The Institute of Physics is running an event in Manchester at the Museum of Science and Industry on Saturday 10th March, in conjunction with International Women’s Day, which is the same week.
The event will be free you just have to reserve a ticket on eventbrite here before they’re all snapped up. On the 10th March, the event will run from 1:30pm to 4:00pm with a break for refreshments in the middle, and a chance to speak to the Scientists.
‘A Celebration of Women in Physics’ will host 5 world-leading scientists speaking about their research, all of which are in completely different areas, with the aim of inspiring the next generation of girls. Each Scientist will give a short talk about what they do in laymen terms, and then hold a panel discussion where they’ll answer questions about their experiences in the industry.
This event, where all the Scientists will be female, is open to all members of the public, whether they have any knowledge of Physics or not. All ages and backgrounds are invited to learn about the exciting Science that’s going on at the moment, with a lot of it taking place in Manchester; which was named the European city of Science in 2016 and is home to many world leading research institutes (Manchester University Physics department won the Nobel Prize in 2010 for their discovery of graphene – “the world’s thinnest material”)
There will be a speaker from the National Graphene Institute in Manchester, Dr Sarah Haigh, talking about the research she and her team is currently doing on Graphene with the use of Electron Microspcopes.
There will also be Prof Anna Scaife, head of the Jodrell Bank interferometry Centre of Excellence at the University of Manchester, who will speak about the work she is currently leading in Astronomy. In 2014, Anna was honoured by the World Economic Forum as one of thirty scientists under the age of 40 selected for their contributions to advancing the frontiers of science, engineering or technology in areas of high societal impact.
Speaking about the event, Anna said:
“It’s always brilliant to be able to speak about your work in your home town, especially to school students. It feels like looking back at yourself.”
A particle Physicist, Dr Yvonne Peters, based in Manchester, who works on the ATLAS experiment at the Largen Hadron Collider at CERN. Her work involves investigating the Higg’s Boson, or “God Particle.”
They will also have a world-renowned Prof, Fay Dowker, a Theoretical Physicist at Imperial College London, who is originally from Manchester, whose parents were Physicists and her father worked at the University of Manchester. She completed her PhD on “space-time wormholes” under the supervision of Prof Stephen Hawking at Cambridge, and will be speaking about her current research on “Quantum Gravity”
The event has been organised by student Natasha Wright, who after attending one of the Institute of Physics Lectures in December, decided that it wasn’t accessible enough to the public and asked if she could organise her own event, which the Institute fully supported. She has done all of the organisation herself, from contacting speakers, designing the promo materials, organising the venue and more.
She hopes it will give younger female students the confidence to go into Science in further education, by showing that there is a supportive community of women in Science, who are making waves and at the forefront of their fields. As she knows it can be hard to study Physics surrounded entirely by males and there are few female role models in Science that you are taught about at school.
The event has had extremely positive support, with a feeling of “girls supporting girls” and the Scientific community has been very welcoming. Groups like WISE (Women in Science and Engineering), The University of Manchester and Manchester Girls Geeks providing their support. It is sure to be fully reserved soon!
To learn more visit the facebook page and the eventbrite page
