MPS Weekly Update
17 September 2015
MPS Induction Week
social events
Mathematics
Thursday 17 September
4.30pm-6.30pm
Creativity Zone, Pev 3, 3C7
‘Pub quiz’
hosted by former ‘Mastermind’
contestant, Dr Roger Luther
This year is the centenary of Ladybird Books. At our most recent MPS
afternoon social event, to celebrate the occasion and to mark how
formative these books have been in the early education of many of our
staff, a Ladybird-themed cake featured two covers chosen from the
Ladybird Junior Science Series, Lights, Mirrors and Lenses and Magnets,
Bulbs and Batteries, both of which editions were published in 1962.
Physics & Astronomy
Friday 18 September
3pm-6.30pm
Creativity Zone, Pev 3, 3C7
Social event with the P & A student
society and student reps
Images © Ladybird Books Ltd, reproduced by kind permission
www.vintageladybird.com
Dr Simon Peeters has been appointed to the new School
role of Director of Admissions & Recruitment (from 1/8/15)
Professor Enrico Scalas has now taken over from
Dr Miro Chlebik as Head of Mathematics (from 1/8/15)
Friday 18 September
6.30pm-8.30pm
Library Square
BBQ and fireworks
The new(ish) elected MPS senate
members are:
Dr Kathy Romer (P & A)
Dr Istvan Kiss (Maths) and,
representing professional services
across campus, our own Matthew
Tiernan
MPS staff have won University of Sussex Excellence in Teaching Awards:
Dr Nicos Georgiou (Outstanding or Innovative Undergraduate Teaching)
Dr Ali Taheri (Outstanding or Innovative Postgraduate Teaching)
Dr Kathy Romer (Outstanding or Innovative Undergraduate Teaching and
Outstanding Support for the Learning Experience of Students)
Admin news
Over the summer months, in order to provide a more
streamlined service to the School, the MPS
professional services staff have been divided into
three teams, as follows:
A team of staff from MPS, enthusiastically encouraged
by team captain Becky Foster, were winners of the
annual month-long UoS ‘Commit to Get Fit’ challenge
and were named the ‘most inspiring team’. Their award
is currently in the display cabinet in the foyer.
Matt Tiernan, team member, was also co-winner of the
best blog prize - read more at
www.sussex.ac.uk/internal/bulletin/staff/201415/260615/committogetfit
The team won (and thoroughly enjoyed) an on-site
massage.
Research
Richard Chambers
Becky Foster
Sinead Rance
Student Engagement
Justine Charles
Dorothy Lamb
Sarah Pelling
Teaching
Chrystelle Nunan
Sally Church
Felicity Hyde-Thompson
Matthew Tiernan
With Naomi Lukianczuk and Debbie Tyler on front of
house duties, as well as a myriad of other activities.
Mathematics news
We welcome Dr Mick Taylor, teaching fellow in
Mathematics. Mick was Istvan’s first PhD student and
survived! He started in his new post on 1/9/15 – we wish
him well.
Dr Istvan Kiss (Reader in Mathematics,
Impact Officer and Careers Tutor,
MPS AT trainer) has recently had a paper
published in Physical Review Letters
Congratulations to Mathematics student
reps, Nicola McKeogh and Sandra
Joksaite who won silver awards in the
newly-established Rep-u-tation scheme,
run by the Students’ Union to reward
reps who have shown particular
commitment in their role.
Both received £40 vouchers from the
Students Union.
http://journals.aps.org.prl.abstract.10.1103/
PhysRevLetter.115.078701
Dr Ali Taheri has a newly-released two-volume tome: Function Spaces and Partial
Differential Equations. This monograph has appeared in a highly prestigious OUP series
on PDEs with the only other two-volume set in the series being the well-known books by
the Fields Medallist, Pierre-Louis Lions. Ali’s project was seven years in the writing!
John Francis, the Hove-based inventor of one of the world’s most important
mathematical algorithms, received an honorary degree at July graduation.
John Francis’ algorithm revolutionised internet searches when it was used in Google’s
PageRank engine
www.sussex.ac.uk/internal/bulletin/staff/2014-15/170715/johnfrancis
Physics & Astronomy news
As ever, P & A have been in the UoS news quite a lot over the past few months – below is just an amuse-bouche of
some of the noteworthy articles.
Sussex physicists restart particle
smashing with LHC
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/
newsandevents/?id=30763
Geordies get a taste of
Soap Box Science
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/
newsandevents/?id=30975
Dr Kathy Romer also featured on Womanthology
www.sussex.ac.uk/physics/newsandevents?
id=30614
Sussex physicists-inspired
play was on at the Theatre
Royal, Brighton
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/
newsandevents/?id=31030
Freezing single atoms to absolute
zero with microwaves brings
quantum technology closer
www.sussex.ac.uk/internal/
bulletin/staff/2014-15/03072015/
freezingatoms
Physicists probe the universe’s earliest moments with neutrino experiment
www.sussex.ac.uk/internal/bulletin/staff/2014-15/140815/nova
Astronomers measure how fast our universe is dying
www.sussex.ac.uk/internal/bulletin/staff/2014-15/140815/gamasurvey
Dr John Gribbin’s new book, Einstein's Masterwork: 1915 and the
general theory of relativity, has recently been published.
