Profile

I also did my first degree at Surrey (four year Masters). I started fencing almost completely randomly. Most universities put on an event at the start of the year to go and meet people from different clubs. Almost six years later, I’m still there!

I was the first person in my family to ever go to university. My A-Level physics teachers made me want to have a career in physics.

This field of physics is called nuclear structure physics. Unlike gravity, or charges attracting, the nuclear strong force doesn’t have a nice equation that can be written on paper. The best we have are models that use quantum mechanics. Our theorist friends need to know if their models are any good though. We measure fundamental properties such as the shape of the nucleus (most of them are not spherical!), how big they are, how much mass they have, and how they like to decay (lifetimes, branching ratios). We then compare the values from theory and experiment.

We do our experiments at places like CERN. Most experiments are accelerating one isotope (like an element, but we also care about the number of neutrons) and smashing it into a target made of a different isotope. The beam particles are accelerated to between 5 and 30% of the speed of light. Radiation detectors are placed around the point where the collision happens.

My work specifically is measuring the shape of two different isotopes of mercury. I went to a lab in the US to collect it. One upside of this job is we get to travel all over the world to get to these labs.

I have previously worked in nuclear fusion too (the process which powers the stars), and I’m currently working at CERN for a six month attachment as part of my PhD.

When I’m at the university I normally do my data analysis (the programming). I also have to present my work regularly so I have to prepare to give talks. There are also talks by other people I can listen to. A few times a year we go to conferences that might have 300 people at them. These take a lot of preparation. We also have to write papers, and I need to work on my thesis so I can become a doctor!

If we are going on experiment then we no longer work 9am to 5pm. We have to fly around the world. The furthest place I’ve been sent to was Vancouver, Canada. The experiments run 24 hours a day, so sometimes I have to look after the experiment from midnight until 8am. The professors are very grumpy when we have to call them at 4am to get some help! The solution is normally turn it off and on again.

During my time at CERN my day has been very different. Instead of looking at data, I’ve been getting hands on with the equipment, setting up detectors, handling liquid nitrogen, setting up our vacuum. I have swapped my laptop for screwdrivers and spanners.