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Welcome from the CEO |
With the 2022/23 academic year approaching, SUPA is ready to welcome the latest influx of PhD students into the SUPA Graduate School, the largest grad school for physics PhDs in the UK. A warm welcome to all and I look forward to meeting you at the SUPA Graduate School Welcome event in Edinburgh on 12th October. Please take full advantage of the advanced courses, events, researcher exchanges and careers advice with access to the knowledge base of internationally leading researchers across our unique eight university research and training partnership. I hope you find these SUPA Newsletters a valuable source of information about the latest physics research activities and opportunities in Scotland.
Alan |
News from SUPA |
SUPA Welcome Event for new students
The Welcome Event for new research students is returning to in-person! The day will be a chance to meet one another, discover inspiring research and career highlights from two SUPA academics and hear from current students on their top tips and advice.
New students should all now have been sent an email from us, if you think you (or others) are missing this information, please let us know! |
Weds 12 October, 10am-4.30pm
John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh |
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Careers Online at Lunchtime
This monthly talk series introduces you to a variety of people who started their career with a PhD in physics, and went on to work outside academia. Each session has one or two speakers with plenty of opportunity to ask questions. Sessions take place on Zoom, 1-2pm. To register to receive the links, please use MySUPA to enrol on the course. This course is also open to those in our sister pools, so those beyond SUPA can enrol, please share with those you think may find it useful.
We’re treating you to TWO talks coming up in October: October 13 - John MacDonald, Engineering Manager, Optoscribe October 26 - Lorenzo Zanisi, Data Scientist, UK Atomic Energy Agency
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If you join our courses remotely, you may start to notice new branding, as our provider VScene, has undergone a rebrand to become ClassView. The classes are running as usual, you don’t need to do anything, you should just notice a different colour scheme! |
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*New* Power Hour of Writing
Building on the success and demand for our support with writing skills, we are now pleased to be offering the Power Hour of Writing. Available to PGR students AND post-docs!
This is an online writing community that meets weekly. You block out the time to participate and work on whatever it is you’re needing to work on, it could be writing or research related, marking, or things that keep dropping off the to-do list.
More information is available on MySUPA: Power Hour of Writing |
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Research Incentive Grants (RIG) allow Early Career Researchers to undertake, as Principal Investigators, a short research project, either of a stand-alone nature or in the form of an initial study leading to a more extensive project. If you’re interested in learning more, there are information sessions on Zoom on Weds 19 Oct and Fri 28 Oct.
Application deadline: 30 November |
News from our Partner Universities |
| As part of UKRI’s Quantum Technologies for Fundamental Physics programme, Strathclyde and Glasgow are collaborating with Cardiff, Birmingham and Warwick on a project to “Increase the science research for quantum enhanced interferometry”. |
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| A collaboration between physics and biology at Edinburgh and Newcastle has used polymer physics based simulations to predict the 3D organisation of chromosomes near to sites of incorrect repair, with the aim of reversing the disease state. The team also worked with a multimedia science artist to expand the reach and audience of the work. |
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| An international collaboration including Strathclyde has found a way to allow an optical clock to self-start and self-recover, overcoming a previous issue of microcombs being incapable of starting and continuing in a running state. |
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| A technique developed at Heriot-Watt has dramatically reduced manufacturing time for optical devices used in diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. Using laser beam shaping techniques, the time has reduced from hours to just a few minutes. |
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| A collaboration led by UWS with Integrated Graphene Ltd aims to develop sensors which provide enhanced capabilities to robots, helping improve their dexterity and motor skills, through the use of accurate pressure sensors which provide haptic feedback and distributed touch. |
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| Researchers at Strathclyde have collaborated with research institutes across Europe, and Microsoft, to explore the near and medium-term possibilities for quantum simulation on analogue and digital platforms. |
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| The Medical Device Manufacturing Centre at Heriot-Watt has entered a five-year agreement to collaborate with InnoScot Health, Scotland’s research pool for health, to help bring new ideas and innovations from healthcare professionals to life. |
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| Research at Strathclyde has proven that a twisted beam of light can be used to trap and rotate microscopic particles, thus shaping matter into unconventional and complex shapes, useful for novel quantum device design. |
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| AlbaSense, a university spinout based within the Institute of Thin Films, Sensors and Imaging (ITFSI) at UWS will develop low-cost, high-performance thin film optical coatings and photonic sensors, using exclusive patented processes. |
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Mesolens encourages Bristol shoppers back to the high street
Microscopic imagery from the Mesolens at Strathclyde is being used as part of a street art installation in Bristol. OVERSTORY, by leading contemporary artists Ivan Morison & Heather Peak (Studio Morison), is a tree-inspired installation at Broadmead, Bristol, produced & curated by This Is Pony and commissioned with The Natural History Consortium.
