IOP in Ireland's Spring Weekend Meeting 2009

Spring Weekend 2009

Physics for life

3-5 April 2009

Programme (pdf)

Rosse Medal

Programme and Rosse medal abstract book

Cormac O Raifeartaigh's blog about the weekend

Pictures from the event are available here.

The Spring Weekend ‘Physics for Life’ was held in Whites of Wexford Hotel on 3 - 5 April 2009. A unique meeting for all physicists, or those with an interest in physics and their friends and families. Social programme – Pub Quiz with a Physics Twist on Friday evening, tour to the Irish National Heritage Park in Ferrycarrig as well as Saturday and Sunday morning talks. The programme included a diverse range of speakers including Prof George Ellis from University of Capetown whose books include co-authoring with Stephen Hawking 'The Large Scale Structure of Space Time' and Prof Louise Harra from University of London and the Science and Technologies and Facilities Council with a talk titled 'From exploring the Sun to Probing the Heart'.

On the on the Sunday morning, in a departure from the usual 'powerpoint presentation' format there was an 'interview style' session called 'Physicist in the Chair' with Dr Tony Scott as the interviewer. Discussions with the four physicists explored why they chose to study physics their particular research interests and the frontiers of their fields.

You can listen to each of the "Physicist in the Chair" interviews by visiting the following link:

Physicists in the Chair audio interviews (IOP Member login required)

Talks from the weekend

From exploring the sun to probing the heart (PDF, 7.56MB)
Professor Louise Harra, University College London Science and Technologies Facility Council

Top-down action in the hierarchy of complexity (PDF, 868KB)
Prof George Ellis, University of Capetown

Bio–logically Physics (PDF, 8.3MB)
Prof Bob McCullough, Queen's University Belfast

Single bio-molecule manipulation using optical forces (PDF, 2MB)
Prof Martin Hegner, Trinity College Dublin

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