The department congratulates Ariadna Calcines-Rosario, who on the 16th October was presented with her WeAreTechWomen’s TechWomen100 Award 2026 at a prestigious event held at the splendid Mansion House venue in London. 

The appearance of Halley’s Comet in 1066, as captured in the Bayeux Tapestry, was seen as a sign of impending change. Giles Gasper, Professor in High Medieval History, Department of History, and Brian Tanner, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Physics, tell us more about the ‘terror of kings’.

The Department of Physics at Durham University is celebrating after two members of staff were recognised in the prestigious Institute of Physics (IOP) Awards 2026. Dr Will Yeadon has been awarded the Daphne Jackson Medal and Prize, while Nikky Joyce, Assistant Technician and Mechanical Engineering Degree Apprentice, has received the IOP Apprentice Award, marking a fantastic double success for the Department.

Professor Simon Cornish, from our Department of Physics, has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in recognition of his pioneering research into ultracold quantum matter.

Hearty congratulations to Prof. Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin on the award of the Nobel Prize for Physics for his pioneering work on the detection of neutrinos with IceCube. Prof. Halzen has a long connection with Physics in Durham, including writing an influential textbook, Quark and Leptons, with Prof. Alan Martin.

Our scientists are part of an international team behind plans for Europe’s largest solar telescope – which has just reached a new milestone.

We have launched a new fellowship to give a talented early-career researcher the freedom to explore the most ambitious ideas in astronomy and cosmology.

Between 15th and 17th September, the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics at Durham University hosted over 50 researchers and experts from around the world for the international workshop, "New Frontiers in Quantum-Enhanced Sensing and Metrology."

Researchers in our Centre for Advanced Instrumentation are helping to develop a pioneering laser power system that could keep high-altitude aircraft operating continuously.

Ariadna Calcines Rosario, Associate Professor at the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation (CfAI) in the Department of Physics, has been selected as a winner in WeAreTechWomen’s TechWomen100 Awards 2026.

The 2026/7 Temple Chevallier Lecture is titled 'Astronomy, God, and the search for elegance' and will be delivered by Brother Guy Consolmagno, Director Emeritus of the Vatican Observatory.

An international team of astronomers, including researchers from our Department of Physics, has observed a seemingly dormant supermassive black hole reawaken.