Two physicists from the University of Sheffield have been awarded Institute of Physics (IOP) medals for their outstanding contributions to their respective research fields.

Professor Gillian Gehring was awarded the Mott Medal for her seminal contributions to magnetism, while Professor Richard Jones (pictured) received the Tabor Medal for his innovative work characterising polymer surfaces and thin films, and for his more recent work in nanoscience.

The 2009 IOP awards celebrate achievements in physics such as successful business applications along with leading research in a wide range of fields from astronomy to optical physics, as well as excellence in engaging the general public with physics.

Professor David Mowbray, Head of the University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, said: “I’m delighted that Professors Gehring and Jones have been awarded these prestigious medals which reflect their significant contributions to the fields of magnetism and nanoscience. It is a mark of achievement for my two colleagues and also their many colleagues who have worked with them. ”

Dr Robert Kirby Harris, Chief Executive of the IOP, added: “The IOP awards are a wonderful way of honouring the achievements of physicists across a range of fields as well as underlining the important role physics has in adding considerable value to the UK – both directly and also in underpinning engineering and other sciences.”

More information on Richard Jones

Soft Machines, Richard’s nanotechnology blog

This week’s Polymer Centre member publications:

Immobilizing live bacteria for AFM imaging of cellular processes. Kailas, L.; Ratcliffe, E. C.; Hayhurst, E. J.; Walker, M. G.; Foster, S. J.; Hobbs, J. K., Ultramicroscopy 2009 109 (7): 775-780. Link

Synthesis and Characterization of Block Copolymers of Polyoxyethylene and Polylactide with Different Architectures. Mai, S.; Abbot, A.; Norton, D.; McKean, R.; Ryan, A.J., Macromolecular Chemistry And Physics 2009 210 (10): 840-851. Link

List generated using ISI Web of Knowledge.

The Bayreuth Polymer Symposium ‘09 will be held at Bayreuth University, Germany, 13-15 September 2009. BPS ‘09 is the 11th in this biennial series of meetings. Topics to be presented include:

• Functional Polymers
• Block copolymers
• Polymer colloids
• Intelligent polymer interfaces
• Polymer nanostructures
• Polymer nanotechnology

A primary objective of this meeting is to bring together people from different areas of polymer and materials science to discuss various aspects of fundamental and applied research. The symposium aspires to provide a forum for dialogue between researchers from universities, industry and research institutions.

For more information and to register, please visit the conference website.

BPS ‘09

This week’s polymer centre member publications:

Diffusion Studies of Nanometer Polymersomes Across Tissue Engineered Human Oral Mucosa. Hearnden, V.; Lomas, H.; MacNeil, S.; Thornhill, M.; Murdoch, C.; Lewis, A.; Madsen, J.; Blanazs, A.; Armes, S.; Battaglia, G., Pharmaceutical Research 2009 26 (7): 1718-1728. Link

Synthesis and Characterization of Film-Forming Colloidal Nanocomposite Particles Prepared via Surfactant-Free Aqueous Emulsion Copolymerization. Schmid, A.; Scherl, P.; Armes, S.P.; Leite, C.A.P.; Galembeck, F., Macromolecules 2009 42 (11): 3721-3728. Link

List generated using ISI Web of Knowledge.

The Molecular Engineering Translational Research Centre’s business development team, together with Polymer Centre Manager, Liam Sutton, is this week attending Nanomaterials ‘09 in Bonn, Germany.

This three-day conference and networking event is designed to showcase private sector and academic UK resources that support the safe and cost-effective development of nanotechnologies, close to the geographical centre of gravity of Europe’s manufacturing industry. Organised by Nanocentral and IntertechPira, the conference aims to build the connections that will lead to value-added, nanotechnology-enabled products.

METRC is sponsoring the event and will be hosting a stand in the networking area. We look forward to building links between European manufacturing companies and the world-leading soft nanotechnology expertise available in the North of England’s universities.

Conference website

METRC

This year’s meeting of Recent Appointees in Polymer Science will take place at the University of Reading on the 16-18 September.

This annual event is designed to enable relatively new starters in both academia and industry to learn more about each others’ technical interests and to develop mutually beneficial networks.

For more information including registration details, please download the flyer via the link below.

