News and Events

More than €2M awarded to SoP Academics for Innovative Research

June 2023: The School of Physics enjoyed significant success in the latest Frontiers for the Future call from Science Foundation Ireland with three grants totalling €2.4M awarded. The scheme operates under two categories: In the ‘Projects’ stream, which are deemed high-risk, high-reward and facilitate highly innovative and novel approaches to research, two PIs were successful: Dr. Antonio Benedetto with his proposal "BIONIC - Tuning the properties of model and real biomembranes by organic electrolytes"; and Prof. James Rice for "Responsive plasmonics using biomaterials". In the Awards category, which are larger scale projects and deemed innovative, collaborative and excellent research programmes, Prof. Sheila McBreen was awarded €1.2M for the proposal "Gamma-ray Investigation of the Full Transient Sky: A 6U CubeSat for the localisation of gamma-ray bursts in the multi-messenger era".

Intercultural Cake Friday

May 2023: On 19th May UCD Physics welcomed 45+ students & staff to our Intercultural Cake Friday in the School of Physics Common Room. Entertaining event to celebrate our diversity & enjoyed by all!

International Fellowship Awarded to Dr. Campbell

April 2023: The School congratulates Dr. Steve Campbell on receiving a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The highly selective awards support research activity between German host institutes and international researchers. Dr. Campbell's award will allow him to develop research ties with his hosts, Prof. Dr. Christiane Koch and Prof. Dr. Jens Eisert, who lead two internationally renowned research groups at Freie Universität Berlin, through two extended research visits focussing on the thermodynamics of quantum control.

Space Careers Roadshow

March 2023: An EIRSAT-1 themed Space Careers Roadshow took place in a packed UCD Astra Hall on March 27th. More than 500 transition year, 5th, and 6th year students heard from EIRSAT-1 physics PhD students about their experiences and pathways to a career in space science. The attendees heard about how the EIRSAT-1 team is busy learning how to operate the spacecraft, updating operational procedures, and doing final testing before the spacecraft is delivered to the European Space Agency for launch.

Dr. Colibaba awarded Best Invited Talk at It’s Her! Women in STEMM Summit

March 2023: Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Anais Colibaba was awarded for the Best Invited Talk at It’s Her! Women in STEMM Summit in Trinity College Dublin.

Her presentation "In silico characterisation of materials" described a new methodology of prediction of hydro- and lipophilicity of materials using atomistic modelling and machine learning.

UCD and Stanford physicists team up to build an analogue quantum computer

January 2023: UCD theoretical physicist Dr Andrew Mitchell has just published a paper in Nature Physics with experimental nanoscience collaborators at Stanford University. The researchers designed and built a new kind of 'analogue' quantum computer using nanoscale quantum components in an electronic circuit cooled to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero temperature. Unlike classical computers, the device works by analogy -- exploiting the quantum properties of its tiny components to perform quantum simulation. The bespoke system was designed to solve a specific problem in quantum physics, and takes us a step closer to understanding the complex behaviour of materials such as superconductors, from their quantum foundations.

The School of Physics is delighted to receive the Athena Swan bronze award

December 2022: The Athena SWAN charter is an international framework used to support and transform gender equality in higher education and research for both students and staff. The School of Physics is the recipient of the Athena SWAN Bronze award following a successful conversion of the School's prior Institute of Physics IOP Juno award. The Athena SWAN award was celebrated at ATU Castlebar on Nov. 8th and again in UCD on December 12th 2022. In the picture (left-to-right): Prof. Emma Sokell (Head of School), Sarah Fink (Head of Athena SWAN Ireland), Dr. Brian Vohnsen (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Co-Chair in the School) and Prof. Colin Scott (Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion).

$O\'Raifeartaigh Medalist Publishes Paper Based on Undergraduate Project$

O'Raifeartaigh Medalist Publishes Paper Based on Undergraduate Project

November 2022: The School congratulates 2022's O'Raifeartaigh medalist Ainur Kazhybekova on the recent publication in the Journal of Physics Communications stemming from work performed on her final year research project under the supervision of Dr. Anthony Kiely and Steve Campbell. Ainur's project focussed on developing schemes to coherently control complex quantum systems, with particular emphasis on critical many-body systems. The published article forms part of a Focus Issue on Thermodynamic Control in the journal.

