April 4, 2018, by Dr. Meghan Gray

PhysSoc chooses a new committee

Guest post from Jake Lester, outgoing president of the University of Nottingham Physics Society (PhysSoc).


After a long year of event forms, bar crawls, sleepless nights over exams, and lots and lots (and lots) of glitter, the previous PhysSoc committee has handed the reigns over to a new team. This year we’ve seen a number of new events, including our ‘Meet The Lecturers’ event, an ice-skating social with BioSoc and UoN Ice, our trip to Prague (again with BioSoc), and a film night in Coates auditorium. These have all been well received, especially the ice-skating social, and we hope to run that bigger and better next year. Also, our sports teams have been flourishing this year, with our rugby team on top of the league and playing the finals after Easter break! As a result of all this, and the fact that PhysSoc is so large and active, it runs more like a mini business than a university society. For those of you wondering why this may be, and wanting to know a bit more about how the society prepares for the new academic year, I’ll let you in on a few things.

Firstly, each new person in a role has to read the handover document from the previous incumbent, understand the role, and attend central training from the SU. That’s not too bad as every society does a similar process. However we have a few extra things that need sorting before September. We order named galaxy t-shirts for the new committee, have to order all our merchandise/business cards/accessories for the Welcome Fair stand, and crucially, organise and collate a list of mentors that want to participate in the mentoring scheme for first year students, alongside a whole host of other administration. The majority of this is done by the President. They also have to organise the new committee and bring them up to speed on their own roles, whilst getting comfortable in their own shoes. Then there’s the finances, the social events for the year, the trip that needs deciding on for December, keeping the social media up to date…you get the idea.

Despite the above, PhysSoc runs all of this solely for the benefit of its members, and we couldn’t do the work we do or put on a variety of events if we didn’t have the support of the membership, physics students, and the School of Physics and Astronomy. If you have any ideas about what you’d like us to do next year, please e-mail us at physsoc@mail.com and we’ll try our best to put your idea into practice! In the coming summer term we have our CERN trip planned for June 16th – June 19th (which sold out in 2 minutes!), and our annual BBQ and boat party on Monday June 11th. Tickets will go on sale for the boat party on our SU page in the first few weeks after Easter, and the BBQ is free for all staff and students/members.

On a personal note, I’d like to thank all the staff in Physics that have supported PhysSoc throughout my time at university and beyond. I’d also like to thank the team I’ve worked with this year on PhysSoc who have made this year as good as it has, in particular Georgina, who has stepped in when I’ve been ill, or just given me a kick when I’ve needed it. Finally, on behalf of both the outgoing and incoming committee, we all wish you the very best for your upcoming exams. Work smart and hard, but take time out to relax as well and surround yourself with people and things you love; a good work-life balance and your mental health are important in any job and being a student is no different.

All the best to everyone,

Jake Lester
Outgoing PhysSoc President

P.S. If you’re wondering who the old and new committee were/are, here you go:

  • President: Jake Lester/Ruadhan Parnell (Old/New)
  • Vice-President: Georgina Pitts/Molly Rhodes
  • Treasurer: Ruadhan Parnell/Roden Derveni
  • General Secretary: Olivia Buckingham/Hollie Schneider
  • Female Social Secretary: Sophie Houten/Natalie Rhodes
  • Male Social Secretary: Roden Derveni/ Seb Coleman
  • Trip Secretary: Molly Rhodes/Olivia Buckingham
  • Sports Secretary: Adam Gardiner-Hill/Sunny Luhar
  • Media Secretary: Rajinder Chana/Rajinder Chana
  • Publicity Secretary: Becky Whitwam/John Leyden

 

Incoming PhysSoc Committee, 2018-2019

 

posed group photo of 10 male and female students

Outgoing PhysSoc committee, 2017-2018

Posted in NewsPhysSocStudent Life