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Physics and Astronomy ANNUAL REVIEW 2013–14 UCL DEPARTMENT of PHYSICS and ASTRONOMY

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Physics and Astronomy ANNUAL REVIEW 2013–14 UCL DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY ANNUAL REVIEW 2014–15 1 WELCOME Physics and Astronomy ANNUAL REVIEW 2013–14 Contents Welcome 1 WELCOME The year 2014 ended with the The tragic death of Bruce Swinyard 2 COMMUNITY FOCUS announcement of the Research in May 2015 was a great loss, and Excellence Framework results, an our thoughts are with his family. A full 3 Teaching Lowdown important exercise in which all UK obituary appears on page 13. universities are assessed on their 4 Student Accolades research activities, and on which Several members of the department 6 Students in Action funding allocations are then based. received prizes in 2014: Benjamin The Department formed the bulk of Joachimi and Ofer Lahav won awards 8 Career Profile UCL’s ‘Physics’ submission, with major from the Royal Astronomical society, contributions also from our colleagues in 9 Alumni Matters as did the Herschel and Cassini teams the London Centre for Nanotechnology which have several UCL members. 10 Science in Action and in the Mullard Space Science David Walker won the IoP Optics and Laboratory. 11 ACADEMIC SHOWCASE Photonics prize, Angela Occhiogrosso and Jennifer Chan won the faculty 12 Staff News postgraduate research and taught 13 Obituary course prizes, respectively. Steve …the department is Fossey won the UCL Communications 14 Staff Accolades “ and Culture award (remember the 15 Portrait of… strong and confdent. supernova discovery in Messier 82 from We will meet these the last review!). Matthew Wing won 16 Reserch Degrees the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research challenges together, and Award from the Humboldt Foundation, 17 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT continue to prosper. Gerhard Materlik won the IoP 18 Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (CMMP) ” Glazebrook medal, and Ian Robinson Another success, prepared in 2014 but won the Aminoff Prize. 20 Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Positron Physics (AMOPP) announced in February 2015, was our receipt of the Institute of Physics Juno 22 High Energy Physics (HEP) We are surrounded by major estates It is possible to make all kinds of different (and subsequently Athena Swan) award. works, in the Physics Yard and the 24 Astrophysics (Astro) league tables from the results, but the These schemes are aimed at addressing Kathleen Lonsdale Building; the ones that count most are those which the systematic gender imbalance in 26 Biological Physics (BioP) astrophysics group are currently correlate closely with the funding. On physics, which is a very important issue working in temporary accommodation 28 RESEARCH STATISTICS all of these, UCL Physics was in the for the field. However, I found the lessons in Hampstead Road. The financial top five nationally, and on my favourite they teach about transparency and environment in UCL is also challenging 33 STAFF SNAPSHOT – “research intensity”, or average grade clarity of organisation, and improving the at present, as the university tries to per academic – we were second (to working environment for all, very generally build up a sustainable surplus to Cambridge, so well done them too). applicable. I believe our department reinvest in the future. However, the These results are of course based will be fairer, more pleasant and more department is strong and confident. Cover image: primarily on the great research being successful as a result, to the benefit of all We will meet these challenges together, The ANITA-3 experiment, being launched in Antarctica. carried out in the department, and of us. Winning recognition for our efforts Credit: Brian Hill (University of Hawaii-Manoa) and continue to prosper. you will find many examples of that is nice, but it the process continues and Image page 2: throughout the review. there is still much work to be done. Credit: UCL Media Services. Image page 5: Credit: Twinkle Consortium Image page 11: Credit: Oli Usher Image page 17: Credit: James Millen Image page 28: Credit: Andrew Pontzen and Fabio Governato Professor Jonathan Butterworth Head of Department Review edited by Olli Usher, [email protected] Design © UCL Creative Media Services 1 WELCOME Teaching Headline Lowdown Research Intake Quantum mechanics explains efficiency of photosynthesis Certificate in Astronomy: 23 MSc/PgDip: 19 Light-gathering chromophores in plant cells transfer energy by taking advantage of molecular vibrations BSc/MSci: 136 MRes: 10 whose physical descriptions have no equivalents in classical physics, according to research by physicists in UCL’s AMOPP group. PhD: 54 Molecular vibrations are periodic motions of the atoms in a molecule. When the energy of a collective vibration of two chromophores matches Awards the energy difference between the electronic transitions of these chromophores a resonance Bachelor of Science (BSc) Master in Science (MSci) occurs and efficient energy exchange between 20 40 19 40 electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom takes 18 35 place. 