheila Rowan. Organised by: North East Branch. Requires Registration: Yes. Contact: gareth.roberts@newcastle.ac.uk. Contact Details: Gareth Roberts, Honorary Secretary.
Thursday, June 10, 2010, 6:15 PM – 9:00 PM.
Ellison Building
Northumbria University
Room tbc.