The Australian Institute of Physics was established in 1963, when it replaced the Australian Branch of the British

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physic ...

based in London.''A History of the Physics Department of the University of Queensland'' Emeritus Professor H C Webster, 31 March 1977, Accessed 6 February 2012
The purpose of the institute is to further promote the development and application of the science of physics as well as providing support to physicists.National Library of Australia accessed 5 February 2012
/ref> The AIP publishes ''Australian Physics'' (ISSN 1036-3831) since 1963. Every two years, the Institute organises a national congress, the latest being held in December 2014 at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Organisation

The institute has branches in each of the six

Australian states The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing p ...

, and topical groups in the following areas: *

Atomic Physics Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...

and Molecular Physics *

Condensed Matter Physics Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the sub ...

and Materials Physics *

Nuclear Physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

and

Particle Physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

Physics Education Physics education refers to the methods currently used to teach physics. Physics Education Research refers to an area of pedagogical research that seeks to improve those methods. Historically, physics has been taught at the high school and colle ...

Quantum Information Quantum information is the information of the state of a quantum system. It is the basic entity of study in quantum information theory, and can be manipulated using quantum information processing techniques. Quantum information refers to both t ...

, Concepts and Quantum Coherence *

Solar Physics Solar physics is the branch of astrophysics that specializes in the study of the Sun. It deals with detailed measurements that are possible only for our closest star. It intersects with many disciplines of pure physics, astrophysics, and compu ...

, Terrestrial Physics and Space Physics *

Theoretical Physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

* Women in Physics

Presidents

*1962–65 Leonard Huxley *1966–67 F. Lehany *1968 Alan Walsh *1969–70 A. Harper *1971–72

Robert Street Robert Street AO FAA (16 December 1920 – 4 July 2013) was a British academic and academic administrator. Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire and educated at Hanley High School, he was offered a scholarship to New College, Oxford in 1939, but ...

*1973–74 F. J. Jacka *1975–76 J. Campbell *1977–78 Terry Sabine *1979–80 Herbert Bolton *1981–82 Neville Fletcher *1983–84 G. V. H. Wilson *1985–86 T. Fred Smith *1987–88 John Collins *1989–90 Anthony Klein *1991–92 Anthony Thomas *1993–94 Robert Crompton *1995–96 Ron McDonald *1997–98 Jaan Oitmaa *1999–2000 John Pilbrow *2001–02 John O'Connor *2003–04 Rob Elliman *2005–06 David Jamieson *2007–08

Cathy Foley Catherine Patricia Foley (born 10 November 1957) is an Australian physicist. She is the Chief Scientist of Australia (since January 2021), before which she had been the chief scientist for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Or ...

*2009–10 Brian James *2011–12 Marc Duldig *2013–14 Robert Robinson *2015–16 Warrick Couch *2017–18 Andrew Peele *2019–20 Jodie Bradby

Awards

The Bragg Gold Medal for Excellence in Physics has been awarded since 1992 for the best PhD thesis by a student from an Australian University and to commemorate Sir

Lawrence Bragg Sir William Lawrence Bragg, (31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971) was an Australian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallography, X-ray crystallographer, discoverer (1912) of Bragg's law, Bragg's law of X-ray diffraction, which is basic for t ...

(in front on the medal) and his father Sir

William Henry Bragg Sir William Henry Bragg (2 July 1862 – 12 March 1942) was an English physicist, chemist, mathematician, and active sportsman who uniquelyThis is still a unique accomplishment, because no other parent-child combination has yet shared a Nob ...

who both played a significant part in physics education in Australia. Winners so far are: * 1992 Dr Stephen Bass,

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

* 1993 Dr Henry Chapman,

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

* 1994 Dr Wolodymyr Melnitchouk,

* 1995 Dr Howard Wiseman,

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

* 1996 Dr Andre Luiten,

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

* 1997 Dr Alexander Buryak,

(ANU) * 1998 Dr Tanya Monro,

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

* 1999 Dr Ping Koy Lam,

* 2000 Dr Mark Oxley,

* 2001 Dr Nicole Bell,

* 2002 Dr Annette Berriman,

* 2003 Dr Michael Bromley,

Charles Darwin University Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with a main campus in Darwin and eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Territory University ...

