Australian Institute of Physics honours University Professor

Professor Elizabeth Winstanley, from the School of Mathematics and Statistics, has been awarded the Women in Physics Medal by the Australian Institute of Physics.

The medal was presented by Dr Judith Pollard from the Institute in recognition of Professor Winstanley’s six weeks Women in Physics lecture tour.

The Women in Physics lectureships started 14 years ago when it was realised that physics lectures in Australia were generally given by men and seldom by women. The idea was to raise the profile of women in physics by delivering an annual lecture series that was of interest to the general public while being inspirational to women and girls. It was hoped that these lectures would encourage more women into what may be regarded as a male dominated field.

During the tour Professor Winstanley delivered more than 30 lectures about her black hole research to students and families across Australia. The lectures included such subjects as, ‘Black holes, spaghetti and explosions’, ‘Black holes at the Large Hadron Collider’ and ‘What can neutrinos tell us about quantum gravity’.

Presenting the award Dr Pollard said: “When the lectureship started I managed the organisation of the tour. It gave me an insight into how hard it is to be a Women in Physics lecturer. Elizabeth’s tour was above and beyond the call of duty. We worked her very hard and so it gives me great pleasure to present her with the Women in Physics Medal.”

Professor Winstanley said: “It was a very great honour to be asked to give the Women in Physics lectures and equally an honour to receive this medal. It was inspiring to meet many of the women and men in Physics while in Australia. The lectures were enormous fun to do and it was a privilege to share the joy of learning about how the universe works with such enthusiastic young people.”

Professor Winstanley works in the field of mathematical physics and is a former Chair of the Gravitational Physics Group of the United Kingdom’s Institute of Physics. She was nominated to undertake the lecture tour after delivering a public lecture in the Physics Department of the Australian National University in 2009. Previous recipients of the lectureship include Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, FRS, former President of the UK Institute of Physics and Professor Christine Davies, OBE, from the University of Glasgow.