SUSSP

History

The Scottish Universities Summer School in Physics, SUSSP, was established in 1960 by four ancient Scottish Universities (Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St. Andrews) to contribute to the dissemination of advanced knowledge in Physics and the formation of contacts among scientists from different countries through the setting up of a series of annual summer schools of the highest international standard. The subject area of each school would be such as to reflect the research interests of one or more of these Universities. The number of Scottish Universities supporting SUSSP has increased to include Dundee, Glasgow Caledonian, Heriot-Watt, West of Scotland and Strathclyde. In the early years, one School was held annually but with the recent increase in the number of Scottish Universities, it has been possible in some years to hold two and sometimes three Schools.

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.

Governing Committee

The Governing Committee is responsible for overseeing and supporting the ongoing series through the Organising Committees. The Governing Committee comprises the appointed Trustees, namely the Governing Committee Office Bearers, the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance representative for each of the eight SUPA universities (the SUPA Executive Committee) and two elected independent representatives.

Support

In addition to financial contributions from the participating Scottish Universities, SUSSP was, from the beginning, indebted to the Scientific Affairs Division of NATO for generous support through ASI awards. More recently, support has been made available by the European Commission, by the UK research councils, STFC and EPSRC, and by the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA). From 2007, funding was also been made available through a Memorandum of Understanding between STFC, EPSRC and the European Science Foundation (ESF). There are currently no such agreements in place and the Executive Committee of each School seeks its own funding from appropriate sources.

Publications

An important aspect of each school is the wider dissemination of knowledge through the publication of the proceedings of each School in the SUSSP series. Recent editions have been published in the Scottish Graduate Series by Taylor & Francis through their CRC Press division which now markets existing titles and has assumed responsibility for volumes up to and including those of the 2009 School. From 2010, proceedings were published in the Scottish Graduate Series by Springer. Since 2014 hard copy proceedings have been replaced by audio-visual recordings posted online.

Upcoming Schools

78 2023 High Pressure
79 2023 Photonics Sensors and Spectroscopy

 

 

 

Previous Schools

77 2022 Stardust to Extrasolar Planets: Dynamics of exoplanetary and solar system bodies
76 2021 Photonic Imaging, Sensing & Analysis
75 2019 Nuclear Physics
74 2018 Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Photonics
73 2017 Gravitational Wave Astronomy
72 2016 Photonic Systems for Sensing and Metrology
71 2015 Frontiers in Quantum Dynamics and Quantum Optics
70 2014 International Neutrino Summer School
-- 2013 Computational Astrophysics (cancelled)
69 2012 LHC Physics
68 2011 Laser Plasma Interactions and Applications
67 2011 Quantum Coherence and Quantum Information
66 2010 Ultrafast Non-Linear Optics
65 2009 LHC Physics
64 2008 Advanced Techniques in Electron Spin Resonance
63 2008 High Pressure Physics
62 2007 Extra-Solar Planets
61 2006 Neutrino Physics
60 2005 Laser Plasma Interactions
59 2004 Soft Condensed Matter Physics in Molecular and Cell Biology
58 2004 Hadron Physics
57 2003 Large Hadron Collider Phenomenology
56 2002 Ultrafast Photonics
55 2001 Heavy Flavour Physics
54 2000 The Restless Universe: Applications of Gravitational N-Body Dynamics to Planetary, Stellar and Galactic Systems
53 1999 Soft and Fragile Matter: Nonequilibrium Dynamics, Metastability and Flow
52 1998 Advances in Lasers and Applications
51 1998 Muon Science
50 1998 Semiconductor Quantum Optoelectronics
49 1997 Physical Processes in the Coastal Zone
48 1996 Generation and Application of High Microwaves Power
47 1995 Laser Sources and Applications
46 1995 General Relativity
45 1994 Laser-Plasma Interactions 5: Inertial Confinement Fusion
44 1994 Simple Quantum Systems
43 1994 Determination of Geophysical Parameters from Space
42 1993 High Energy Phenomenology
41 1992 Spatial Complexity in Optical Systems
40 1992 Quantitative Microbeam Analysis
39 1991 High Temperature Superconductivity
38 1991 Physics of Nanostructures
37 1990 Pattern Recognition and Image Processing
36 1989 Physics of the Early Universe
35 1988 Laser-Plasma Interactions 4
34 1988 Optical Computing
33 1987 Astrophysical and Laboratory Spectroscopy
32 1987 Computational Physics
31 1986 Localisation and Interaction
30 1985 Synchotron Radiation
29 1985 Laser-Plasma Interactions 3
28 1985 Superstrings and Supergravity
27 1984 Fundamental Forces
26 1983 Statistical  and Particle Physics
25 1983 Quantitative Electron Microscopy
24 1982 Laser-Plasma Interactions 2
23 1982 Lasers: Physics, Systems and Techniques
22 1981 Magnetism in Solids
21 1980 Gauge Theories and Experiments at High Energy
20 1979 Laser-Plasma Interactions 1
19 1978 Metal Non-metal Transitions in Disordered Solids
18 1977 Nuclear Structure Physics
17 1976 Fundamentals of Quark Models
16 1975 Non-linear Optics
15 1974 The Helium Liquids
14 1973 Phenomenology of Particles at High Energy
13 1972 Electronic and Structural Properties of Amorphous Semiconductors
12 1971 Atoms and Molecules in Astrophysics
11 1970 Hadronic Interactions of Electrons and Photons
10 1969 Quantum Optics
9 1968 Physics of Hot Plasmas
8 1967 Methods in Solid State and Superfluid Theory
7 1966 Particle Interactions at High Energy
6 1965 Phonons in Perfect Lattices and in Lattices with Point Imperfections
5 1964 Nuclear Structure and Electromagnetic Interactions
4 1963 Strong Interactions and High Energy Physics
3 1962 Polarons and Excitons
2 1961 Fluctuation, Relaxation and Resonance in Magnetic Systems
1 1960 Dispersion relations