It’s hoped that the project, including large canopies comprising images from the giant microscope, will encourage the public not only to connect with nature and consider the importance of trees and tree canopies in urban environments, but also to return to the high street. You can also hear about the project on the Linnean Podcast (12min).
Photos ©Jamie Woodley. |
Congratulations to… |
Dr Mariana Fazio, Strathclyde |
| for winning one of only 10 Ernest Rutherford Fellowships, to address issues affecting performance of the optical coatings on mirrors in gravitational wave detectors. |
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Dr Christiaan Bekker, Heriot-Watt |
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Dr Christian Brahms, Heriot-Watt |
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Prof Brian McNeil, Strathclyde |
| for winning the FEL 2022 Prize from Elettra Sincotrone Trieste in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Free Electron Laser Science and Technology. |
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Prof Sheila Rowan, Glasgow |
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Young Academy of Scotland - new members announced The Young Academy of Scotland is the national group representing Scotland’s most innovative professionals from across all sectors. Congratulations to all those who have been appointed in the latest round, including physicists: Prof Andy Buckley, Glasgow Dr Anne-Marie Weijmans, St Andrews Dr Richard Middlemiss, Glasgow
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Funding |
| Research Incentive Grants (RIG) allow Early Career Researchers to undertake, as Principal Investigators, a short research project, either of a stand-alone nature or in the form of an initial study leading to a more extensive project. If you’re interested in learning more, there are information sessions on Zoom on Weds 19 Oct and Fri 28 Oct.
Application deadline: 30 November |
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| All of UKRI’s funding in one place, search by Council and funding type. Examples: Future Leader Fellowships, Ernest Rutherford Fellowships, travel grants, and technology readiness. |
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| The IOP has a number of schemes to support their members including: |
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| Up to £250 to help you attend an event you may not otherwise be able to (e.g. extended childcare hours, nursing care) |
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| For PGR students to attend an overseas conference, value depends on location. |
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| Up to £300 to attend international meetings and facilities, quarterly deadlines, next deadline 1 December. |
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| Up to £300 to attend international and major national meetings, quarterly deadlines, next deadline 1 December. |
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| The SFC funds a number of programmes administered by Interface, to connect business and Scotland’s universities in innovative collaborations. Applications must be made by the SME partner, if you don’t have an SME partner Interface can help.
Rolling scheme, no deadlines. Standard Innovation Vouchers, <£5,000 for first-time partnerships Student Placement Innovation Voucher, <£5,000 Advanced Innovation Vouchers, <£20,000 of match funding
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Public Engagement & Outreach |
Big Bounce 2022:
Volunteers wanted |
| The Big Bounce festival brings simple, exciting science to the East End of Glasgow on Sat 29 and Sun 30 October. Families enjoy a free day out and get involved with magnets, crafts, rainbows, galaxies and stilt-walkers. Hands-on activities, interactive shows and workshops let parents and kids alike connect easily with science. The IOP have plenty of opportunities for volunteers, including explaining simple physics to attendees, helping at crafting drop-ins, and other jobs throughout the day.
Email Mikey Jarrell if interested. |
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| Running from Jan -July 2023, the Engage Academy gives you the opportunity to network with other public engagement professionals, explore common challenges, and build skills and strategies to enhance your approach and develop as change agents in your institution.
Deadline: 5pm, Monday 31 October |
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| Funding quick-response high-profile PE programmes, relating to unexpected or highly significant discoveries across STFC’s science and technology remit.
Open all year round. |
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Equality, Diversity and Inclusion |
SUPA is continually looking at how to ensure what we do is accessible to all. In each newsletter, we’ll highlight an element of good practice, this time it’s: How to design colour blind-friendly scientific content |
 | This blog post from Animate Your Science offers insight into how to use colour effectively to display your research, to both get across the scientific results and be accessible to those who can’t see it the same way you do. From overlapping data on graphs, to poster and presentations, the article includes the science behind Colour Vision Deficiency, tips on what to do and what not to do, as well as links to tools to help you. | |
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Congratulations also to the winners and runners up of the Lillian McDermott Award in Physics Education Research from the IOP’s Higher Education Group.
The winning poster was:
Treated Differently: A qualitative examination of women’s experiences in the physics classroom by Bottomley et al, a collaboration between the School of Physics & Astronomy and School of Psychology & Neuroscience at St Andrews.
The runner up was:
The leaky pipeline: a statistical analysis of self-reported barriers to participation of women and non-binary physicists at undergraduate level, by McAllister et al, at Glasgow. |
And finally…The footprint of physics |
Have you ever considered the carbon footprint of your research? A recent Physics World article and podcast consider just this. From the travel to conferences, to the efficiency of computer code, from your choice of coding language, to where in the world your computer is, there is much to consider! You can now assess how green your algorithms are using an online tool devised at Cambridge. |
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