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Open Days 2021: Teaching physics in the time of COVID (and beyond)

Our Open Days for prospective undergraduate students look a little different this year. Normally the whole university would be gearing up to welcome crowds of thousands on to campus for two days in July, with an multitude of student ambassadors showing off our beautiful campus. (Sunny weather and ice cream by the lake a definite …

UCAS visit days – what to expect

As I write this, there’s less than an hour to go before I put on my “Admission Tutor” lanyard — having recently taken over the role from my colleague Prof Philip Moriarty, who has left some big shoes to fill — and prepare to kick off another UCAS Visit day. We hold over a dozen …

Staff and Student interviews: Lizzie Elmer

A new year, and a new addition to our series of staff and student interviews on the Nottingham Physics YouTube Channel. In this video, shot and edited by Hannah Coleman, 2nd year PhD student Lizzie Elmer (Nottingham MSci Physics with Astronomy, 2017) reflects on her experiences choosing to study physics at Nottingham, finding her place at university (and …

2018 National Student Survey (NSS) Results in Physics

Guest post by Prof Michael Merrifield, Head of School I am somewhat vociferously on record arguing that most university league tables are a complete waste of time – they are compiled by newspapers who have a vested interest in promoting volatility, and they combine disparate statistics in a way that makes no sense at all. …

Welcome to the Nottingham Physics Open Days 2018

An early welcome to everyone who will be visiting our beautiful campus on Friday and Saturday of this week for the University of Nottingham Open Days. Here in the School of Physics and Astronomy we have a full program of talks, tours, and demonstrations planned to give a taste of what it’s like to be …

Why University League Tables are bad for you… and What’s Better

Guest post by Prof Michael Merrifield, Head of School The School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Nottingham has just done very well in the Guardian University League Tables 2019. For reasons that will become apparent, I am not going to say how well (if you really must know, go and look it …

Staff and student interviews: Chris Morley

Over the past few months we’ve been adding a steady stream of interviews with staff and students on our Youtube channel, UoN Physics. The latest addition is an interview with former undergraduate and current PhD student Chris Morley. Chris will be a familiar face to anyone who comes to one of the interview days that makes …

@UoN_Physics @YouTube

The School of Physics & Astronomy hasn’t been exactly shy of engaging via social media over the years. For one thing, we collaborate closely with the prolific and talented Brady Haran on a number of his successful YouTube channels including, in particular, Sixty Symbols. (The School was delighted that our efforts with Brady on Sixty …

If I hadn’t failed my exams, I wouldn’t be a professor of physics

It’s that day of the year again — A-level results are released. The very best of luck to all students finding out their grades as I’m writing this. I’m admissions tutor for the School of Physics & Astronomy here at Nottingham and I’ve already received a number of calls from students this morning. It breaks …

What’s so great about Nottingham anyway?

It’s that time of year again. The School of Physics & Astronomy (indeed, the entire University of Nottingham) is going to open up about just what makes us tick. We’ve invited prospective applicants for our courses (and their nearest and dearest) to our open days — the first of which is happening tomorrow — so …