Physics

Girls in Physics Breakfast

This event was organised by Vicphysics Melbourne to provide female students with the opportunity to hear an inspiring international female physicist speak and also to network with other girls studying Physics and young women pursuing Physics-related careers.

Four girls from years 10 to 12 were given this opportunity to sit down with other students and teachers from other schools, as well as renowned physicists, to discuss and share ideas at Monash University in Clayton on August.28th  More than 100 physics students and teachers from  different Victorian schools attended. We got to know the people at our table and were able to ask questions and receive answers from people who work in the physics area.

The guest speaker was Dr Helen Maynard-Casely,   an   instrument scientist at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering within  ANSTO. She assists and collaborates with visiting scientists and is co-responsible for improving and expanding the capabilities of their instruments. Her expertise is in the study of small molecules and ices under pressure. Much of this work is motivated by the wish to understand the interiors of planetary bodies. Prior to working at ANSTO, Helen was based at the Australian Synchrotron. She did her PhD at the University of Edinburgh.

We listened to Dr Helen Maynard-Casely story and why she decided to study physics. The students were able to ask her questions and gather information about what working within the area of physics involves. Our students were given the opportunity to have a royal breakfast and discover whether physics is something they would like to pursue in life.

Deepa JAIN

Year 11 - An Excursion to Swinburne University

Students experienced a 1 hour introduction to cosmology and theories of creation and evolution of the universe, then toured the Oz Gray  facility and physics related laboratories at Swinburne University. The excursion supported the teaching of U1 AOS 3 - the nature of Space and Matter - and allowed students to engage with novel applications of Year 11 physics concepts in a research and development setting. 45 Year 11 students attended the excursion.