School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester

School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester

The Schuster Laboratory on Brunswick Street is the main site of the School of Physics and Astronomy
Location	Manchester, United Kingdom
Affiliations	Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Manchester
Website	www.physics.manchester.ac.uk

The School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester is one of the largest and most active Physics departments in the UK, taking around 250 new undergraduates and 50 postgraduates each year, and employing more than 80 members of academic staff and over 100 research fellows and associates.^[1] The school is based on two sites: the Schuster Laboratory on Brunswick Street and the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics in Cheshire, international headquarters of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).^[2]

According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, the school is the 13th best Physics department in the world and 2nd best in Europe.^[1] It is ranked equal 7th place in the UK by GPA according to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2014.^[3] The University has a long history of physics dating back to 1874, which includes 12 Nobel laureates,^[4] most recently Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for their discovery of graphene.^[5][6][7]

Research groups

The Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory, part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics in Cheshire.

The School of Physics and Astronomy comprises eight research groups:

1. Astronomy and Astrophysics
2. Biological Physics
3. Condensed Matter Physics
4. Nonlinear Dynamics and Liquid Crystal Physics
5. Photon Physics
6. Particle Physics
7. Nuclear Physics
8. Theoretical Physics

Research in the department of Physics has been funded by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)^[8] and the Royal Society.

Senior academic staff: Professors

Professor Andre Geim FRS is one of the few people to hold both an Ig Nobel Prize and Nobel Prize.

Kostya Novoselov FRS, Langworthy Professor of Physics

Professor Brian Cox OBE, widely known for BBC television series such as Wonders of the Solar System.

Early work on Graphene (above) took place in the Manchester Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology and will move to the National Graphene Institute in 2015

As of 2015 the School employs 53 Professors, including Emeritus Professors.^[9]

1. Richard Battye, Professor of Cosmology
2. Jonathan Billowes, Professor of Nuclear Physics
3. Michael Birse, Professor of Theoretical Physics
4. Raymond Bishop, Research Professor of Theoretical Physics
5. Sarah Bridle,^[10] Professor of Astrophysics
6. Michael Brown, Professor of Astrophysics
7. Ian Browne, Professor of Radio Astronomy
8. Phillipa Browning,^[11] Professor of Astrophysics
9. Brian Cox,^[12] OBE, Professor of Particle Physics, working on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider
10. Rod Davies, FRS CBE,^[13] Professor of Radio Astronomy
11. Richard Davis, Professor of Astrophysics
12. Philip Dawson, Professor of Photon Physics
13. Philip Diamond,^[14] Professor of Photon Physics and Director General of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
14. Alexander Donnachie,^[15] Research Professor
15. Wendy Flavell,^[16] Professor of Surface Physics
16. Jeffrey Forshaw,^[12] Professor of Particle Physics and co-author of The Quantum Universe
17. Sean Freeman, Professor of Physics
18. Gary Fuller, Professor of Physics
19. Sir Andre Geim FRS,^[17] Regius Professor & Royal Society Research Professor^[5]
20. Andrei Golov, Professor of Condensed Matter Physics
21. Alexander Grigorenko, Professor of Physics
22. Irina Grigorieva,^[18] Professor of Physics
23. Roger Jones, Professor of Particle Accelerator Physics
24. Anne Juel, Professor of Applied Mathematics in the School of Mathematics
25. George King, Emeritus Professor
26. Michael Kramer, Professor of Astrophysics
27. George Lafferty, Professor of Experimental Particle Physics working on the BaBar experiment.^[19]
28. Fred Loebinger, Emeritus Professor
29. Jian Lu, Professor of Biophysics
30. Andrew Lyne,^[20] FRS, Emeritus Professor & co-discoverer of the binary pulsar
31. Shude Mao, Professor of Astrophysics
32. Robin Marshall,^[21] FRS, Professor of Physics & Biology
33. Alan Mackane, Professor of Physics
34. Michael Moore,^[22][23] FRS, Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics
35. Thomas Mullin, Emeritus Professor of Physics
36. Andrew Murray, Professor of Atomic Physics
37. Sir Konstantin Novoselov,^[6][24] FRS, Langworthy Professor of Physics
38. Tim O'Brien,^[25] Professor of Astrophysics
39. Christopher Parkes, Professor of Particle Physics working on the LHCb experiment at CERN
40. Alan Pedlar, Professor of Astrophysics
41. Lucio Piccirillo,^[26] Professor of Radio astronomy Technology
42. Apostolos Pilaftsis,^[27] Professor of Particle Physics
43. Michael Seymour, Professor of Particle Physics
44. Stefan Söldner-Rembold,^[28] Professor of Particle Physics
45. Ralph Spender, Emeritus Professor
46. Benjamin Stappers,^[2] Professor of Astrophysics
47. Neils Walet, Professor of Theoretical Physics
48. Stephen Watts, Professor of Particle Physics and Head of School
49. Peter Wilkinson, Professor of Astrophysics
50. Terry Wyatt,^[28][29] FRS, Professor of Particle Physics, working on the DØ experiment at the Tevatron in Fermilab, Chicago
51. Henggui Zhang, Professor of Biological Physics
52. Albert Zijlstra,^[30] Professor of Astrophysics and Director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics

