Ogden Physicist of the Year Awards 2016
On June 23rd 2016, the annual Ogden Physicist of the Year award evening was held in the School of
Physics & Astronomy. Nominated students from Ogden schools in Birmingham, Solihull & surrounding
areas, together with their families and teachers, were invited on to campus to celebrate their
achievements in Physics.
Each school had to nominate one of their Year 12 physics students; 17 students were put forward by
their teachers, variously for their work ethic, outstanding academic achievements, enthusiasm,
participation & involvement helping others, positive attitude, acting as an exceptional role model,
intuitive thinking, mature attitude and generally being an excellent ambassador for the subject.
This year again, primary schools in local Ogden School Partnerships were also invited to nominate a Y6
Physicist of the Year for an award, and 22 Y6 students also came along to the evening, with proud
parents, grandparents and teachers, to celebrate their success.
The evening began with a buffet supper and an opportunity for the guests to chat with university staff in
the School of Physics & Astronomy, and see some interesting demonstrations set up for an OPEN Day in
our Y1 undergraduate labs, as well as meet each other. Researchers and current undergraduate students
were around to share their enthusiasm with the younger students.
Certificates and book tokens were then presented to the winners by Wendy Cox, representing The
Ogden Trust, and Prof Martin Freer, Head of the School of Physics & Astronomy at Birmingham.
Professor Alberto Vecchio, a leading researcher of the LIGO group, then gave a talk to the older students
about the recent discovery of Gravitational Waves, whilst the younger ones ended the evening with
some liquid Nitrogen demonstrations, including the famous bubble monster!
We very much look forward to seeing more of some of these award winners on campus in the future,
and also to receiving the school nominations for awards in 2016-17 and making our celebration evening
even bigger. The Ogden Trust sponsors such awards across the UK and many Ogden Alumni are now
benefitting from continued Ogden Trust support.
Comments from visitors:
“May I say what a wonderful evening it was too.” “It was so inspiring to see what the students get
involved with in the labs and to get to chat with some of them.” “My son Edward particularly
enjoyed the lecture in the small theatre and we didn't stop talking about it all the way home! He
was also very proud to be nominated for this award.”