Open Access for UK and Horizon2020 publications
In June 2012 a UK working group of scientists, funding agencies and publishers made available a report on “Accessibility, sustainability, excellence: how to expand access to research publications”.
This work, known as the Finch report after the chairwoman of the group, Janet Finch, made the recommendation for a larger implementation of open access models in the UK publishing scene. The Finch report has very rapidly triggered a decision of Research Councils UK (RCUK), the umbrella body for Britain’s seven research councils,…
UK STFC launches new newsletter from CERN
The UK Science and Technology Facilities Council [STFC] has launched a new newsletter at CERN, entitled “UK News from CERN”. The fortnightly publication – which is now in its fourth issue – intends to relay British news from CERN back to the UK and is aimed at both researchers and key stakeholders in the government.
The first four issues of the newsletter can be downloaded…
Institute of Physics announces award winners
The winners of this year’s Institute of Physics [IoP] awards have been announced. Among the recipients were Martin Rees, who receives the IoP’s flagship international prize – the Isaac Newton Medal – for his outstanding contributions to relativistic astrophysics and cosmology.
“Lord Rees is a hugely important figure in astrophysics and cosmology. While our capability to observe the peculiarities of our Universe has grown at an unprecedented rate, his insights have provided us…
Hardaker appointed new Institute of Physics CEO
Paul Hardaker has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer [CEO] of the Institute of Physics, it was announced at the end of May. Hardaker will take up the post on 3 September this year.
Hardaker, a visiting professor at the University of Reading’s School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, is the also the CEO of the Royal Meteorological Society. A Met Office employee for 14 years, he served as both Development Programme director and Chief Advisor to Government for the British national weather service…
CERN tech to foster new UK businesses with STFC
Small UK companies will be turning ground-breaking CERN research into real-world technological applications, through a new collaboration between the European research laboratory and the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council [STFC]. The scheme aims to help nurture up-and-coming businesses, bridging the gap between science and industry.
“Small companies with a real mission to innovate will benefit from this initiative by CERN and STFC, which brings together some of the most advanced technologies in the world with the unique and focused business support…
Quantum Fluids and Solids 2012
The 2012 International Conference on Quantum Fluids and Solids [QFS2012] will be held on 15-21 August this year, at Lancaster University, in the United Kingdom.
Topics being covered at the conference include: quantum fluids, quantum gasses and quantum solids; and related topics in cosmology, high energy physics, hydrodynamics, low dimensional systems, magnetism, strongly correlated systems and superconductivity…
Physics Students in UK Higher Education report
The Institute of Physics has published a new statistical report, ‘Physics Students in UK Higher Education Institutions’. The document provides an overview of students in undergraduate, masters and doctoral programmes, in physics and a select number of other subjects, in the United Kingdom.
The report – the third in a series aiming to provide comprehensive data on all higher education and research matters – is based on data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the central source for the statistics on publicly funded…
IoP report benchmarks physics research in the UK
The Institute of Physics has published a report on the “Bibliometric evaluation and international benchmarking of the UK’s physics research”.
The publication reports a decline in the United Kingdom’s share of physics paper publications over the last decade – a trend seen across most G7 countries, following an increase in the output of Chinese research. Despite this, the UK’s contribution was regarded as still having a significant impact…
24th EPS Condensed Matter Division Conference
The 24th Conference of the European Physical Society Condensed Matter Division [CMD-24] is being held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre between 3-7 September this year. The conference is being held in parallel with the 11th European Conference on Surface Crystallography and Dynamics [ECSCD-11], the 29th European Conference on Surface Science [ECOSS-29] and the 2012 UK Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Conference [CMMP-12]…
Record number UK physics teachers in training
The number of physics teachers in training in the United Kingdom has reached a record high, according to census data published at the end of last month. The statistics from the Training and Development Agency for Schools [TDA] – which have been taken since 1979 – report that 864 people are in training to become physics specialists this year, and increase of 30 per cent from 2010.
“We hope that these very impressive numbers represent the beginning of the much-needed sea change in recruitment to physics teaching,” said Peter Main, the Director of Education and Science at the Institute of Physics…
Modern Practice in Stress and Vibration Analysis
‘Modern Practice in Stress and Vibration Analysis’ [MPSVA 2012] is the title of a conference being organised by the Applied Mechanics Group of the Institute of Physics, to be held in the Boyd Orr lecture theatre and Wolfson Medical School, Glasgow, on 29-31 August 2012.
The conference will act as a showcase for international research in the fields of stress and vibration analysis, and the technical areas where such intersects…
