Congratulations to Professor Wilson Poon who has been awarded the Thomas Graham Lecture, an award made for work in colloid science by the Royal Society of Chemistry & the Society of Chemical Industry.
The Thomas Graham Lecture is a mid-career award for a researcher who has established an international reputation in colloid science and has made distinguished contributions in this field.
Prof Poon is internationally known for his work using 'model' colloids to study phenomena that are ubiquitous across condensed matter and statistical physics, particularly the structure and dynamics of arrested states such as glasses and gels. More recently, he has focussed on the flow of concentrated suspensions of bigger, granular particles, where the phenomenon of shear thickening (‘running on corn starch’) is ubiquitous. To industrial practitioners, such suspensions are widely known to be capricious and difficult to control. Professor Poon’s work has helped bring about a revolution in understanding the flow of these suspensions, examples of which range from molten chocolate through ceramic pastes to concrete. This new understanding is now being applied to solve industrial problems such as improving the extrusion of catalytic converters for vehicles. In 2012, he set up the Edinburgh Complex Fluids Partnership (ECFP) to coordinate and facilitate collaborations with industry. To date ECFP has worked with more than 40 companies spread over a dozen sectors.
The physics of active particles is another area of Prof Poon’s interest. These colloids are intrinsically non-equilibrium, in that they continually transduce free energy from their surroundings to engage in activities such as growth and self-propulsion. His research group studies both active particles in the form of bacteria as well as synthetic colloidal swimmers. Their long-term goal is to discover and understand new modes of collective behaviour in active particle systems. The results should provide impetus for theory development in a frontier area of statistical mechanics, lead to new material designs, and throw light on selected biological phenomena.
The award is named after Scottish scientist Thomas Graham, who studied medicine in Edinburgh after having learnt chemistry in his native Glasgow. He is one of the founders of colloid science.
Feedback on outreach activities is a great source of motivation for us. A participant in the Life Beyond project, which engages prisoners in the design of stations for the Moon and Mars, recently wrote feedback on his experience.
Participant Jamie, who is based at Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Glenochil, sent a letter to the Sky at Night magazine which was published as Message of the Month. He wrote:
At prisons the night heavens are masked by floodlights, and I haven’t seen stars in years. Yet I have recently been involved with a fascinating project which enlisted the unique experiences of prisoners to aid thinking on the best way to establish a base on Mars.
Life Beyond is an initiative of the UK Centre for Astrobiology, taking astrobiology into the prison environment. The programme began in 2016, and in 2018 prisoners from HMP Glenochil and Edinburgh published their first book ‘Life Beyond: From Prison to Mars’ which described station designs for the surface of Mars.
The purpose of Life Beyond is to enrich the lives of those serving prison terms by providing an engaging opportunity to consider the future of humanity beyond the Earth, to contribute to the diversity of education on offer in prisons, and encourage prisoners to develop capacities in science education, creative writing, numeracy and literary skills.
Prof Charles Cockell, who led the project commented:
The exploration and settlement of space is one of the most exciting frontiers for humanity. This project was a fascinating and rewarding experience for myself and colleagues, and I am pleased that Jamie found it to be of great benefit. I hope the wider community also find benefit in this work.
Jamie also commented:
Even though the stars are cut off to me, I still watch The Sky at Night. After all, I still have the Moon (sometimes).
Congratulations to students who received Medals, Certificates, Prizes and Scholarships at the School of Physics & Astronomy undergraduate student awards ceremony.
Head of School, Professor Arthur Trew presented the awards to students in recognition of their outstanding marks and achievements in the last academic year.
Certificates & Medals
83 pre-honours students received certificates of merit for their achievement in Physics and Maths courses in years 1 & 2. A total of 23 Class Medals were awarded to the students with the highest overall mark for their degree programme.
Prizes, Bursaries & Scholarships
26 Prizes, Bursaries and Scholarships were awarded to students, including Jennifer Curran who was presented with a Year 1 Mathematics Medal, Margaret Campbell Scott Bursary, Brodie Memorial Prize and Pre-Honours Certificate of Merit, and Ioannis Hadjifrangiskou who won the Year 2 Physics Medal, Brodie Memorial Prize, Donald Fraser Bursary and Pre-Honours Certificate of Merit.
Congratulations to all recipients.
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Students, staff, industry and supporters met to celebrate project achievements and award the presentation for the best report and poster.
The School of Physics and Astronomy runs a Career Development Scholarship programme, funding and supporting students to undertake research projects over the summer period.