He spoke about it at www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/science/whats-on/2015/einsteinsmasterwork/
Paul Knott (PDRA in the AMO group) was selected to take part in the Alpbach Summer School. He worked
with the European Space Agency as part of a team to develop projects on ‘Quantum Physics and Fundamental
Physics in Space’. In the past, successful projects have been deployed on space missions.
Simon Webster (P & A Research Fellow), second from the right, was the second
fastest man in the annual UoS boundary run
www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/30643
Sussex students held their own on ‘University Challenge’, including
P & A undergraduate, Sebastian Zarrilli, as captain of the Sussex
team
www.sussex.ac.uk/internal/bulletin/staff/2014-15/04092015/
PROFESSOR DOUGLAS BREWER AT 90
In July 2015 an event was held in the Conference Centre to celebrate Professor
Douglas Brewer’s 90th birthday.
Peter Ford OBE, one of Douglas’s first research students, organised the lunch, ably
supported by Professor David Bailin, who kindly wrote the article below.
There were 12 ‘Founding Fathers’ of the Physics Subject Group at Sussex when its first students were admitted in
October 1962 (sadly, there were no ‘Mothers’, and Astronomy only started in 1965). One of the 12 was the
36 year old Douglas Brewer who this year celebrated his 90th birthday.
To mark the occasion, Peter Ford OBE, one of Douglas's first research students here, organised a special lunch on
25 July, enthusiastically supported by the Alumni Office, the Head of MPS and the catering staff in Bramber House.
Over 50 former colleagues, students and their partners and some current faculty attended. Many more, including
Nobel Laureate Tony Leggett, former VC Asa Briggs and the current VC, sent congratulatory messages regretting
their absence.
In 1961, still employed by Oxford University, Douglas was appointed as the first Faculty Treasurer of the University
of Sussex Students' Union (USSU) - a post he held until 1967. One delightful feature of the 90th birthday event was
that USSU presented Douglas with a certificate confirming his Honorary Life Membership of the Union and
correcting a couple of small grammatical mistakes in the Latin motto on the tankard presented to him at the end of
his period as Treasurer: Natura non fecit saltum should have read Natura non facit saltus! (Nature does not make
jumps)
Douglas's account of his appointment to Sussex and of the Low Temperature Physics research he founded here
may be seen at http://history.phys.susx.ac.uk/Research-Low_Temperature
Departmental seminar coming up this week
Astronomy
www.sussex.ac.uk/astronomy/
newsandevents/calendar
Friday 18 September
3.30pm in Arundel 401
Hector Gil-Martin (Portsmouth)
Constraining cosmological parameters using BOSS
data: RSD and BAO
UNIVERSITY EVENTS
Friday 18 September
11am-12.15pm– meet on the grassy area by the
Sports Centre (near Falmer House)
Boundary walk
Friday 18 September
8.30pm-10pm
Beacon Hill
Summer nights - the Physics and
Astronomy
Department at Sussex is teaming
up with the
Brighton & Hove City Council
Ranger Service for an evening of
wildlife observing and
astronomy!
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/
newsandevents/eventscalendar?
id=31576
Wednesday 23 September 2pm-4pm
The Keep Archives, Woollards Way,
Brighton
Tea with Nella
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/
newsandevents/eventscalendar?
id=30123
As you will have seen by now, the Pevensey 2 foyer underwent a re-vamp over
the summer to improve the computer facilities and study access for students and
to create a separate relaxed seating area.
One of the new additions is the display cabinet, literally showcasing some of the
books, awards and activities produced by members of the School.
If you have any items you would like to be displayed in there, please contact
Dorothy Pev 2 3A2.
SPONSORSHIP REQUEST
Becky Foster, from the School Office,
and her sister will be taking part in a
15-mile overnight sponsored walk on
Friday 18 September to raise money for
Maggie’s, a cancer support charity
www.maggiescentres.org/
You can donate online at https://www.justgiving.com/
bandcfoster, plus there is a donation tin in the School
Office. All donations welcome.
Thursday 24 September
Macmillan Coffee morning in
Pevensey foyer from 10.30am
The good ladies and gents of the
school office will have been busy
baking for your delectation.
Please come and support this very worthwhile cause
www.macmillan.org.uk/
Long Service award winners
A number of MPS staff were in receipt of the
recently-established long service award scheme for
those with 20, 30, 40 or more years of service to the
University. Each received a certificate and voucher from
the University and an invitation to a three-course lunch.
The recipients were Alan Butler, Sally Church,
Dorothy Lamb, Alan Mayers, Steve Major, Phil Meek,
Steve Rogers, Peter Thomas, Richard White and Bob
Woodhouse.
LOCAL EVENTS
BAD – Brighton After Dark Murder
Tour
Friday 18 September 8pm
Clock Tower (£5)
Take an evening walk around the
city and learn about crime and
punishment in Victorian Brighton,
ghosts and murder most foul!!
NB Not suitable for under 16s or those of a nervous
disposition
Saturday 19 September 11.30am+
Round Georges, Sutherland Road,
Brighton
Gallery opening event:
Edi Mandala Mosaics
Five hours of free mosaic art tutorial
www.theroundgeorgesbrighton.com/events/
Sunday 20 September
10am-4pm
Brighton Corn Exchange (£2)
Lou Lou’s vintage fair
If you have any items for inclusion in the next
MPS weekly update, please contact
Dorothy Lamb E [email protected] by
12 noon at the latest on Wednesday before
Thursday publication.