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Physicists have successfully simulated how light interacts with empty space – a phenomenon once thought to belong to science fiction; the findings pave the way for real-world laser facilities to experimentally confirm bizarre quantum phenomena.

Dr Patrick Heighway has received the European XFEL Young Scientist Award for his pivotal role in measuring X-ray diffraction at extreme pressures and temperatures at the HED-HiBEF instrument.

Professor Justin Wark has been awarded the American Physical Society’s George E Duvall Shock Compression Science Award 2025.

Professor Simon Hooker has been selected to become an American Physical Society Fellow for his pioneering contributions to the development of plasma-based, high-power optical waveguides and their application to laser-driven plasma accelerators.

Professor Peter Norreys helped to mark 30 years since the opening of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) London office by delivering the keynote speech at a celebratory event.

An international team of scientists, led by the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford, has developed a novel way to experimentally produce plasma ‘fireballs’ on Earth, opening up a new frontier in laboratory astrophysics.

Researchers from the Department of Physics have taken a step closer to demonstrating a new generation of high-repetition-rate laser-driven particle accelerators; these compact accelerators could drive myriad applications.

Researchers at the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford have found solutions to two major challenges with laser-plasma accelerators.

Professor Gianluca Gregori has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant; he explains how the grant will help to transform laboratory astrophysics into a tool to investigate processes that cannot be easily captured by current theory and simulations.

Professor Peter Norreys has been awarded the American Nuclear Society’s Edward Teller Award.

A multi-institutional team will explore a new method for creating fusion power they hope could eventually be scaled to provide safe, clean, and abundant energy.

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