23 November 2023
\n \n \n \nThree of those awarded grants are from MPLS Division: Fabrizio Caola, Associate Professor of Theoretical Particle Physics in the Department of Physics; Aleks Kissinger, Associate Professor of Quantum Computing in the Department of Computer Science; and Siddharth Parameswaran, Professor of Theoretical Physics in the Department of Physics
\n \n\n \n \n15 November 2023
\n \n \n \nAstrophysicists at the University of Oxford have helped to discover a spectacularly bright and unusual explosion in a galaxy 4.4 billion light-years away. Luminous fast blue optical transients are characterized by their intense blue light and are amongst the brightest known optical phenomena in the universe.
\n \n\n \n \n31 October 2023
\n \n \n \nBacked by over \u00a315 million funding, the new UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for the Environment (The Intelligent Earth Centre) will combine the University\u2019s strengths in artificial intelligence, machine learning, Big Data, and environmental sciences.
\n \n\n \n \n18 October 2023
\n \n \n \nOxford will be the international headquarters for the Breakthrough Listen initiative, the largest ever astronomical programme searching for \u2018technosignatures\u2019 - evidence of past or present technology that would signal the presence of life beyond planet Earth.
\n \n\n \n \n17 October 2023
\n \n \n \nA global team of scientists led by researchers in the Department of Physics have announced the results of an unprecedented collaboration to search for the source of the largest ever seismic event recorded on Mars. The study rules out a meteorite impact, suggesting instead that the quake was the result of enormous tectonic forces within Mars\u2019 crust.
\n \n\n \n \n15 September 2023
\n \n \n \nProfessor Tim Woollings from the Department of Physics discusses the 'blocking events' that have resulted in Europe\u2019s weather getting stuck in long periods of hot, wet or cool weather this summer.
\n \n\n \n \n14 September 2023
\n \n \n \nProfessor John Cardy, Emeritus Fellow at All Souls College, has been named as joint winner of the 2024 Breakthrough Prize. The prize recognises his profound contributions to statistical physics and quantum field theory, with diverse and far-reaching applications in different branches of physics and mathematics.
\n \n\n \n \n17 August 2023
\n \n \n \nA thermal imaging camera built by the Department of Physics will form an integral part of NASA\u2019s Lunar Trailblazer mission, scheduled to launch in 2024. This aims to map the distribution of the different forms of water on the surface of the Moon to better understand the lunar water cycle and inform future human missions.
\n \n\n \n \n8 August 2023
\n \n \n \nMatthew Patterson, Postdoctoral Research Assistant in in Atmospheric Physics, discusses the recent extreme heatwave in the Chilean Andes.
\n \n\n \n \n28 July 2023
\n \n \n \nFor the first time, researchers have trained a machine learning model in outer space, on board a satellite. This achievement could enable real-time monitoring and decision making for a range of applications, from disaster management to deforestation.
\n \n\n \n \n24 July 2023
\n \n \n \nSix Oxford Mathematicians and two Theoretical Physicists and their collaborators have been awarded Frontiers of Science Awards for their respective research papers at the inaugural International Congress of Basic Science Conference which took place in Beijing, China.
\n \n\n \n \n20 July 2023
\n \n \n \nOne of the most celebrated cosmologists of our time, Professor Joseph Silk (now Emeritus Savilian Professor in the Department of Physics) has made seminal discoveries on the early evolution of the Universe, the nature of dark matter and how we may detect it, and galaxy formation.
\n \n\n \n \n20 July 2023
\n \n \n \nAn international team involving four University of Oxford researchers has harnessed the exquisite sensitivity of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to achieve the first precise characterisation of interstellar dust during the early stages of the Universe.
\n \n\n \n \n3 July 2023
\n \n \n \nSubir Sarkar, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Physics, on the first view of the Milky Way through particles rather than different wavelengths of light.
\n \n\n \n \n21 June 2023
\n \n \n \nEight scientists from the Departments of Physics, Materials and Engineering Science, and the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience, have participated in the Physics Zone of \u2018I\u2019m a Scientist... Get Me Out of Here\u2019, a STEM enrichment activity for school students.
\n \n\n \n \n16 June 2023
\n \n \n \nThe discovery of a rare type of spinning white dwarf star in a binary star system \u2013 only the second one known \u2013 provides a new understanding into the role of magnetic fields in stellar evolution. The research was led by the University of Warwick and supported by, among others, Dr Ian Heywood from the University of Oxford\u2019s Department of Physics.
\n \n\n \n \n17 May 2023
\n \n \n \nA study published in Geophysical Research Letters shows that the maximum temperature of the hottest days is increasing at twice the rate of the maximum temperature of average summer days. The results highlight the need for urgent action by policy makers to adapt essential infrastructure to the impacts of climate change.
\n \n\n \n \n26 April 2023
\n \n \n \nNicholas Leach, Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the Predictability of Weather and Climate group, Department of Physics, writes about the Pacific Northwest heatwave of 2021 and what it says about the probability of extreme heatwave events.
\n \n\n \n \n21 April 2023
\n \n \n \nMatthew Wright, DPhil student in Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics at the Department of Physics, writes about the need to ensure the UK\u2019s energy system is prepared for and resilient to future weather extremes.
\n \n\n \n \n12 April 2023
\n \n \n \nProfessor Vlatko Vedral from the Department of Physics contributes to a podcast discussing the need for a theory that unites quantum mechanics and general relativity, and whether we are anywhere near achieving that goal.
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