April 1, 2021, by Prof Meghan Gray
Two terms down, one to go: we’ve come a long way
Autumn term: check.
Spring term: check.
Time for the Easter holidays then a final push through our Summer term. But first, a quick reflection on the academic year so far. (And what a year it’s been.)
Now I’ve been in the UK for over 20 years, and when I first arrived learned much about the culture from the highly instructive book by anthropologist Kate Fox called ‘Watching the English’. So I know that one of the cardinal rules of Britishness is The Importance of Not Being Earnest. However you can’t shake the Canadian in me…and having my Twitter timeline uplifted in recent works by the wonderful Gurdeep Pandher spreading positivity and optimism from the frozen landscape of the Yukon, I thought it would be worth highlighting some of the positive events coming out of the School of Physics and Astronomy.
A university research student from the US wrote to me that they'd been in anxieties. With this video, I am sending joy, hope and positivity to that specific and all students. I'm also dispatching the positive vibe across Canada and beyond.
YouTube: https://t.co/Xv5bhBBIRZ pic.twitter.com/1jsQ2K1jDI— Gurdeep Pandher of Yukon (@GurdeepPandher) March 31, 2021
(But I can’t do it all by myself — I hope that members of the School community will read to the end and make their own contributions in the comments!)
I’m also motivated by another shared British/Canadian trait: guilt — because workload has prevented me for too long from publishing intended posts on my colleagues’ triple success in the Institute of Physics medals, and marking the first graduates from our MSc Machine Learning in Science. Those posts are now up and I encourage you to take a look. But it’s also inspired me to think about what other good news has been going on that we’re missing out learning about without casual chats in the tearoom or chance conversations in the hallway.
For example: our undergrads have been nothing short of extraordinary in the way they’ve coped with this most unusual of years. I’m starting to hear about internships won, PhD places accepted, graduate positions lined up, teacher training applications submitted. Good luck to all, including those still figuring out the next steps (don’t worry, there’s plenty of time). It’s been fantastic to see students publishing articles about their research and wider issues in science in Physics World (Hannah, Karel, Natalie), profiled in magazines for their leadership potential (Anwulika), and appearing on the BBC with their backyard telescopes (Joel). Alumni David and Harry saw their third year project published in the American Journal of Physics (“A LEGO(TM) dynamic force “macroscope”). I know this is just the tip of the iceberg in what our students have been up to.
There’s been plenty to be proud of in the way my teaching colleagues have stepped up with innovative virtual teaching methods: fancy light boards, interactive polling, online quizzes, workshops on gather.town and breakout rooms in Teams. When we’ve not been in national lockdown, our lab staff have kept the crucial practical in-person teaching going…and have adapted experiments to be done at home when we have been.
Prof Ed Copeland gets creative with his online Principles of Dynamics lectures.
And the vital research of the School has continued with exciting developments in the fields of quantum computing, black holes, and the launch of a new spin-off brain imaging company Cerca Magnetics Limited.
Of course none of it could be done without the contributions of our postdoctoral and postgraduate colleagues. Many of our PhD students have marked the end of their time with us with a virtual viva (though for the astronomy group, our tradition of silly viva hats has carried on). One of the highlights of the year is always the Tessella postgraduate poster competition. This year we managed virtually, learning about all the interesting research going on in other groups (UoN access only) and just having the welcome chance to “mingle” (BYO snacks). Congratulations to Roan, Molly, and Oliver for their award-winning posters.
PhD poster competition winners. 1st place: Roan Haggar. 2nd place: Molly Rea. 3rd place: Oliver Amin
Next, a huge shout-out goes to PhysSoc who play such a vital role in community building. The peer mentoring scheme was more important than ever this year in helping our first years transition into a very strange university environment. I understand the Discord server is taking the place of our normal undergraduate common room, and a series of events ranging from quizzes, minecraft competitions, and seminars on the physics of beer have kept the student body connected and entertained. And congratulations to Subin & co on the launch of the PhysSoc podcast:
But it’s not all about achievements and awards. More than ever we are paying attention to wellbeing and mental health: for students and staff. Our Wellbeing officers and personal tutors have really stepped up to check in regularly with all our students and provide both pastoral and academic support. And for all students there’s still time flex your creative muscles and be part of the #RethinkYourMind project.
And of course we must recognise that for many of us, just getting to this point in the year is worth celebrating (even if it feels as if by this point we are held together with metaphorical sticky tape and plasters). It’s important to acknowledge the members of our community who have been shielding throughout the pandemic and those who have faced isolation. Likewise there are those who have had increased caring responsibilities: booking grocery deliveries for elderly parents at the other end of the country; wrangling toddlers during Teams meetings; or (speaking from personal experience) homeschooling a primary schooler in fronted adverbials in the morning before delivering a lecture on astrophysics in the afternoon. Not to mention those who have personally been affected by COVID themselves or their families, and may still be struggling with the aftermath.