16 30 14 16 Providing that the energy associated to the 12 25 12 vibration is higher than the temperature scale, 10 20 8 19 only a discrete unit or quantum of energy is 15 6 exchanged. Consequently, as energy is transferred 10 4 from one chromophore to the other, the collective 5 2 vibration displays properties that have no classical 2 2 0 0 0 1 2i 2ii 3 1 2i 2ii 3 counterpart. The team found the signature of non-classicality Master of Science (MSc) Postgraduate Certificate in Astronomy is given by a negative joint probability of finding Diploma (PgDip) the chromophores with certain relative positions 6 6 6 6 6 and momenta, something impossible in classical 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 physics. 4 3 3 3 Published by E. O’Reilly and A. Olaya-Castro, 2 2 2 2 2 Non-classicality of the molecular vibrations assisting 1 1 1 1 exciton energy transfer at room temperature. 0 0 0 Distinction Merit Pass Pass Distinction Pass Nature Communications, 5 (2014) Training the next generation of physics teachers An important development for the Department’s teaching programme has been a new collaboration with the Institute of Education (IOE) to setup a Physics (BSc) plus Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) degree. All BSc students in our Department (including Physics, Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics) will from 2016/17 be able to opt-in for the QTS pathway during Year 3 of their BSc, and spend an extra year on the IOE run QTS qualification. As a taster of physics education and teaching, a 5-day summer experience will be open to all Year 1 and Year 2 students in June/July 2016, at the IOE and with days in a partnership secondary school. The UCL Physics plus QTS degree will be supported by bursaries and other maintenance allowances. We anticipate that this exciting new opportunity will lead to several students taking up careers as physics teachers in school Image credit: Thangaraj Kumaravel each year. Community Focus By Raman Prinja 2 3 ACADEMIC SHOWCASE COMMUNITY FOCUS Physics and Astronomy ANNUAL REVIEW 2013–14 Student Accolades Undergraduate Awards Best Performance Prize Postgraduate Awards Twinkle: a new mission to study exoplanets Third year Astrophysics Departmental Awards Felix Priestley Harrie Massey Prize Best overall MSc student (Joint Award) A new satellite for observing extrasolar planets could be in orbit Oliver Lodge Prize Sessional Prize for Merit Jens Tiebert & Lerh Feng Low within four years, under plans drawn up by UCL and Surrey Satellite Best performance first year physics First or Second year Jakub Mrozek Luke Yeo Carey Foster Prize Technology Limited (SSTL). The Twinkle satellite, pictured below, will Outstanding postgraduate physics Halley Prize observe the light of distant stars with planets orbiting them. Sessional Prize for Merit research in AMOPP Best performance first year astronomy Third year Hugh Price Anusha Gupta As a planet passes between the star and Twinkle’s telescope, a small Mitchell Watts HEP Prize amount of the light passes through its atmosphere, imprinting on it C.A.R. Tayler Prize Burhop Prize Outstanding postgraduate physics the chemical signature of its atmosphere. This technique has been Best performance in Communication Skills Best performance fourth year Physics research in HEP (Joint Award) (based on aggregate of first and used by Hubble to analyse the atmospheres of a handful of Stefan Blesneag James Mott, Rebecca Chislett second year marks) exoplanets, but the Twinkle team hopes to probe at least 100 during and Luke Lambourne Kate Macleod Herschel Prize the spacecraft’s mission. Best performance fourth year Astrophysics Marshall Stoneham Prize Wood Prize Sandor Kruk Outstanding postgraduate physics Giovanna Tinetti is the lead scientist in a consortium of UK institutes Best performance second year physics research in CMMP (Joint Award) Alan Suganuma who will construct Twinkle’s scientifc instrumentation, a highly Brian Duff Memorial Prize Cristina Blanco Andujar Best fourth year project precise infrared spectrometer which can tease out the faint signature Huggins Prize and Szymon Daraszewicz Anita Subbaraj of the planetary atmospheres from the starlight. Best performance second year astronomy Jon Darius Memorial Prize Claudio Arena William Bragg Prize Outstanding postgraduate physics Best overall undergraduate David Pointer Prize research in Astrophysics Harapan Ong Most improved performance first Roser Juanola-Parramon and second year Tessella Prize for Software Christopher Skinner Prize Adam Suhaj Best use of software in final year projects Outstanding postgraduate physics Theo Le Bret Sydney Corrigan Prize research in Astronomy Best
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