Imagine two particles so interconnected that measuring one immediately reveals information about the other, even if the particles are light–years apart. This phenomenon, known as quantum entanglement, is the foundation of a variety of technologies such as quantum cryptography and quantum computing. However, entangled states are notoriously difficult to control. Now, for the first time, a team of physicists in Japan has performed a collective quantum measurement on a W state comprising three entangled photons. This allowed them to analyse the three entangled photons at once rather than one at a time. This achievement, reported in Science Advances, marks a significant step towards the practical development of quantum technologies.
Physicists usually measure entangled particles using a technique known as quantum tomography. In this method, many identical copies of a particle are prepared, and each copy is measured at a different angle. The results of these measurements are then combined to reconstruct its full quantum state. To visualize this, imagine being asked to take a family photo. Instead of taking one group picture, you have to photograph each family member individually and then combine all the photos into a single portrait. Now imagine taking a photo properly: taking one photograph of the entire family. This is essentially what happens in an entangled measurement: where all particles are measured simultaneously rather than separately. This approach allows for significantly faster and more efficient measurements.
So far, for three-particle systems, entangled measurements have only been performed on Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) states, where all qubits (quantum bits of a system) are either in one state or another. Until now, no one had carried out an entangled measurement for a more complicated set of states known as W states, which do not share this all-or-nothing property. In their experiment, the researchers at Kyoto University and Hiroshima University specifically used the simplest type of W state, made up of three photons, where each photon’s polarization (horizontal or vertical) is represented by one qubit.
“In a GHZ state, if you measure one qubit, the whole superposition collapses. But in a W state, even if you measure one particle, entanglement still remains,” explains Shigeki Takeuchi, corresponding author of the paper describing the study. This robustness makes the W state particularly appealing for quantum technologies.
Fourier transformations
The team took advantage of the fact that different W states look almost identical but differ by tiny phase shift, which acts as a hidden label that distinguishes one state from another. Using a tool called a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) circuit, researchers were able to “decode” this phase and tell the states apart.
The DFT exploits a special type of symmetry inherent to W states. Since the method relies on symmetry, in principle it can be extended to systems containing any number of photons. The researchers prepared photons in controlled polarization states and ran them through the DFT, which provided each state’s phase label. After, the photons were sent through polarizing beam splitters that separate them into vertically and horizontally polarized groups. By counting both sets of photons, and combining this with information from the DFT, the team could identify the W state.
The experiment identified the correct W state about 87% of the time, well above the 15% success rate typically achieved using tomography-based measurements. Maintaining this level of performance was a challenge, as tiny fluctuations in optical paths or photon loss can easily destroy the fragile interference pattern. The fact that the team could maintain stable performance long enough to collect statistically reliable data marks an important technical milestone.
Scalable to larger systems
“Our device is not just a single-shot measurement: it works with 100% efficiency,” Takeuchi adds. “Most linear optical protocols are probabilistic, but here the success probability is unity.” Although demonstrated with three photons, this procedure is directly scalable to larger systems, as the key insight is the symmetry that the DFT can detect.
“In terms of applications, quantum communication seems the most promising,” says Takeuchi. “Because our device is highly efficient, our protocol could be used for robust communication between quantum computer chips. The next step is to build all of this on a tiny photonic chip, which would reduce errors and photon loss and help make this technology practical for real quantum computers and communication networks.”
Physicists at the University of Tokyo, Japan have performed quantum mechanical squeezing on a nanoparticle for the first time. The feat, which they achieved by levitating the particle and rapidly varying the frequency at which it oscillates, could allow us to better understand how very small particles transition between classical and quantum behaviours. It could also lead to improvements in quantum sensors.
Oscillating objects that are smaller than a few microns in diameter have applications in many areas of quantum technology. These include optical clocks and superconducting devices as well as quantum sensors. Such objects are small enough to be affected by Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, which places a limit on how precisely we can simultaneously measure the position and momentum of a quantum object. More specifically, the product of the measurement uncertainties in the position and momentum of such an object must be greater than or equal to ħ/2, where ħ is the reduced Planck constant.
In these circumstances, the only way to decrease the uncertainty in one variable – for example, the position – is to boost the uncertainty in the other. This process has no classical equivalent and is called squeezing because reducing uncertainty along one axis of position-momentum space creates a “bulge” in the other, like squeezing a balloon.