HEAVYMETAL - where in the Universe do heavy elements get made?

November 2022: The School of Physics congratulates the team awarded funding in the 2022 European Research Council Synergy call. The project, HEAVYMETAL aims to take a big step in explaining the explosions following neutron star mergers by spectroscopically dissecting kilonovae and connecting these observations to the physical properties of each neutron star merger. In doing so, they will probe the origin of the heavy elements, and delineate the nuclear and astrophysical pathways that created them – the so-called 'r-process'. The team will try to decipher the details of the observed spectra for the first time and use that information to gain unprecedented insight into the physical processes of the merger.

Adjunct Professor Michael Perryman Shaw Prize lecture livestream

September 2022: This year, the Shaw Prize in Astronomy has been awarded to Michael Perryman, Adjunct Professor, UCD School of Physics, University College Dublin, for his lifetime contributions to space astrometry, and in particular for his role in the conception and design of the European Space Agency’s Hipparcos and Gaia missions. The prize was awarded jointly to Professor Perryman and Lennart Lindegren, Professor Emeritus, Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics, Lund Observatory, Lund University, Sweden.

The Shaw Prize honours individuals who are currently active in their respective fields and who have achieved significant breakthroughs in academic and scientific research or applications, and whose works have resulted in a positive and profound impact on mankind.

Click to register for the Shaw Prize Lecture in Astronomy (online) on Friday 30 September 9:30AM UTC/5:30PM HKT, Professor Michael Perryman: ‘Why are we measuring star position from space?’

Physics Graduate Wins Prestigious Scholarship

July 2022: The School congratulates alumnus Ruth Moore who was awarded the George Moore scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree in Geophysics at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Her research is focused on warming in the Canadian Arctic, why it is happening so quickly, and how we can map the changes since instrumental measurements began. The scholarship is competitively awarded and is available to all students studying in Ireland who want to pursue a masters in the US, Canada & UK. To date it has enabled over 50 students to date to fulfil their higher education dreams. Click on the headline to read more!

School welcomes Aishwarya Chanady Babu on prestigious and innovative Bell Burnell Scholarship from the IOP

June 2022: The School is delighted to welcome Aishwarya Chanady Babu as the first recipient of the IOP Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship in Ireland. She is a graduate from the International School of Photonics, Cochin University of Science and Technology in India and her PhD will be in the area of biomedical optics with adaptive two-photon microscopy for the analysis of optical and biomechanical properties of the human eye in relation to glaucoma. She joins the Advanced Optical Imaging group with Brian Vohnsen. The Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship encourages diversity by assisting talented students from under-represented groups to study a PhD in physics. Click on the headline to read more!

$UCD\'s C-QuEST Hosts Quantum Technologies Workshop$

UCD's C-QuEST Hosts Quantum Technologies Workshop

May 2022: The School of Physics and UCD's Centre for Quantum Engineering, Science, and Technology welcomed Ireland based Principle Investigators and key stakeholders to discuss current and future activities in the rapidly emerging quantum technologies sector. Over two days, a broad range of topics were presented outlining the key research activities happening across the whole island of Ireland with particular focus on developing an "All-island" strategy. EQUITY: Éire Strategy for Quantum Information and Technology was supported by a New Foundations grant from the Irish Research Council and the Department of the Taoiseach's Shared Island Initiative awarded to Dr. Steve Campbell.

UCD School of Physics awarded Athena Swan Bronze recognition

April 2022: The School is delighted to receive the Athena Swan Ireland Bronze award following a successful conversion of the Institute of Physics JUNO award. This recognises the advancement of gender equality, representation, progression and success for all to which we are fully committed. We are deeply aware of gender and minority challenges, and will work focused on further enhancing equality, diversity and inclusion at all levels adhering to best principles.

Dr Steve Campbell recognised as APS Outstanding Reviewer 2022

April 2022: The American Physical Society has included Dr. Steve Campbell in its list of scientists who have been exceptionally helpful in assessing manuscripts for publication in the APS journals. The highly selective Outstanding Referee program annually recognizes about 150 of the roughly 82,000 currently active referees. This year 146 Outstanding Referees were selected based on the quality, number, and timeliness of their reports. Dr. Campbell is only the fifth researcher in Ireland to be recognised since the scheme began in 2008.

