IOP in Ireland Annual Report 2013 (PDF, 2 MB) - The Institute of ...

Activities and outreach“2012 – A remarkable year for physics”, so commentedIOP Ireland Chair Dr Kevin McGuigan at the Institute’sChristmas reception. With historic accomplishments likeglimpsing the Higgs boson at Cern, and the Mars Rovertouching down successfully on the Red Planet, interestin physics has certainly been piqued worldwide.Closer to home, IOP Ireland celebrated physics at thehighest levels with its High Flyers event in May, whichbrought together renowned physicists on areas rangingfrom the discovery of quarks to the mysteries of theuniverse. Speakers included Nobel physicist JeromeFriedman, who uncovered the first experimental evidenceof quarks; Boyle Medal winner Margaret Murnane, an Irishphysicist at the very forefront of ultrashort pulsed laserresearch; 2010 Physics Wolf Prize winner Anton Zeilinger,a world-renowned pioneer in the field of quantuminformation; Schawlow Prize winner Henry Kapteynwhose pioneering work has pushed X-ray source researchto the very brink of laser-like technology; and bringingit all together Cecilia Jarlskog, 2011 President of theInternational Union of Pure and Applied Physics.Awards2012 also brought another Nobel Laureate to Dublin,Prof. Bill Phillips, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physicsfor development of methods to cool and trap atomswith laser light. Prof. Phillips was the keynote speakerat IOP’s Rosse Medal competition for communicatingpostgraduate research. The winner of the competitionwas Nina Berner of Trinity College Dublin.Silver medals for top performances in end-of-schoolexams were presented by Kevin McGuigan. In NorthernIreland the top A-level student in physics was SanaAshraf of Strathearn College, Belfast. Sana is currentlystudying medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, whileBrian Traynor and Eoin Coleman were awarded theIOP medal for the top place in the physics LeavingCertificate. Brian, a student of Virginia College,Co. Cavan, is studying nanoscience at Trinity CollegeDublin, while Eoin from St Attracta’s Community School,Tubbercurry in Sligo, has been accepted for medicine.The High Flyers event was part of IOP Ireland’scontribution to the European Science Open Forum.Another physics highlight from ESOF was theperformance of the IOP Science on Stage buskers whoentertained and educated everyone on Grafton Streetand in the Convention Centre during ESOF.IOP continued its work to raise awareness of careers inphysics at events in Dublin, Belfast, Cavan and Sligo,distributing thousands of copies of its publication28 Days, 28 Physicists, which was financially supportedby Discover Science and Engineering. In addition thevery striking Jobs for Physicists advertisement featuredon buses throughout Ireland.Steve Myers speaking at the Frontiers ofPhysics Teachers Conference.Bill Phillips demonstrates “Time, Einstein and the coolest stuff in theuniverse” at IOP’s Rosse Medal competition.2