This year 48 undergraduate students took part in the programme. Students can undertake an academic project based in the School or a project based in industry. Projects have a duration of around 8 weeks, and students are provided with a stipend of £1,500.
These projects enabled students to gain new skills, experience different workplaces and create a network of contacts. In many cases, students also got the opportunity to work on problems with immediate real world applications.
Cara Lynch, who is currently in year 4 of the MPhys Theoretical Physics degree was presented with £1000 for the best project poster and report. Cara’s project was titled ‘First principles based predictions of transition metal oxides’ stability at increasing pressure’. She was awarded the prize by Head of School, Prof Arthur Trew.
Cara commented:
My summer project focussed on predicting stabilities of iron, manganese, nickel and cobalt hydroxides at increasing pressures using density functional theory, an extremely powerful computational tool. Applying the knowledge gained during my studies and learning about a new area of physics was an incredibly rewarding experience, and I gained invaluable skills which I use daily for my Senior Honours project. I’m delighted to win the prize for best poster and would like to thank Andreas for being a brilliant supervisor.
Project supervisor, Dr Andreas Hermann reported:
Cara's project tackles how a certain class of water-carrying materials adapt to the pressures found inside Earth’s mantle, which addresses one of the most important questions in the field of geophysics: how much water can be stored inside a rocky planet’s interior, and how does it get there? The work she completed during her project was of a high standard, and I’m very pleased for her that she has been awarded the prize for best project poster.
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The Festival of Physics is a celebration of the wonders of science, the power of curiosity and the inventions and discoveries that shape our world and our future. During this years’ festival, students and staff enthused visitors with activities on complex fluids, particle collisions, chocolate workshops and a physics-inspired ceilidh.
Super SoPA
Undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers presented ‘Super SoPA’: interactive activities illustrating the research undertaken in the School. Particle collision and astrophysics–inspired crafts were produced and visitors experienced smart materials such as rheoscopic and non-Newtonian fluids.
The physics of chocolate
Is learning about physics the perfect excuse to eat chocolate? Perhaps! Colleagues teamed up with local artisan chocolate maker the Chocolate Tree to deliver the workshop ‘Choc Full of Physics’. It gave a tasty introduction to the wonderful world of soft matter physics and its connection with food by exploring the science behind everyone’s favourite treat. The tasting of different types of chocolate highlighted the importance of controlling physical parameters, from the size of cocoa and sugar particles to the speed of cooling, in order to get the most delicious chocolate. Visitors discovered that using physics can yield a wide range of textures in chocolate, to the delight of the apprentice food physicists in the room.
Dynamic Dancing
After the chocolate we needed to burn off some calories, so how about some physics-inspired ceilidh dances? Researchers Dr Susana Direito and Dr Xuemao Zhou created two dances about their work with the help of the Science Ceilidh band. Visitors danced the ‘Biofilm riverside jig’ (adapted from the traditional Scottish ceilidh - the Riverside jig) illustrating research on biofilm formation and removal on medical tools, and ‘Shake before use’ illustrating work on the mechanisms responsible for the quality degradation of creams, used for instance in cosmetics.
The events were informative, engaging and fun.
The festival took place 26-28 October at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, attracted 3700 visitors and was organised by the Institute of Physics.
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Scientists have created an elusive, intricate form of the common gas nitrogen, in an experiment that shows for the first time how simple molecular elements can have complex structures at extreme pressures.
Researchers created a crystallised version of nitrogen - which at normal conditions is the main constituent of air - by subjecting it to extreme pressures and temperatures. The study shows for the first time that simple molecular elements can have complex structures at high pressures. It could inform similar studies in other elements, researchers say.
An international team of scientists led by the University of Edinburgh used a high-pressure diamond-tipped anvil to squeeze tiny amounts of nitrogen at pressures half a million times that of Earth's atmosphere, while heating it to about 500 Celsius. They then used specialist X-ray technology to capture an image of the resulting crystals, and were surprised to find that the nitrogen had formed a complicated arrangement made up of dozens of molecules. The team had expected to uncover a much simpler structure.
Their findings resolve speculation over the structure of this form of nitrogen, known as ι-N2. It was discovered 15 years ago but its structure was unknown until now. Computer simulations of the new structure have given valuable insights, finding it to be surprisingly stable.
The study, published in Nature Communications, was carried out in collaboration with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France, and with researchers in China. It was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Robin Turnbull, of the School of Physics and Astronomy said:
We hope that these results will prompt further investigations into why relatively simple elements should form such complex structures - it's important that we keep searching for promising new lines of scientific investigation.
Wizard apprentices try out their magic at the Midlothian Science Festival.
