Institute of Physics

Explore how lasers detect ultrasound in metals, then discover a newer way to ‘see’ sound using liquid crystals. Professor Rachel Edwards connects this physics to smart paints and quicker, easier testing methods.

Trace how physics takes disruptive technology from novelty to necessity, using mobile phones, music streaming and sat nav as examples. Mark Wrigley explores how a physics degree can help you think about a world not yet invented. Free biscuits and cake are available from 16:00.

Trace how Emmy Noether linked symmetries to conservation laws, and why her theorem still shapes mathematical physics. Hear early-career theoretical physicist Molly McDermott unpack her groundbreaking work and the barriers she faced as a woman in academia, at Lakes College in Workington.

Revisit physicists’ proposals for keeping global warming below 1.5°C, then assess what has worked and whether new ideas are needed. Dave Cross leads the talk, with time for questions and discussion afterwards.

A cooking-show-style physics talk uses everyday ingredients to trace the Universe from the Big Bang to today. Join Dr Victoria Yankelevich for accessible cosmology, then put your questions to her after the talk.

Trace how light creates rainbows, fog bows, glories and sun dogs, then venture beyond Earth to sulphuric acid glories on Venus and infrared rainbows on Titan. Dr John Hardwick’s live lecture at QUAD in Derby runs for one hour.

See how medical physicists monitor and decontaminate radioactive spills in nuclear medicine, while learning how tracers help image different parts of the body. Kirsten Buniak and Heloise Carpenter from BHR NHS Trust explain the careful procedures that keep patients and staff safe.

Watch Professor Jim Al-Khalili’s Christmas Lecture being recorded live at Keele University, with demonstrations and guest contributions exploring time travel, time’s direction and Einstein’s relativity. Trace timekeeping from sundials and water clocks to atomic clocks, with tea and coffee available beforehand.

Trace how observing networks and Earth-monitoring satellites turn measurements made across countries and decades into climate records. Explore why environmental data are complex, how uncertainty matters, and how satellite observations and sea-level-rise data build evidence about our changing planet.

Trace how observations of the Sun, Moon and stars shaped calendars across cultures, from ancient Greece and Rome to Aztec, Chinese, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim traditions. Explore the centuries of change behind the Gregorian calendar and today’s leap seconds.

An immersive re-enactment takes you inside Apollo 13’s catastrophic in-space failure and the decisions that shaped the crew’s rescue. Explore the scientists and engineers behind the mission, then continue the conversation over complimentary nibbles and beverages.

Explore the secret British nuclear programme that helped make the Manhattan Project possible in an evening lecture by Professor Gareth Williams.

Explore how an ultra-black coating could reduce sunlight reflected by satellites in low Earth orbit, with astrophysics researcher Astha Chaturvedi explaining the research and its implications for astronomy and space sustainability. The talk covers radiation exposure tests and scanning electron microscope imaging.

Explore how astronomers combine simulations and observations to investigate the hidden physics inside a collapsing star. Dr Vishnu Varma of Keele University also examines how future detections of neutrinos and gravitational waves could refine theories of stellar explosions.

Explore how satellites are moving from manual ground control to autonomous systems that coordinate navigation and avoid collisions - and how digital deception could change their behaviour. Space technology researcher Beth Probert connects physics and cybersecurity to the challenge of protecting Earth’s orbital skies.

Dr Vince Smith MBE unpacks how Einstein’s 1905 work reshaped physics, from Brownian motion and the photoelectric effect to special relativity. Hear how these ideas helped lay the foundations of modern physics at a free-ticket lecture in Worcester.

Trace how women scanners examined thousands of bubble chamber photographs, hunting patterns that could reveal new particles or unusual decays. Explore oral history material featuring women who worked as scanners at University College London.

Explore how proton beam therapy brings cancer treatment and particle physics together, from radiotherapy’s role to the accelerators that produce the beams. See why their precision matters for deep-lying tumours in the head, neck and central nervous system.

Explore five proposed experiments that could reshape physics as Professor Vlatko Vedral examines quantum theory on a macroscopic scale, from gravity and living systems to conscious observers. Bring your questions for the audience Q&A after the talk.

Dr Roberto Alamino explores how AI and machine learning reveal patterns across networks, biology, industry and social systems. See how they support prediction and intervention, where AI falls short, and why it works best alongside scientific modelling and human understanding.

Hear award finalists and the winner share their physics research and career journeys, then join panel discussions and audience Q&As on emerging research and routes into physics careers. Connect with the wider physics community over a networking lunch.