It’s important that we appreciate how tough this past year has been mentally, physically, and emotionally difficult for all of us, each in a different way. Bl**dy well done to us all for making it this far.
The list of good news above is wildly incomplete. It’s entirely based my the news that has filtered through my way through months of Teams calls and social media and personal interactions. For example, working from home I don’t see first-hand the heroic efforts that have gone on behind the scenes by technical and support staff into making our buildings and laboratories COVID-secure so that essential research and practical teaching activities could continue. It takes a community and I’m glad to be a part of this one.
A new front line. Great to be back in frst year physics lab. @UoN_Physics pic.twitter.com/V0hfmocIRr
— Penny Gowland (@Penny_Gowland) October 1, 2020
If this were an acceptance speech at the Oscars I’d be hearing music playing by this point, so I will sign off with a call to action to my fellow members of the School.
Students: do you have a friend who deserves a shout out for doing something amazing, or a member of staff you’d like to thank?
Staff: do you have a PhD student who’s published their first paper, or passed their viva? A grant or a discovery to celebrate? A tutee or a colleague who deserves recognition?
Please add your own contributions, big or small, to the comments below.
Now I’m more than ready for a break and to come back for our third and final term. Let the long weekend begin!
One highlight so far was finding out that our Post-doctoral research and teaching colleague, Chris Morley, who featured in one of Phys Soc’s podcasts, had been awarded a contract to record an album and tour it. Consequently, of the three people who worked on the Year 3 Communications Skills module – Chris, Lucy Ward and me – only one doesn’t have a recording contract. Never say never though…
A lovely positive post Meghan! It’s been an exhausting year, and we’ve not really had much time to reflect yet. Despite everything, it has been rewarding to step up to the challenge of teaching (and learning) in a new way. I’m sure the positive elements from our forced experiment will make a big difference to our future teaching. We’re certainly going to value, and make the most of, in-person activities once we’re back to some semblance of normality!
I have been blown away by the resilience of all the students but particularly the first years who have had the worst possible 12 months. I have only ever met my first year tutees in person once but I know them all personally as they are so active in tutorials. In the last two weeks the first years returned to the labs after about 14 weeks locked down. It was as if they had never been away: they just sat down and got on with it.
Should also mention Andrew Peters, our Centre Manager, who has had to help so many different people get their experiments back up and running (and then stopped again) at the right time (which differs depends on what they are doing), whilst keeping the kit working with no one around.
Thanks Meghan! wonderful and insightful as always.
It has indeed been a tough year!! Lockdowns, home schooling, burst bubbles… and of course the constant dreadful statistics.
However, for me, one of the most powerful images of COVID has been the support shown for healthcare workers across the globe. Here in Nottingham, as we walk around our village, its genuinely lovely to see rainbows in windows, and signs thanking the wonderful NHS staff who have been on the front line during the pandemic.
When I see them, along with our heroic doctors and nurses, I cant help also thinking about the 50,000 scientists working for the NHS, many of them physicists. Indeed, whether its a lung scan in a COVID patient, an EEG on a baby with febrile convulsions, a measurement of kidney function using nuclear medicine, or radiotherapy planning in a cancer patient, a medical physicist or clinical neurophysiologist is involved somewhere! These guys, quite literally, change (and save) lives!
So many of our former students have gone on to amazing careers in the NHS (and if any of you are reading this, please know how proud we are of you!). I, for one, think this is something to celebrate! As we move towards a summer term when yet another cohort of students will take their degrees out into the world, I hope at least a few will feel inspired to join those 50,000 scientists, applying their exceptional skills to help those who need it most…
I want to give a thank you to all of our lecturers! Learning hasn’t been easy online, and I’m sure teaching hasn’t been easy either, but thank you for making the transition as smooth as possible.. here’s to a great final term 🙂
Hard to know where to start with this because everyone in the School has been outstanding: rising to all the challenges this year has thrown at them. Academic staff have completely altered the way they teach and interact with students while coping with all the family stresses caused by lockdown, not to mention coping with the impact on their research. Postdocs & PhD students have pushed on with their projects despite all of the restrictions and delays. UG & PGT students have responded magnificently to the constantly changing situation and have adapted to online learning, tutoring and assessment. Our technical staff have been heroic in bringing our facilities back into action after last summer.
All I can really say is thank you all for your hard work, dedication to what you do and willingness to be flexible in the face of this awful pandemic and the anxiety & uncertainty it has brought into all our lives. I hope that before too much longer we can all meet again in-person.
Thanks for the heart-warming post Meghan!
For me, this was my first term at Nottingham, and I want to thank everyone I’ve met so far for being so welcoming! It’s rather bizarre starting a new job virtually, but I’ve nonetheless met many wonderful new colleagues and am really looking forward to eventually meeting everyone in person.
