When an intense laser interacts with a gas of atoms, high-order harmonics are generated. In the time domain, this radiation forms a train of extremely short light pulses, of the order of 100 attoseconds. Attosecond pulses allow the study of the dynamics of electrons in atoms and molecules, using pump-probe techniques. Anne L'Huillier's lecture will highlight some of the key steps of the field of attosecond science. Her talk is titled 'The Route to Attosecond Light Pulses'.

New research has cast doubt on the long-held theory that our galaxy, the Milky Way, will collide with its largest neighbour, the Andromeda galaxy, in 4.5 billion years-time.

Congratulations to Professor Ryan Cooke from our Department of Physics who is the joint recipient of the 2025 Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize.

Researchers have discovered that ultra-fast wind surrounding a supermassive black hole is not smooth and continuous as previously assumed, but instead resembles a rapid-fire stream of gas ‘bullets’.

The Lonsdale Lecture Prize is awarded annually by the early-stage crystallography group (ESCG) of the British Crystallographic Association in memory of Dame Kathleen Lonsdale. Dr Emma McCabe (Durham condensed matter physics) was honoured to be awarded this prize at the BCA spring meeting 2025.

Two researchers from our top-rated Physics department have been awarded prestigious Quantum Technology Career Acceleration Fellowships by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Two researchers from our top-rated Physics department have been awarded prestigious Quantum Technology Career Acceleration Fellowships by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Durham University physicists and the Boulby Underground Laboratory have initiated a collaborative effort to assess the feasibility of deploying the "QuASAR" experiment. This partnership marks a novel venture, as researchers from both institutions work together to investigate the practicalities of operating a cold-atom quantum sensor 1.1 kilometres underground.

On the 28th of March, the IPPP hosted its second post-pandemic edition of the International Masterclass in Particle Physics, an immersive day of discovery where over 110 students from six local high schools became physicists for a day.

Cosmologist Professor Andrew Pontzen has been appointed to the council of one of the UK’s main research funding bodies.

A major international research effort has confirmed the standard model of cosmology using data from 41 million galaxies.

Shortly after the New Year's festivities had finished, twenty-five PhD students braved the ice and snow to come to Durham University to make some critical current measurements on HTS superconductors for ~ 3 days in January 2025.