* 2004 Dr Warwick Bowen,

* 2005 Dr Philip Bartlett, Murdoch University * 2006 Dr Alex Argyros,

* 2008 Dr Frank Ruess,

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

(UNSW) * 2009 Dr Christian Romer Rosberg,

* 2010 Dr Clancy William James,

* 2011 Dr Adrian D'Alfonso,

* 2012 Dr Eva Kuhnle, Swinburne University of Technology * 2013 Dr Martin Fuechsle,

* 2014 Dr Andrew Sutton,

* 2015 Dr Jarryd Pla,

Honorary Fellows of the Australian Institute of Physics (partial list)

* David Booth * Gordon Chapman * Robert Crompton *

John Robert de Laeter John Robert de Laeter, AO, FTSE, FAIP (3 May 193316 August 2010) was an Australian scientist with a distinguished career across several fields in nuclear physics, cosmochemistry, geochronology, isotope geochemistry. He was also a prominent a ...

Robert Delbourgo Robert Delbourgo BSc, ARCS, PhD, DSc, FAIP, FAA, (born 11 November 1940) is an Australian physicist, winner of the Walter Boas Medal in 1988. Delbourgo was educated at the Imperial College of Science and Technology (BSc (Hons) 1960, PhD 1963) a ...

* Geoff Forrest * Michael Gorroick * Tony Klein * GC Lowenthal AM * Arthur Page *

Brian Schmidt Brian Paul Schmidt (born 24 February 1967) is the Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU). He was previously a Distinguished Professor, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and astrophysicist at the University's M ...

* John Symonds * Gertrud Thompson

Fellows of the Australian Institute of Physics (partial list)

Derek Abbott Derek Abbott (born 3 May 1960) is a British-Australian physicist and electronic engineer. He was born in South Kensington, London, UK. From 1969 to 1971, he was a boarder at Copthorne Preparatory School, Sussex. From 1971 to 1978, he attended ...

* Ronald Ernest Aitchison * Hans A. Bachor *

Clive Baldock Clive Baldock is a British-born Australian professor. He graduated with a BSc (hons) in Physics from the University of Sussex, an MSc in Radiation Physics from St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, University of London, a PhD in Medical P ...

Murray Batchelor Murray Thomas Batchelor (born 27 August 1961) is an Australian mathematical physicist. He is best known for his work in mathematical physics and theoretical physics. Academic career Batchelor was educated at Chatham Public School and Chatham ...

* Nicole Bell * David Blair *

Mahananda Dasgupta Mahananda (Nanda) Dasgupta FAA, FAIP, FAPS is an experimental physicist at thHeavy Ion Accelerator Facilityin the Department of Nuclear Physics of the Australian National University, whose work focuses on accelerator-based nuclear fusion and ...

* F. J. Duarte * Sean Cadogan * Warrick Couch *

* Min Gu * Peter Hannaford * Arthur Robert Hogg *

Heinrich Hora Heinrich Hora (born 1931 in Bodenbach, Czechoslovakia) is a German-Australian theoretical physicist who made contributions to solid state physics, optical properties of plasma with relativistic and quantum effects and nonlinear dynamics with a ...

* Leonard Huxley * Rodney Jory *

Yuri Kivshar Yuri S. Kivshar (born in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, USSR), Australian Scientist of Ukrainian origin, distinguished professor, head of Nonlinear Physics Centre of The Australian National University (ANU) (Canberra, Australia) and research director o ...

* Bruce Harold John McKellar *

Tanya Monro Tanya Mary Monro FOSA FAIP GAICD (born 1973)Prof. Tanya Monro
Royal Institution of Australia, riaus.org.au< ...

* Brian J. Orr * James A. Piper * Arthur W. Pryor * Anthony William Thomas *

John Clive Ward John Clive Ward, (1 August 1924 – 6 May 2000) was a British-Australian physicist. He introduced the Ward–Takahashi identity, also known as "Ward Identity" (or "Ward's Identities"). Andrei Sakharov said Ward was one of the titans of q ...

* Alan Walsh * John White

References