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The SUPAscope network – round-the-clock access to the night sky

SUPAscope

 

The “SUPAscopes” are three identical 1m robotic telescopes located at top observatory sites spread around the southern hemisphere: Siding Spring Observatory (Australia), South African Astronomical Observatory, and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (Chile). Our capital investment has been turned into a share of the larger world-spanning LCO (Las Cumbres Observatory) network of 0.4m, 1m, and 2m telescopes, with a partnership agreement enabling collaborative projects with LCO and further network partners.

 

By providing round-the-clock access to the night sky, the LCO/SUPAscope network enables quasi-uninterrupted time series observations with both multi-filter imagers and spectrographs, and is the leading facility of its kind in the world. The automated scheduling of the telescopes allows for fast response via software interfaces.

 

RSE welcomes 60 new Fellows

Outstanding Academics, Celebrated Professionals and Royalty Join Scotland’s National Academy

The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is delighted to announce that HRH The Duke of Cambridge has been elected to become an RSE Royal Honorary Fellow. We much look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with HRH, as we have with our Patron, Her Majesty The Queen, and our other Royal Fellows.¹

SSERC’s role in Scottish Physics Education







Gregor Steele, Education Support (Physics), and Radiation Protection Adviser, gives some background on SSERC for SUPA;   The school physics curriculum has changed quite radically in the last few years, with topics such as astrophysics, particle physics and quantum physics now much more to the fore. Some teachers will have last studied these subjects a decade or more ago, or perhaps not at all, depending on their route into teaching. RCUK courses bring teachers and researchers together with the aim of bringing cutting edge science into the classroom. These courses have been very well received in Scotland because the presenters have been able to talk about their research in an accessible manner that supports teachers’ understanding of curriculum content.  

SUPA Careers Event 2016

The SUPA Careers Event 2016 took place at Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh on 6th December. In keeping with the format used successfully in the past, we had a range of speakers from various industries who gave a brief introduction and then took part in round table sessions where delegates had the opportunity to chat with the speakers, ask questions, and get an insight into a variety of career options. 

The SUPA careers event is designed to demonstrate the wide range of careers open to people with a physics PhD. The 80 student attendees heard from nine speakers who have careers in everything from satellites to software start-ups, including academia, finance, patent law and medical physics. Following brief introductions, the speakers spent 10 minutes with small groups of students to discuss their careers in detail before moving on to speak to other groups. 

CV clinics were provided by Vishanti Fox of the Institute of Physics (IoP), and careers advisors Keith Kilgore (HW), Helen Stringer (UoE) and Katrina Garder (UoG).

An exhibition of Scottish Physics employers included representatives from M2 Lasers, Textesor, Leonardo, Coherent and the IoP.

MagTEM at the University of Glasgow

MagTEM at the University of Glasgow

In 2012 the Materials and Condensed Matter Physics Group opened the MagTEM facility at the University of Glasgow. MagTEM is a JEOL ARM (Atomic Resolution Microscope) 200cF which is a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) with aberration correction provided by CEOS. Aberration correction allows world leading performance of this instrument, and the capability of the instrument is summarised below:

The Glasgow LISA Pathfinder team wins Sir Arthur Clarke Award

University of Glasgow's LISA Pathfinder team has been awarded The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation and the British Interplanetary Society's 2016 Sir Arthur Clarke Award for "Space Achievement in Academic Research or Study".

Welcome Event 2016

The Welcome Event for new SUPA students was held on 28th October at Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. First year students from across SUPA came to learn about the excellent research in SUPA, to meet colleagues in other universities and to receive advice from their peers.

Events

Amplitudes 2017 summer school (July 2017): The study of scattering amplitudes has seen vigorous progress in recent years, both within Scotland and internationally. This school will provide training for graduate students and academics based in Scotland in this exciting field and will precede the annual Amplitudes conference. The school will be held at University of Edinburgh in July 2017.   Biophotonics North (2nd – 5th November 2016): Biophotonics is an important field of research within SUPA’s PALS theme area and many graduate students pursuing a Ph.D. in this theme will benefit from attending this conference, from mingling with their peers over an event focused on their field of research, as well as from meeting with delegates from outside SUPA. This will enrich their knowledge and inform their research practice by implementing ideas/know-how from other groups and horizons. Workshops on research-related problems beyond the laboratory – gender balance in research and career progression – will increase the professional skills and ethics of the attendees. This event will be held at University of St Andrews.   FluoroFest (Spring 2017):

Distinguished Visitors between 2016 and 2017

Professor Norbert Lutkenhaus (Feb 2017): Prof Norbert Lütkenhaus is a leading international expert in quantum optics and quantum key distribution, who focuses on bridging the gap between theory and experiment in the realization of quantum technologies. Prof Lütkenhaus’ expertise is likely to appeal to students interested both in theoretical studies as well as in experimental implementations.  SUPA graduate students will have the opportunity to interact with Prof Lütkenhaus, and to learn about and be trained in recent developments in the fields in which he is an expert. Prof Lütkenhaus will deliver a series of lectures (indicatively each 1 hour long), to be broadcast / recorded through the SUPA videoconferencing network, and local seminars at the hosting institutions. Professor Lutkenhaus will be visiting University of Glasgow, Heriot-Watt University, University of St. Andrews, and University of Strathclyde.   Dr William D. Phillips (July 2017):

Major awards for Scottish born physicists.

Scottish-born scientists, David Thouless and Michael Kosterlitz, along with Duncan Haldane from London, have been awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in physics for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter. David, a Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, originates from Bearsden.  Michael Kosterlitz, a physics professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island comes from Aberdeen.  SUPA has extended congratulations to both.

https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2016/

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