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The School of Physics 2006 ANNUAL REPORT The School of Physics The School of Physics staff and postgraduates School of Physics staff and postgraduates 2006 Photographer: Les O'Rourke Photographer: David Hannah The University of Melbourne 02 Faculty of Science 03 The School of Physics Mission Statement 04 Head's Report 05 Growing Esteem & Future Directions 06 Governance 06 Executive Manager's Report 06 Academic Staff 07 Research Only Staff 10 Honorary Staff 11 Professional Staff 12 Visitors 14 Research Funding 17 Contents 2006 01 Research Seminar Series 23 School hosted Conferences 29 Postgraduates in Progress 30 Theses Passed 33 Group Reports & Publications Astrophysics 36 Experimental Particle Physics 38 Micro-analytical Research Centre 42 Quantum Communications Victoria 46 Optics 48 ARC Centre of Excellence for Coherent Xray Science 51 Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics 53 Theoretical Particle Physics 55 Postgraduate Physics Student Society 57 Prizes & Awards 59 Subjects Offered 61 Outreach Programs 62 Alumni & Friends 64 Media 65 Recruiting Organisations 67 More Information 68 www.ph.unimelb.edu.au Postera crescam laude I shall grow in the esteem of future generations find uni image bank photo of logo or UM grounds The University of Melbourne > 02 HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2006 • Melbourne recorded the largest number of QUALITY PEOPLE research higher degree enrolments and completions nationally with continued improvement in the • The quality of student intake remained very high completion rate. with a median ENTER score of 94.30. • Assessments of all faculties and departments • The quality of University staff is recognised through placed more than 90% of academic units in the top prestigious awards and the election of 11 staff as three in Australia, with around half ranked as No 1 fellows of learned societies. • Seven internationally outstanding researchers • Staff receive recognition for excellence in teaching were awarded Federation Fellowships at the through Carrick Citations and Awards. University. • Australia’s largest biopharmaceutical company, LEARNING & TEACHING CSL, entered into an innovation partnership providing for 50 of its scientists to relocate to the • The Melbourne Model was adopted, providing University’s Bio21 Institute. for three year undergraduate degrees, followed by a professional or research masters degree, and the • The University joined an elite international group option of a PhD. Core principles for the Melbourne of universities teaching Veterinary Science after Model degrees were established. winning accreditation by the American Veterinary Medicine Association. • Six new Melbourne Model undergraduate degrees in Arts, Biomedicine, Commerce, Environments, INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT Music and Science will be offered from 2008. Graduate degrees will be phased in from 2008. • The international standing of the University • Melbourne achieved a top ranking and the highest as judged by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University grant of $8.9m in the Commonwealth Learning and institutional rankings continued to improve with Teaching Performance Fund. a ranking of 78. The University was ranked No 22 in the world by the Times Higher Education • Staff received an exceptional nine Carrick citations Supplement Study 2006. for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning and two Carrick Awards for Australian University • The University was admitted as a member of the Teaching. Association of Pacific Rim Universities. Membership is based on academic excellence, research intensity, • Design and development of collaborative learning global outlook and innovation. spaces and multi-purpose student learning hubs is underway to enhance student experience. • International student load increased, with international student numbers exceeding 10,000 RESEARCH & RESEARCH TRAINING and representing 25.9 % of student load. • The Confucius Institute was established with • Since 1996 Melbourne has ranked first or second support from both the Victorian and Chinese on national research indicators of total research governments. It is part of a global network facilitating income, research publications, RHD student load the teaching of the Chinese language and culture. and completions. find uni image bank photo of logo or UM grounds Faculty of Science > 03 Science is an international discipline which thrives on collaboration that brings together people from all over the world. Science at Melbourne is an enriching experience for staff and students from local, national or international backgrounds. For over 100 years, the health sciences, science and engineering at Melbourne have made an exceptional and significant contribution to our reputation as a leading Australian research organisation. Today, we are consistently ranked among the top universities in the world for science: • No 1 in Australia for Biomedicine (7th in the world) • No 1 in Australia for Engineering & Technology (16th in the world, ahead of Harvard, UCLA, and Princeton) • No 2 in Australia for Science (27th in the world, all sciences) Science, engineering and technology teaching staff are among the most internationally recognised in Australia. This is demonstrated by the uninterrupted success in the Australian Government ‘Federation Fellow’ program. The research grants awarded by this program, rank among the most prestigious in Australia and reward scientific excellence. Currently, the University of Melbourne has 12 ‘Federation Fellows’ across different branches of science, engineering and technology. The School of Physics > 04 MISSION STATEMENT To advance the knowledge and understanding In addition, the School locally collaborates with of physics for the benefit of society, science researchers at other Australian facilities such and the environment by continually achieving as Anglo-Australian Telescope, APAC, Austin excellence in teaching and research. Our aim Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, is to be one of the best Physics Schools in the Parkes Telescope, Australian Synchrotron, world. Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, Howard Florey Institute, CSIRO as well as laboratory facilities within the University of Melbourne Schools and The School of Physics is one of the oldest and Departments of Biochemical & Microbiology, largest in Australia. It houses approximately 200 Chemistry, Computer Science, Medicine, teaching & research academic staff, research Pathology and Chemical & Biomolecular staff, professional staff, postgraduate and 4th Engineering. year Honours students. The School is justifiably proud of its internationally competitive and comprehensive undergraduate and research The School has an outstanding record of programs, particularly with the Honours, achievement in attracting external research Masters and PhD programs. funding including grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC), Australian Academy of Science, Victorian Government and USA The major research strengths of the department government bodies. staff span a diverse range of interests including astrophysics, atom optics, cosmology, condensed matter physics, experimental particle physics, The School’s research activities are aligned medical physics, nanotechnology and materials according to 6 research groups: science, theoretical particle physics, quantum information science, X-ray and imaging optics. Astrophysics (Astro) The breadth and depth of interests is reflected in Experimental Particle Physics (EPP) the undergraduate teaching programs. Micro-analytical Research Centre (MARC) Optics Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics (TCMP) The School enjoys excellent international Theoretical Particle Physics (TPP) reputation in research with its collaborators in CERN (Switzerland), KEK (Japan), Advanced Photon Source (USA), Argonne Lab (USA), Hubble Telescope (USA), NASA, NIST, National Oakridge Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, and many top universities in Europe, North America and Asia. HEAD'S REPORT Guided by the University of Melbourne’s strategy of Growing Esteem, our staff and students continue to contribute strongly in each of the three important elements of the University’s strategic directions: Research – Researchers operate at the highest levels internationally. Areas of research from key fundamental questions in astrophysics, cosmology and particle physics, through to Head of School, Professor Geoffrey Taylor important problems applying known laws of physics to complex systems or in innovative The School currently hosts the Melbourne new applications. The training of students to node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for international standards is a key driver of the Quantum Computing Computer Technology, School’s research activities. The upcoming the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coherent X- Research Quality Framework will focus our ray Science and Quantum Communications attention on what we have achieved and future Victoria (QCV). The School houses a suite of goals. 05 premier research laboratories and facilities including: The School continues to contribute to the design and construction of the ATLAS experiment soon to commence at CERN, to the new radio- • a clean room complex equipped with astrophysics MWA array in Western Australia, advanced instrumentation for materials and to various instrumentation projects at the fabrication, characterisation and analysis Australian Synchrotron. The School is leading including focused ion beam microscopes, the establishment of a large computing UHV AFM/STM scanning probe system, facility for the analysis of data from CERN. UV Ramanspectrometer, and a pulsed laser
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