SUPA is the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, a strategic alliance of eight Physics Schools with a shared strategy for research with funding from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). Our members are the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, St Andrews, Strathclyde and West of Scotland.

Launched in 2004 with the aim of placing Scotland at the forefront of research in physics through co-ordinated promotion and pursuit of excellence, SUPA has been highly successful in establishing Scotland as a recognised international leader in research and advanced post-graduate training in physics.

SUPA is a community of over 1200 physicists (academics, research staff and post-graduate students) across Scotland.

It is the policy of the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA) that all participants, including attendees, SUPA staff, volunteers, and all other stakeholders at SUPA events and meetings and in SUPA courses will conduct themselves in a professional manner that is welcoming to all participants and free from any form of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. Participants will treat each other with respect and consideration to create a collegial, inclusive, and professional environment at SUPA events and meetings and during SUPA courses. Creating a supportive environment to enable scientific discourse at SUPA events and meetings and during SUPA courses is the responsibility of all participants.

The 75th SUSSP and 20th STFC Summer School in Nuclear Physics and its Applications will be held at the University of St Andrews, 5th-17th August 2019. This edition of the summer school is a satellite event to the International Nuclear Physics Conference (INPC) which runs in Glasgow until the 2nd of August.

The two-week residential school, targeted at PhD students, aims to broaden the participants’ knowledge by providing lectures, delivered by leading international researchers, and skills-based practical sessions across a wide range of topics at the forefront of fundamental nuclear and hadron physics research and its applications. It will include sessions on careers and on nuclear physics outreach and will offer all participants the opportunity to present their research in a talk. Generous sponsorship from STFC, SUSSP and SUPA allows a number of bursaries to be offered.

Summer School Format

Each School is organised by its own Executive Committee which is responsible for inviting lecturers of international standing to contribute an in-depth lecture series on one aspect of the area being studied. The participants come from all over the world and are mostly at the post-graduate or post-doctoral stage of their careers. Schools are typically of two or three weeks duration and are held in one of the many historical beauty spots within Scotland where quiet surroundings enable participants and lecturers to interact in a relaxed and effective way. In addition to the formal programme of lectures and seminars, an extensive social programme is included to contribute to the overall informal atmosphere which has become the tradition of SUSSP.

Upcoming Schools

The SUPA Graduate School organises a number of events each year, over and above the course programme. Many are run annually, there are also occasional one-off events. 

Details of upcoming events can be found on our Upcoming Events page.

Information and reports on past events can be found on our Past Events page.

-- This call is now closed --

This funding is provided by the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), Scottish Universities Life Science Alliance (SULSA) and Scottish Imaging Network (SINAPSE) and is aimed at new research, and establishing or fostering research collaborations between academia and industry to drive novel optical imaging research in the context of life sciences and medicine.

Funding up to £5,000 can be sought for a broad range of activities relating to any research or partnership activity with industry, including:

·       Consumables

·       Facilities access

·       Travel to consortium meetings

·       Travel for establishing network connections

·       Attend or host meetings of academic and external partners at any stage during the preparation of applications

·       Run workshops to share experience and best practice with regard to Industrial collaborations

Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Photonics

St Andrews, Scotland, 16-23 June 2018

SUSSP was established in 1960  to "contribute to the dissemination of advanced knowledge (in Physics) and the formation of contacts among scientists from different countries" through annual summer schools of the highest international standard.   See SUSP73, and SUSSP for information on previous schools.

The worldwide photonics market is worth $150 billion. Graduate schools around the world are producing excellent photonics researchers, but achieving sustainable economic impact makes it important to stimulate a spirit of enterprise, technology transfer, innovation and entrepreneurship in this community of early career researchers. 

The excellent line up for 2018 included:

SUPA is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and supports the partner universities to provide a learning, research and teaching environment free from discrimination and unfair treatment.

Within physics there is a decline in the proportion of women at higher education and career levels. Approximately 25% of physics PhD students are women, 19.8% of lecturers, 11.2% of senior lecturers, and 6% of professors are women (from HESA staff data, reported here).

SUPA aims to consider equality, diversity and inclusion in our activities. For those activities we fund, we monitor the diversity of applicants and awardees, and where we fund events, we require the organisers to have a plan in place to ensure the event is inclusive to all and we provide an event checklist to support this. For more information, see our Meetings & Events funding page.

The SUPA partner universities hold and aspire to achieve the industry standards for equality and diversity. This table highlights the awards held currently (Feb 2022). 

6th June 2018, RBS Conference Centre

The 3rd SUPA Annual Gathering was very well attended with just under 200 participants. The event took place in the superb venue of the RBS Conference Centre, Gogarburn.

Following a warm welcome from Paula Richie, Regional Head of Business Development RBS, and the SUPA CEO, the morning session was led by a research highlight presentaion from Prof. Daniel Watts, University of Edinburgh, on Illuminating Nuclei for Neutron Stars.

Early career researchers gave talks on their research highlights, experiences and career trajectories. Full report available here.