St Andrews School of Physics and Astronomy

We are pleased to hear the relaunch of the SU2P, Scottish Universities Partnership in Photonics.

Many congratulations to Cailean Wilkinson for passing his viva on thesis titled: Quantum-enhanced protocols: secure quantum state sharing and noisy field estimation

Memorial Symposium for Prof. Wilson Sibbett CBE FRS FRSE, Wednesday 22nd October 2025
For more information: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/physics-astr...

If you would like to attend, please register via the link below:
forms.office.com/e/Sb1VbnAyKZ

The year I arrive @physastrostand.bsky.social rises to #1 in the UK for Physics in the Times & Sunday Times University League table.

(and we all know that correlation *does* imply causation, right?!)

www.thetimes.com/uk-universit...

We welcome applications for consideration for this year's Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship scheme. Internal deadline is 3rd Nov. Please email physdor@st-andrews.ac.uk for the UstA Leverhulme ECRF application form. Call details are on: www.leverhulme.ac.uk/early-career...

The little Twin Dome is now on a road trip back to the big Twin Dome in St Andrews. Starting at the shore in Cellardyke

Substrate pre-sputtering for layer-by-layer van der Waals epitaxy of 2D materials Two-dimensional transition metal chalcogenides, with their atomically layered structure, favorable electronic and mechanical properties, and often strong spin–o

Our recent work showing how a simple substrate pre-sputtering can facilitate layer-by-layer film growth of van der Waals materials published as an Editor's Pick in APL Materials: doi.org/10.1063/5.02...

Congratulations to the authors of the paper “OLED illuminated metasurfaces for holographic image projection” which has just been published with Light: Science & Applications. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s413...

Today is international day in the school of Physics and Astronomy. It is a great opportunity to celebrate the diversity in the OSC that helps make our research world class.

Many congratulations to Dan on successfully defending his PhD thesis: using LEED-IV to track minute structural distortions at ruthenate surfaces, and understanding their implications on electronic structure. Dan worked jointly with us, @wahlgroup.bsky.social and @diamondlightsource.bsky.social

New #research from @distantworlds.space with
@nasawebb.extwitter.link @stsci.edu @umich.edu @cornellupress.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social & MIT identifies signs of atmosphere on TRAPPIST 1e, an Earth-sized #exoplanet located 40 light years away

Read more👇

ow.ly/SFOT50WTaHI

#EverToExcel

Finally, it's important to highlight that none of this would have been possible without the leadership of Nikole Lewis, who is the PI of this initial TRAPPIST-1e reconnaissance program.

I was fortunate enough to be a postdoc at Cornell with Nikole, and she is a truly *fantastic* advisor and mentor!

Artist's impression of TRAPPIST-1e, showing a rocky world covered in scattered lakes and clouds. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

We have follow-up observations of TRAPPIST-1e ongoing (led by Néstor Espinoza and Natalie Allen), which will provide 15 (!) more transits of TRAPPIST-1e.

So if TRAPPIST-1e does indeed have an atmosphere, we will soon have the data to settle the enigma of this world.

A rocky planet in its star’s ‘habitable zone’ could be the first known to have an atmosphere – here’s what we found The largest telescope in space has been trained on a rocky exoplanet.

We observed the habitable zone planet TRAPPIST-1e with JWST to search for an atmosphere.

You've seen the headlines, now let's dive into the science! 🧪

THREAD (1/N)

#Exoplanets 🔭

This week we are pleased to welcome Yamini Sharma to the group. She is visiting us from the IPCMS in Strasbourg. During her one month stay she will be researching the photophysics of TADF materials.

Our School of Physics & Astronomy hosted the @univofstandrews first Advanced Materials industry day, bringing together academics and researchers with businesses, funders & government.

Check out our video to find out more...

📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2NM...

#EverToExcel

Welcome to Ferran Aliagas Puigdomènech, who joins us from Universiteit van Amsterdam as a new PhD student in the group, working jointly with us and @wahlgroup.bsky.social

#ThatPublishedFeeling 🥳 What does it feel like to see your research published?

IOP Publishing authors share powerful and meaningful stories behind publication— From returning to science after decades to shaping their hometowns’ futures.

👉 Explore their stories: ioppublishing.org/that-publish...

A windy Pier Walk to mark the start of Martinmas Semester. 💨

Welcome back to our returning students and hello to all our new ones - enjoy Orientation Week!

#EverToExcel

Advancing intercalation strategies in layered hybrid perovskites by bringing together synthesis and simulations - Nature Communications A parallel experimental and computational approach was used to predict and prepare intercalated, layered hybrid perovskites, highlighting the breadth and flexibility of intercalation.

‪
New paper: We combine computation and synthesis to design and discover intercalated layered hybrid perovskites with tunable structures and optoelectronic properties.
With Julia Payne | Grateful to @leverhulme.ac.uk for funding. @physastrostand.bsky.social
#2DPerovskites

Congratulations to James and Liam who graduated with their PhD degrees.

New tool to identify ‘toxic’ green books

Developed by @physastrostand.bsky.social and the University of St Andrews Libraries and Museum, the new device is transforming how cultural heritage institutions identify toxic pigments in historic books.

Read more 👇

ow.ly/WAil50Wflrf

#EverToExcel

Dr John Danial

Congratulations to Dr John Danial from @physastrostand.bsky.social who has been awarded a £1.6 million Career Development Award from the Medical Research Council @ukri.org for his #dementia research.

Read more 👇

ow.ly/AirC50WcSGt

#EverToExcel

Congratulations to my Master’s project students Jacob, Sam, and Walter on graduating today. Congratulations also to all of our @physastrostand.bsky.social graduates!

Many congratulations to our graduated students. What a glorious day it was for graduation!

I've been blown away by how welcoming and supportive the academics and staff at @physastrostand.bsky.social have been during my first week at St Andrews. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Looks like I'll be teaching an astronomy lab in September, can't wait to introduce the undergraduates to exoplanet observations! 🔭

Don't miss out! The Toxic books exhibit is back on at Warlaw Museum till the 21st July due to popular demand.
researchstudio.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2024-poisono...

Looking back to detail of “in the event of always falling back down again”. Installation at the School of Physics and Astronomy. Still looking good.

Internal selection for the STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowships is now open. Internal deadline is 30th June 17:00. Interested candidates should go to the website and follow the instructions. astronomy.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/stfc-ernest-...