I’d like to give a massive shout out to my fellow Technical (always capitalised Meghan ?) colleagues for their fabulous support to the School since the very first lockdown days of March 2020.
Pete Smith and Matt Woolley formed part of the trio of skeleton crew who kept the building going, despite the usual roof leaks, power outages etc.; Ian Taylor developed a simply superb occupancy monitoring system, much of which he built from home & 3D printed components on his own rig. *Every single* Technician who was on furlough was itching to be back at work, in a place we all are privileged to call home.
I could not be prouder of the team, and indeed all colleagues from other job families. The Physics community simply couldn’t be stronger as a result of the events of 20/21, and I very much look forward to our return to normality.
Thank you all 🙂
Thank you so much for writing this, Meghan. It’s great to work in such a collegiate, supportive department — students and staff have been exceptional throughout. I’ll certainly echo Nick’s thanks to the Technical and APM staff who have shouldered so much of the burden in maintaining the infrastructure and administrative support that allows the rest of us to do our jobs. And, of course, a big thank you to Nick himself.
Continuing on the musical theme Mark introduced at the top of this thread, one of our alumni, Ryan Chapman, is blazing a trail with Jools, a Leicester-based band who make a glorious post-punk noise. They’ve received a number of accolades over the past 12 months including “Rockest Record Of The Week” from the BBC R1 Rock Show, and Artist Of The Week from Kerrang Radio.
To add to the list of students who’ve been published in Physics World, in this month’s issue Paolo Elias (Year 4) has a thought-provoking and highly recommended article on changing bad exam habits – he writes on how the COVID-19 pandemic offers the chance to revamp how we assess physics students at school and college.
Thank you for the encouraging blog and thanks to all of those making comments so far.
I would like to thank all the teaching labs staff and demonstrators, particularly Denise, Matt and Paul, Debbie and Brian for being there for the students in the lab and supporting staff and PGR demonstrators.
A few years ago I set a 4th year project to write code for, and get an NMR benchtop spectrometer going. Peter and Karanjik did a great job. Unbeknown to them (and me) at the time they wrote the software in such a way that during lockdown this term, 2 groups of students have been able to run experiments in the lab remotely from home using that kit. What a result! I would thank them personally if I could if anyone knows where they are. The moral of the tale is twofold: write good software; and sometimes it takes a while for hard work to pay off.
This is so nice and thoughtful of you Meghan, thank you for putting it together. I too have only been on campus once since Mar 2020 and that was to see my first year tutorial group socially distanced sat in a semi circle. Yet as Penny said, I feel I really know them. They engage every week in the tutorials – I’ve had them twice prepare talks for us all, they’ve been estimating the number of piano tuners in Nottingham, figuring out triple integrals to show why Newton was right in assuming all the mass of the sun can be considered as being at the centre and they have discussed singularities in black holes. For me a real bonus, although time consuming, has been the chance to keep in touch with our tutees over Teams meetings. I have been amazed how resilient and accommodating they are and hope they have enjoyed the chance to just chat with someone they know outside of their own bubble. It’s been fun, with conversations ranging from musicals online, through to the shape of the froth on a cappuccino when you add sugar. I have discovered hidden talents of students, one project student turned out to be a real expert on birds. I’m not but being home and receiving a Christmas present of a bird feeder has got me really into it. He gently pointed out one day that I may have misled the RSPB in their Big Garden Birdwatch. I excitedly told him there were 15 coal tits around the feeder. ‘Oh that’s unusual, they are usually solitary birds. However, long tail tits, now they get together in extended families over Winter’. So in the middle of a discussion on the Inflationary Universe I took the laptop and showed him the birds in question, assuring him I was right. `Well it’s a bit blurry but even I can see they have long tails’ he said gently correcting me. So, I’ve learnt as much from our wonderful students as they will have from me. I think they have been amazing. The way they have adopted to new ways of teaching has been remarkable, and in both my courses with Tony, Adam and Tasos, they have been so supportive in their feedback, appreciating the small things we introduce like chess playing teddies to brighten the lecture. It will be so nice to get to see them and my fantastic colleagues in person again – one day soon I hope.
Such a lovely post to read and to reflect on a tough year. Echoing Philip’s comments, and I’ve said it many times before, but I’m really grateful to be part of such a supportive, caring and fun department – even more so this year. I can’t quite believe after five years I’m actually leaving it behind!
I’ve been thinking about how best to express my gratitude for the phenomenal efforts and stoicism that every person in the School has shown this year – without it sounding too cheesy! Then I remembered that I had written about this in an email to a former Head of School (HoS) who has now left Nottingham. This is what I wrote:
“I’m surviving thanks, like everyone else is having to now! It is a baptism of fire as HoS but I’m blessed with fantastic colleagues and students and the teamwork has, bizarrely, been enjoyable despite the difficult situation. Everything we are doing seems to have an immediate point, with far less BS to deal with than usual.”
Thanks everyone!