RAPS_2009_flyer (PDF, 54 kB)

This weeks Polymer Centre Member Publications:

Co-culture of intestinal epithelial and stromal cells in 3D collagen-based environments. Viney, M.E.; Bullock, A.J.; Day, M.J.; MacNeil, S., Regenerative Medicine 2009 4 (3): 397-406. Link

Polymersomes: nature inspired nanometer sized compartments. LoPresti, Caterina; Lomas, H.; Massignani, M.; Smart, T.; Battaglia, G., Journal Of Materials Chemistry 2009 19 (22): 3576-3590. Link

Composition depth profiling of polystyrene/poly(vinyl ethyl ether) blend thin films by angle resolved XPS. Beamson, G.; Mokarian-Tabari, P.; Geoghegan, M., Journal Of Electron Spectroscopy And Related Phenomena 2009 171 (1-3): 57-63. Link

Observation of the complete rupture of a buried polymer layer by off-specular neutron reflectometry. de Silva, J.P.; Martin, S.J.; Cubitt, R.; Geoghegan, M., Epl 2009 86 (3): Art. No. 36005. Link

Numerical model of twin disc test arrangement for evaluating railway wheel wear prediction algorithms. Tassini, N.; Quost, X.; Lewis, R.; Dwyer-Joyce, R.; Ariaudo, C.; Kuka, N., Proceedings of the Stle/Asme International Joint Tribology Conference 2008 : 469-471 2009. Link

A comparison of three methods for the measurement of wheel rail contact. Dwyer-Joyce, R.S.; Yao, C.; Lewis, R., Proceedings of the Stle/Asme International Joint Tribology Conference 2008 : 541-543 2009. Link

List generated using ISI Web of Knowledge.

This week’s polymer centre member publications:

Effect of oil and water mixtures on adhesion in the wheel/rail contact. Lewis, R.; Gallardo-Hernandez, E.A.; Hilton, T.; Armitage, T., Proceedings Of The Institution Of Mechanical Engineers Part F-Journal Of Rail And Rapid Transit 2009 223 (3): 275-283. Link

Templated formation of giant polymer vesicles with controlled size distributions. Howse, J.R.; Jones, R.A.L.; Battaglia, G; Ducker, R.E.; Leggett, G.J.; Ryan, A.J., Nature Materials 2009 8 (6): 507-511. Link

Theoretical study of the effects of nonlinear viscous damping on vibration isolation of sdof systems. Lang, Z.Q.; Jing, X.J.; Billings, S.A.; Tomlinson, G.R.; Peng, Z.K., Journal Of Sound And Vibration 2009 323 (1-2): 352-365. Link

3D Ordered Gold Strings by Coating Nanoparticles with Mesogens. Zeng, X.; Liu, F.; Fowler, A.G.; Ungar, G.; Cseh, L.; Mehl, G.H.; Macdonald, J.E., Advanced Materials 2009 21 (17): 1746. Link

List generated using ISI Web of Knowledge.

This week’s polymer centre member publications:

Anomalous Diffusion of Symmetric and Asymmetric Active Colloids. Golestanian, R., Physical Review Letters 2009 102 (18): Art. No. 188305. Link

Preparation and properties of alternating 2,7-linked carbazole copolymers with phenylene units with varying number of fluorine substituents. Pickup, D.F.; Yi, H.; Iraqi, A., Journal Of Materials Science 2009 44 (12): 3172-3178. Link

“Torsional tapping” atomic force microscopy using T-shaped cantilevers. Mullin, N.; Vasilev, C.; Tucker, J.D.; Hunter, C.N.; Weber, C.H.M.; Hobbs, J.K., Applied Physics Letters 2009 94 (17): Art. No. 173109. Link

List generated using ISI Web of Knowledge. 

A scientist with a PhD in Physics or a related discipline is sought to work on the structural characterisation of the micro and nanostructure of thin films of photovoltaic applicable polymers. Joining a collaborative research project running between the universities of Sheffield, Cambridge, Cardiff and the Diamond light source in Oxfordshire, the successful candidate will have experience in X-ray scattering and diffraction. 

This position is fixed term appointment with an immediate start date and an end date of 31st December 2010. Applications can be made through the University of Sheffield Website quoting reference number R07284. Closing date for applications: 12th of June 2009. For more information, please see the linked PDF:

PDRA: Physics and Astronomy.