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UK scientists, including from the University of Oxford, have played a key role in solving a neutrino mystery that has challenged researchers for decades.

An international collaboration, including Professor Stephen Smartt FRS MRIA, has been recognised with an Into Change Award by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science.

Scientists have developed a new material that converts motion into electricity (piezoelectricity) with greater efficiency and without using toxic lead – paving the way for a new generation of devices that we use in everyday life.

Professor Patrick Irwin has been awarded the David Bates Medal by the European Geosciences Union for 2026.

Professor Andrea Cavalleri has been awarded the German Physical Society’s 2026 Stern-Gerlach Medal for his pioneering work on light-based control of quantum materials.

New findings from NASA’s Cassini mission show that Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons and a top contender for extra-terrestrial life, is losing heat from both poles – indicating that it has the long-term stability required for life to develop.

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

On 30 October, the Department of Physics participated in International Dark Matter Day - celebrating the invisible mater that makes up 85% of all mass in the cosmos

On 6 November, the Department of Physics hosted its annual International Observe the Moon Night, inviting members of the public to explore our nearest celestial neighbour through telescopes, experiments, and conversations with planetary scientists.

An international team of scientists, led by the University of Oxford, has achieved a world-first by creating plasma 'fireballs' using the Super Proton Synchrotron accelerator at CERN, Geneva, to study the stability of plasma jets emanating from blazars.

Professor Peter Norreys has been recognised for his outstanding contributions to fundamental studies of high energy density plasmas using high power petawatt-class lasers.

Dr Alex Picksley, a former DPhil student in Oxford’s Department of Physics and St John’s College (2017–2021), has been awarded the 2025 Simon van der Meer Early Career Award in Novel Accelerators.