Cosmic generosity: A selfless investment in the future of physics

Glester, Andrew

Abstract

If you were awarded $3m prize money for your scientific excellence and hard graft, would you give it all away to strangers? That’s what the Northern Irish astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell did in 2018 after winning the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for her 1967 discovery of pulsars and her inspiring scientific leadership. She used the cash – topped up with more personal money from a separate prize – to launch the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund, which supports PhD students in the UK and Ireland from groups under-represented in physics.

In this episode of the Physics World Stories podcast, we look at the impacts the award is already having on the lives of early-career physicists. Our first guest is Helen Gleeson, a liquid crystals and soft matter researcher at the University of Leeds, who is chair of the selection panel for the fund. She talks about the importance of providing opportunities for physics students from non-traditional backgrounds, who may face multiple barriers – both personal and structural within the physics community.

• Digital Artefact Type: Audio
• Acceptance Date: May 12, 2023
• Online Publication Date: May 12, 2023
• Publication Date: May 12, 2023
• Deposit Date: Sep 5, 2023
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10895879
• External URL: https://physicsworld.com/a/cosmic-generosity-a-selfless-investment-in-the-future-of-physics/