A charge-neutral nanoparticle levitated in an optical lattice
In the new work, which is detailed in Science, a team led by Kiyotaka Aikawa studied a single, charge-neutral nanoparticle levitating in a periodic intensity pattern formed by the interference of criss-crossed laser beams. Such patterns are known as optical lattices, and they are ideal for testing the quantum mechanical behaviour of small-scale objects because they can levitate the object. This keeps it isolated from other particles and allows it to sustain its fragile quantum state.
After levitating the particle and cooling it to its motional ground state, the team rapidly varied the intensity of the lattice laser. This had the effect of changing the particle’s oscillation frequency, which in turn changed the uncertainty in its momentum. To measure this change (and prove they had demonstrated quantum squeezing), the researchers then released the nanoparticle from the trap and let it propagate for a short time before measuring its velocity. By repeating these time-of-flight measurements many times, they were able to obtain the particle’s velocity distribution.
The telltale sign of quantum squeezing, the physicists say, is that the velocity distribution they measured for the nanoparticle was narrower than the uncertainty in velocity for the nanoparticle at its lowest energy level. Indeed, the measured velocity variance was narrower than that of the ground state by 4.9 dB, which they say is comparable to the largest mechanical quantum squeezing obtained thus far.
“Our system will enable us to realize further exotic quantum states of motions and to elucidate how quantum mechanics should behave at macroscopic scales and become classical,” Aikawa tells Physics World. “This could allow us to develop new kinds of quantum devices in the future.”
Quantum pioneer: Michael Berry is best known for his work in the 1980s on the Berry Phase. (Courtesy: Michael Berry)
The theoretical physicist Michael Berry from the University of Bristol has won the 2025 Isaac Newton Medal and Prize for his “profound contributions across mathematical and theoretical physics in a career spanning over 60 years”. Presented by the Institute of Physics (IOP), which publishes Physics World, the international award is given annually for “world-leading contributions to physics by an individual of any nationality”.
Born in 1941 in Surrey, UK, Berry earned a BSc in physics from the University of Exeter in 1962 and a PhD from the University of St Andrews in 1965. He then moved to Bristol, where he has remained for the rest of his career.
Berry is best known for his work in the 1980s in which he showed that, under certain conditions, quantum systems can acquire what is known as a geometric phase. He was studying quantum systems in which the Hamiltonian describing the system is slowly changed so that it eventually returns to its initial form.
Berry showed that the adiabatic theorem widely used to describe such systems was incomplete and that a system acquires a phase factor that depends on the path followed, but not on the rate at which the Hamiltonian is changed. This geometric phase factor is now known as the Berry phase.
Over his career Berry, has written some 500 papers across a wide number of topics. In physics, Berry’s ideas have applications in condensed matter, quantum information and high-energy physics, as well as optics, nonlinear dynamics, and atomic and molecular physics. In mathematics, meanwhile, his work forms the basis for research in analysis, geometry and number theory.
Berry told Physics World that the award is “unexpected recognition for six decades of obsessive scribbling…creating physics by seeking ‘claritons’ – elementary particles of sudden understanding – and evading ‘anticlaritons’ that annihilate them” as well as “getting insights into nature’s physics” such as studying tidal bores, tsunamis, rainbows and “polarised light in the blue sky”.
Over the years, Berry has won a wide number of other honours, including the IOP’s Dirac Medal and the Royal Medal from the Royal Society, both awarded in 1990. He was also given the Wolf Prize for Physics in 1998 and the 2014 Lorentz Medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1996 he received a knighthood for his services to science.
Berry’s latest honour forms part of the IOP’s wider 2025 awards, which recognize everyone from early-career scientists and teachers to technicians and subject specialists. Other winners include Julia Yeomans, who receives the Dirac Medal and Prize for her work highlighting the relevance of active physics to living matter.
Lok Yiu Wu, meanwhile, receives Jocelyn Bell Burnell Medal and Prize for her work on the development of a novel magnetic radical filter device, and for ongoing support of women and underrepresented groups in physics.
In a statement, IOP president Michele Dougherty congratulated all the winners. “It is becoming more obvious that the opportunities generated by a career in physics are many and varied – and the potential our science has to transform our society and economy in the modern world is huge,” says Dougherty. “I hope our winners appreciate they are playing an important role in this community, and know how proud we are to celebrate their successes.”
The full list of 2025 award winners is available here.
A network of optical cavities could be used to detect gravitational waves (GWs) in an unexplored range of frequencies, according to researchers in the UK. Using technology already within reach, the team believes that astronomers could soon be searching for ripples in space–time across the milli-Hz frequency band at 10⁻⁵ Hz–1 Hz.