Professor Dominic Zerulla wins NovaUCD’s 2022 Innovation Award

March 2022: Professor Dominic Zerulla and his team received the 2022 NovaUCD Innovation Award award in recognition for the development of a novel photonic chip which enables ultra-high spatial resolution at video rates in optical microscopy, far beyond the diffraction limit of visible light. This patented technology could aid early diagnostics and precision medicine, and help deliver improved drug treatments for patients facing a range of life-threatening diseases. His company PEARlabs, a spin-out from the UCD School of Physics, has been awarded over €1million in funding while also winning the SFI Future Innovator Special Prize in May 2020 and the Enterprise Ireland BIG Ideas Public Choice Award in November 2021 to further develop this technology.Click the headline to read the full article.

UCD @ IoPI Spring Weekend 2022

March 2022: The IOP Ireland Spring Weekend Meeting was held this year in Cork on March 12th, 2022. The UCD School of Physics was pleased to support three PhD students presenting posters for the Rosse Medal competition.

We wish to congratulate Parinaz Mosaddeghi Amini, who received third place in the Rosse Medal competition. Her work relates to 'Multiscale Modelling of Bovine Milk Protein Interacting with Metallic Iron and Aluminium. She is funded by SFI and supervised by Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Lobaskin of UCD School of Physics and Co-supervised by Dr. Yulia Subbotina.

In addition, we congratulate Bill Wells Kamtchou (Characterisation of a novel Timepix3 detector for its suitability as a Compton imaging detector for Nuclear Medicine applications) & and Patrick Wong (Model of a Strongly Correlated Interacting Topological Insulator) for their poster presentations at this event.

The 2022 Rosse Medal was awarded to Sarah Cameron from Ulster University.

UCDs Prof. Zerulla and PEARLabs featured in Irish Times

March 2022: The Irish Times has produced coverage of SoPs Prof. Zerulla's innovative research. The article highlights both the fundamental and practical breakthroughs that his Plasmonics and Ultra-fast NanoOptics group are providing super resolution imaging. Click the headline to read the full article.

pSTEM Women & Girls Event 2022

February 2022: UCD School of Physics was delighted to welcome in-person undergrad students, postgraduate students, post doctoral, academic staff, administrative and technical staff associated with UCD Physics to an informal coffee and cake morning in the Physics Common room. The event was well attended, lively, and celebrated pSTEM initiatives ongoing within the School on this very special day. It gave the opportunity to all to discuss informal physics topics and ask questions. Many research groups and staff displayed images of their recent research highlights. It was a pleasure to host an in-person event safely after much social distancing.

A postgraduate social event was also held in the common room in February. Our thanks to Amanda Donohoe & Conor Foy as postgraduate reps for hosting this event, and for giving a social platform to many new and existing postgrads to meet in-person.

Physics Alumni profiled for Role Models in pSTEM

March 2022: Helping to mark International Women's Day, the "Role Models in pSTEM: You can be what you can see" has released some new profiles featuring several School of Physics alumni. The project was created to highlight positive role models for young women in the subjects of physics, mathematics, computer science and engineering. By creating videos for use in classrooms and on social media, the project hopes to make more young women aware of the very many career paths and opportunities available to them by pursuing these subjects. Following the UNESCO framework of factors influencing girls’ and women’s participation in STEM, the interviews explore the backgrounds and influences of each of the role models and highlight what they enjoy about what they do. Click the headline to access all the videos!

Grant to Develop All-Island Approach to Quantum Information & Technology Awarded

January 2022: The Irish Research Council project EQUITY: Eire Strategy for Quantum Information and Technology has been awarded to Dr. Steve Campbell through the council's New Foundations program. The grant, funded and administered in conjunction with the Shared-Island initiative from the Department of the Taoiseach, aims to get an accurate snap-shot of the quantum related activity across the whole island of Ireland to aid in developing a cohesive plan for impact in this area. The funds will provide support for several workshops bringing together a wide variety of stakeholders to discuss and identify the most promising avenues moving forward.

UCD School of Physics

University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.

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