2020 Latest News

For only the second time ever, astrophysicists have spotted a spectacular flash of optical and ultraviolet light accompanying a supernova – an incredibly luminous explosion of a white-dwarf star at the end of its life........

Researchers from the School of Physics have created an innovative new device that will emit single particles of light, or photons, from quantum dots that are the key to practical quantum computers, quantum communications, and other quantum devices. .....

A team of astronomers led by Professor Jose Groh’s group from the School of Physics looking for answers to a cosmic mystery having discovered the disappearance of an unstable massive star in a distant galaxy..........

A multi-disciplinary group of researchers from Trinity has secured funding to develop technology which will improve performance and reduce the cost of solar panels in Ireland and across the globe – greatly enhancing the viability of a low carbon energy source that could help mitigate the effects of global climate change........

Trinity recently welcomed Professor Ortwin Hess, a global leader in photonic quantum technology research and science, to lead a stellar project that will give rise to more secure quantum communications and quantum simulation, and through quantum sensing may even discover new properties of bio-molecules and novel materials.........

A photograph of a buckled linear chain of soap bubbles, together with the corresponding computer simulation, features on the cover of the American Journal of Physics, May 2020. The article by members of the TCD Foams and Complex Systems group describes a simple experimental set-up for the exploration of the nonlinear properties of a chain of spheres under compression...........

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Solar Orbiter spacecraft launched successfully earlier this week to perform close-up observations of the Sun from high-latitudes to better investigate the Sun-Earth connection.........

Theoretical physicists from the School of Physics have found a deep link between one of the most striking features of quantum mechanics – quantum entanglement – and thermalisation, which is the process in which something comes into thermal equilibrium with its surroundings........

For the second year in a row a light pollution-related project has gained a prize at the BTYST awards. Prof. Brian Espey of the School of Physics provided advice and encouragement for the project which involved a study of the effect of light pollution on the degradation of nitrate molecules, demonstrating a link between light and air pollution in the Irish context.......

Leading researchers and inventors at Trinity College Dublin were acknowledged for their innovative research and entrepreneurship at the Trinity Innovation Awards 2019 special awards ceremony...........

Professor John Donegan won the Inventors Award while Professors' David McCloskey and Stephen Dooley with were recognised with the ‘One to Watch’ award's. .........

Astrophysicists brought the Mercury Transit to the Irish public as our solar system’s smallest planet moved across the face of the Sun for the last time until 2032.........

An international collaboration of scientists including the School of Physics Kate Maguire, has made a startling discovery about supernovae – the brilliant points of light that result when stars explode at the end of their lives.......

Hannah Coombes and Conor Casey who picked up two awards at the BT Young Scientist completion in January have now obtained international recognition. Conor and Hannah are from Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine in Kenmare and won with a project to measure light pollution and create an app, mentored by Prof. Brian Espey of the School of Physics..........

The collaboration between Prof. Stefan Hutzler from the TCD School of Physics and art-photographer Kym Cox, Poole, resulted in three of her photographs of foams being shortlisted by the Royal Photographic Society for its Science Photographer of the Year competition.........

Professor John Goold’s QuSys group at Trinity are among an international collaboration that has built the world’s smallest engine – which, as a single calcium ion, is approximately ten billion times smaller than a car engine........

School of Physics Professor Lewys Jones awarded €722,939 for his project Retrofitting small-scale, high-impact, modular innovations for next-generation transmission electron microscopy (RetroTEM)

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This may have significant consequences for the viability and roll-out of mass-produced nanotechnology based on these extremely thin, exotic particles. The findings of the research provides new opportunities for rapidly identifying industrially mass-producible 2D materials..........

School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Birr Scientific & Heritage Foundation, and Offaly County Council announce the opening of the I-LOFAR Education Centre and launch of the Astronomical Midlands Schools and Public Engagement Programme, with very special guest Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell........

The scientists used large radio telescopes and ultraviolet cameras on a NASA spacecraft to better understand the exotic but poorly understood “fourth state of matter”. Known as plasma, this matter could hold the key to developing safe, clean and efficient nuclear energy generators on Earth.......

Check out the latest TCD Talks podcast, a fascinating chat with award-winning Professor Jonathan Coleman who talks all things nanomaterials and how they make things better, faster, stronger and cheaper......

The IRC Advanced Laureate Awards scheme was launched in 2018 to support exceptional researchers in conducting frontier basic (blue-sky) research that pushes the boundaries of our current knowledge..........

The School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, congratulates Mike Coey on the Max Born Medal and Prize. This is a prestigious award by the Institute of Physics and the German Physical Society (DPG) made on alternate years to a physicist working either in Germany or in Great Britain or Ireland.........

Trinity College Dublin spinout Electrical Analytics maps the energy consumption within large campus settings using AI and data analytics together with its custom monitoring hardware. ........

A team of researchers in the Schools of Physics and Chemistry, together with the Advanced Microscopy Laboratory in CRANN and AMBER, have published a paper in the Journal of Applied Physics showing that a high energy helium ion beam can be used to cause twisting of two adjacent layers of MoS2.. .......

This week, an international team of scientists from Trinity College Dublin, the University of Helsinki, and the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies announced a major discovery on the very nature of solar storms in the journal Nature Astronomy.........

Dr. Francesca Pietracaprina was awarded a prestigous Marie Curie Fellowship to work in Prof. John Goold QuSys group on the topic of statistical mechanics of disordered systems. The award worth 185,000 euro brings valuable expertise to the group focusing on the theory of quantum technologies in Dublin which is currently expanding at rapid pace. .......

Professor Stephen Dooley has been awarded €122,213 for his research, which attempts to create petrol and diesel from household and plant waste. .......

Two students from Kenmare brought home two prizes from the BT Young Scientist competition for a light pollution project this weekend. Prof. Brian Espey of the School of Physics provided advice and encouragement for the project which encompassed both measurements in the centre of every major Munster town as well as a model of the light emission based on population estimates........

News of the scutoid discovery came to foam physicists Stefan Hutzler of Trinity College Dublin and Adil Mughal at Aberystwyth University just as they were both leaving for an annual scientific get-together in Northern Ireland........

The Inventors award is presented to those academics whose innovative research has led to the creation of intellectual property and has subsequently licensed to Industry.......

This list recognizes world-class researchers selected for their exceptional research performance, demonstrated by production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in Web of Science.......

Project ASTROFLOW will see Dr Vidotto use her expertise in stellar wind theory and 3D simulations to produce next-gen models that account for the major underlying physical processes of atmospheric losses in exoplanets.......