History of the School

Sir Bernard Lovell (1913-2012) is part of a long and distinguished history of Physics in Manchester going back to 1874.^[31]

The school has origins dating back to 1874 when Balfour Stewart was appointed the first Langworthy Professor of Physics at Owens College, Manchester. Stewart was the first to identify an electrified atmospheric layer (now known as the ionosphere) which could distort the Earth's magnetic field. The theory of the ionosphere was postulated by Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1839, Stewart published the firist experimental confirmation of the theory in 1878.^[31] Since then, the school has hosted many award winning scientists^[31] including:

• Hans Bethe,^[32] awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967
• Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett,^[33] awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1948
• Niels Bohr,^[34] awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922
• Sir William Lawrence Bragg,^[35] discovered Bragg's law and awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915
• Sir James Chadwick,^[36] awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1935
• Sir John Cockcroft,^[37] awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1951
• Samuel Devons, FRS
• Brian Flowers, Baron Flowers,^[38] FRS
• Sir Francis Graham-Smith,^[39] Astronomer Royal from 1982 to 1990
• Henry Hall,^[40] FRS who built the first dilution refrigerator^[31]
• Sir Bernard Lovell,^[41][42] creator of the Lovell Telescope at the Jodrell Bank Observatory
• Henry Moseley,^[43] creator of Moseley's law
• Nevill Francis Mott,^[44] awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977
• Ernest Rutherford,^[45] awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908 for splitting the atom
• Sir Arthur Schuster,^[46] FRS
• Balfour Stewart,^[47] first Langworthy Professor of Physics
• Sir Joseph John "J. J." Thomson,^[48] studied Physics at Owens College, Manchester aged 14, went on to run the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge and was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics.

In 2004, the two separate departments of Physics at the Victoria University of Manchester and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) were merged to form the current School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester. See physicists associated with the University of Manchester for a complete list of physicists in Manchester and their achievements.

References

The University of Manchester
Faculties and Schools	Engineering and Physical Sciences Chemical Engineering and Analytical Sciences Chemistry Computer Science Electrical and Electronic Engineering Materials Mathematics Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering Physics and Astronomy Humanities Anthropology Architecture Business Life Sciences Medical and Human Sciences Medicine Psychology
Research	Academic Health Science Centre Brooks World Poverty Institute Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics Joule Centre Centre for Integrative Systems Biology Centre for New Writing Enterprise Centre Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) National Graphene Institute Manchester Institute of Innovation Research Research Computing Services Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix Research
Buildings	Current Alan Turing Building Arthur Lewis Building Barnes Wallis Building Faraday Building Grove House Renold Building Sackville Street Building Schuster Laboratory Stephen Joseph Studio Stopford Building Whitworth Hall Former Maths and Social Sciences Building (1969-2010) Mathematics Tower, Manchester (1968-2005)
Facilities	Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre Computing Machine Laboratory Contact Theatre Firs Botanical Grounds Godlee Observatory Jodrell Bank Observatory John Rylands Library Manchester Academy Manchester Aquatics Centre Manchester Conference Centre Manchester Museum Tabley House UMIST linear system University of Manchester Library Whitworth Art Gallery
Student life	Students' Union Christie Cup Fuse FM
Halls of residence	City Whitworth Park Victoria Park Dalton-Ellis Hall Greygarth Hall (Male) Hulme Hall St. Anselm Hall (Male) Fallowfield Ashburne Hall Owens Park
History	University of Manchester UMIST Victoria University of Manchester Victoria University
Other	Academic dress Manchester University Press People associated with the University of Manchester
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