‘A night at wizarding school’ welcomed young and adult wizard apprentices to Newbattle Abbey College, Dalkeith in October as part of the Midlothian Science Festival.
Visitors had the chance to make baby boggarts (slime), emulsions (potions requiring oil and water to mix), test our their skills in divination (through surface tension effects), experience the constrictive power of the devil’s snare (using cornflour and water) and leave their thoughts in the pensieve (illustrating the visually dynamic currents in rheoscopic fluids).
These activities helped visitors get a flavour of the work which potion masters (also known as soft matter physicists) undertaken in their labs.
Potion masters wish to thank the Midlothian Science Festival, the School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, the Optima CDT and the Institute of Physics for organisational support.
Photo credits: Lee Live Photography
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The award, which is worth €1.5 million, is financed by funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and awarded jointly by the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. It focuses on individuals whose work is characterized by outstanding future potential.
Astrophysicist Catherine Heymans has been researching Dark Energy for many years. Nearly three quarters of the universe is thought to be made up of this mysterious entity, which causes the Universe to expand at an ever-increasing rate. Like Dark Matter (which comprises about one quarter of the universe) an understanding of the origin of Dark Energy remains elusive.
By observing far distant celestial objects, Catherine wants to find out whether Einstein’s theory of gravitation has to be expanded in order to explain certain phenomena. She is the author of the book ‘The Dark Universe’ and co-author of more than 140 scientific publications.
She will use the prize money to set up a team at the Argelander-Institute for Astronomy (AlfA) in Bonn, working with Peter Schneider from the AlfA who nominated her for the 2018 award. Heymans and Schneider have developed a concept for a new kind of German Centre of Cosmological Lensing (GCCL) at the University of Bonn, which will also involve researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and the University of Heidelberg.
Catherine commented:
I am looking forward to a much closer cooperation with my colleagues at the University of Bonn and other institutions in Germany thanks to the Max Planck- Humboldt Research Award.
After studying Physics and Astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh, Catherine completed her doctorate at Oxford. She then researched at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, at the University of British Columbia (Canada) and at the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris. Catherine has worked at the University of Edinburgh since 2008, where she became a professor in 2016. She has won many awards, including a starting grant from the European Research Council (ERC), an ERC Consolidator Grant as well as the George Darwin Lectureship from the Royal Astronomical Society.
Dr Beth Biller has been awarded the 2018 Chancellor’s Rising Star Award.
The Chancellor confers four Awards annually, recognising innovation, relevance, creativity, personal dedication and impact in teaching and research. The Rising Star Award honours an early career colleague, appointed to the University in the last five years, who has made a significant contribution in either teaching or research.
The Rising Star Award is in recognition of Beth’s outstanding work in the direct imaging and characterization of exoplanets.
Her research includes the statistical analysis of large-scale planet surveys and developing techniques to monitor cloud patterns on brown dwarfs and exoplanets through photometric variability. She is also active both in current observational efforts and the development of future instruments, including the SPHERE planet-finder and ERIS at the VLT and the soon-to-be-launched James Webb Space Telescope.
Dr Beth Biller commented:
I am honoured to win the Chancellor's Rising Star Award, especially considering the world-leading calibre of teaching and research at this University.
Scientists have discovered a new class of compounds which contain very large amounts of hydrogen, stored in tiny clusters of 13 molecules.
These clusters, known as “supermolecules” are as icosahedral balls with one central hydrogen surrounded by 12 others. The supermolecules are then packed together with other molecules to give compounds with an exceptionally high hydrogen content. In the iodane–superhydrogen compound there are 27 hydrogens for every iodine atom.
Their discovery opens the possibility of storing hydrogen in a molecular form within a chemical compound. Hydrogen storage is essential for fuel cells, but in most compounds the hydrogen is chemically bonded to another element, requiring energy to extract it before it can be used.
The Iodane-hydride compound was made by a team of researchers at the Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions in the University of Edinburgh, collaborating with former colleagues now working in Shanghai. The fundamental properties of various materials were predicted using the ARCHER supercomputer at the University of Edinburgh, by calculations involving advanced quantum mechanics. The Iodane compound was synthesized under high pressure in the laboratory in China. On releasing the pressure, it rapidly decomposed releasing the hydrogen molecules, but was shown to be quickly reformed by repressurization. Related material may release their hydrogen when heated.
The structure itself has unusual icosahedral (fivefold) symmetry. It is not possible to fill space with a repeating fivefold pattern, so alternate supermolecules have to be twisted to accommodate one another.