Latest news and comment | University of Oxford Department of Physics

Audience

Research theme

Sub-department

Dr Shruti Nath

Commentary: Dr Nath on the role of AI in weather prediction

How can we better predict ‘extreme weather events’ in a world where these are no longer so exceptional? Dr Shruti Nath, from Oxford University’s Department of Physics, argues that AI-powered forecasting could be an invaluable tool

Professor Myles Allen

Commentary: Professor Allen on the odds of more heatwaves

Professor Myles Allen explains how researchers at Oxford are combining climate information with operational weather forecasting systems to understand the changing risks of extreme weather.

Max Howe

Meet... Max Howe

We work among extraordinary people doing extraordinary things; get to know some of them by reading these quick-fire interviews.

Image from play. Blue lighting with whiteboards in background. Actress in centre pointing to the right.

Undergraduate student honours life of Emmy Noether

Third-year physics student Esme Somerside Gregory wrote and directed a new play exploring the life of pioneering German-Jewish mathematician Emmy Noether.

Condensed Matter Physics graduate student conference 2026

The graduates behind the future: quantum, photovoltaics and biophysics

Graduate students at the cutting edge of physics were able to share their work earlier this year at the 2026 Graduate Condensed Matter Physics Conference.

Professor Hannah Christensen

Professor Christensen recognised with teaching award

Professor Hannah Christensen has been recognised with a Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences (MPLS) Division Teaching Award 2026.

This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) shows Beta Pictoris d, a new planet found orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. The star is at the centre of the frame, and was subtracted when processing the data, revealing the environment around it. The new planet, indicated with an arrow, is the third one found around this star. The other two are Beta Pictoris b –– the bright source to the left, and Beta Pictoris c, orbiting much closer to the star and not seen here.

Planet found after ten-year game of hide-and-seek

A planet that hid from astronomers for ten years has been found by a team including researchers from Oxford.

Recipients of MPLS Awards 2026

Physics teams recognised in inaugural awards

Both the Physics teaching laboratories team and the HARMONI team have been recognised with a Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences (MPLS) Award for Excellence in Lab and Workshop Support.

Clockwise from top left: Shubham Kulkarni, Dr Joseph Goodwin, Dr Kun Peng; Dr Oana Bazavan

Physics delivering impact

Of the eight initiatives recognised in this year’s Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences (MPLS) Impact Awards, four came from the Department of Physics.

Physicists awarded NVIDIA grant to study excitons in semiconductor

Dr Kang Wang and Professor Marina Filip were awarded an NVIDIA Academic Grant to support research into the behaviour of excitons in complex semiconductors.

Dr Safeer Chenattukuzhiyil

Meet...Safeer Chenattukuzhiyil

We work among extraordinary people doing extraordinary things; get to know some of them by reading these quick-fire interviews.

This 1.7-gigapixel image of a field of stars in the constellation Lupus showcases the unprecedented view of the Universe that NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory gives us.

Lights, camera, action: LSST’s official launch

After more than a decade of planning and preparing, the NSF-DOE Vera C Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time officially began last night; the telescope in Chile will create a 'movie of the sky' over the next 10 years.