GWs were first observed a decade ago and since then the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA detectors have spotted GWs from hundreds of merging black holes and neutron stars. These detectors work in the 10 Hz–30 kHz range. Researchers have also had some success at observing a GW background at nanohertz frequencies using pulsar timing arrays.
However, GWs have yet to be detected in the milli-Hz band, which should include signals from binary systems of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and stellar-mass black holes. Many of these signals would emanate from the Milky Way.
Several projects are now in the works to explore these frequencies, including the space-based interferometers LISA, Taiji, and TianQin; as well as satellite-borne networks of ultra-precise optical clocks. However, these projects are still some years away.
Multidisciplinary effort
Joining these efforts was a collaboration called QSNET, which was within the UK’s Quantum Technology for Fundamental Physics (QTFP) programme. “The QSNET project was a network of clocks for measuring the stability of fundamental constants,” explains Giovanni Barontini at the University of Birmingham. “This programme brought together physics communities that normally don’t interact, such as quantum physicists, technologists, high energy physicists, and astrophysicists.”
QTFP ended this year, but not before Barontini and colleagues had made important strides in demonstrating how milli-Hz GWs could be detected using optical cavities.
Inside an ultrastable optical cavity, light at specific resonant frequencies bounces constantly between a pair of opposing mirrors. When this resonant light is produced by a specific atomic transition, the frequency of the light in the cavity is very precise and can act as the ticking of an extremely stable clock.
“Ultrastable cavities are a main component of modern optical atomic clocks,” Barontini explains. “We demonstrated that they have reached sufficient sensitivities to be used as ‘mini-LIGOs’ and detect gravitational waves.”
When such GW passes through an optical cavity, the spacing between its mirrors does not change in any detectable way. However, QSNET results have led to Barontini’s team to conclude that milli-Hz GWs alter the phase of the light inside the cavity. What is more, they conclude that this effect would be detectable in the most precise optical cavities currently available.
“Methods from precision measurement with cold atoms can be transferred to gravitational-wave detection,” explains team member Vera Guarrera. “By combining these toolsets, compact optical resonators emerge as credible probes in the milli-Hz band, complementing existing approaches.”
Ground-based network
Their compact detector would comprise two optical cavities at 90° to each other – each operating at a different frequency – and an atomic reference at a third frequency. The phase shift caused by a passing gravitational wave is revealed in a change in how the three frequencies interfere with each other. The team proposes linking multiple detectors to create a global, ground-based network. This, they say, could detect a GW and also locate the position of its source in the sky.
By harnessing this existing technology, the researchers now hope that future studies could open up a new era of discovery of GWs in the milli-Hz range, far sooner than many projects currently in development.
“This detector will allow us to test astrophysical models of binary systems in our galaxy, explore the mergers of massive black holes, and even search for stochastic backgrounds from the early universe,” says team member Xavier Calmet at the University of Sussex. “With this method, we have the tools to start probing these signals from the ground, opening the path for future space missions.”
Barontini adds, “Hopefully this work will inspire the build-up of a global network of sensors that will scan the skies in a new frequency window that promises to be rich of sources – including many from our own galaxy,”.
Researchers in the US have studied the physics of how cutting onions can produce a tear-jerking reaction.
While it is known that volatile chemicals released from the onion – called propanethial S-oxide – irritate the nerves in the cornea to produce tears, how such chemical-laden droplets reach the eyes and whether they are influenced by the knife or cutting technique remain less clear.
To investigate, Sunghwan Jung from Cornell University and colleagues built a guillotine-like apparatus and used high-speed video to observe the droplets released from onions as they were cut by steel blades.
“No one had visualized or quantified this process,” Jung told Physics World. “That curiosity led us to explore the mechanics of droplet ejection during onion cutting using high-speed imaging and strain mapping.”
They found that droplets, which can reach up to 60 cm high, were released in two stages – the first being a fast mist-like outburst that was followed by threads of liquid fragmenting into many droplets.
The most energetic droplets were released during the initial contact between the blade and the onion’s skin.
When they began varying the sharpness of the blade and the cutting speed, they discovered that a greater number of droplets were released by blunter blades and faster cutting speeds.
“That was even more surprising,” notes Jung. “Blunter blades and faster cuts – up to 40 m/s – produced significantly more droplets with higher kinetic energy.”
Another surprise was that refrigerating the onions prior to cutting also produced an increased number of droplets of similar velocity, compared to unchilled vegetables.
So if you want to reduce chances of welling up when making dinner, sharpen your knives, cut slowly and perhaps don’t keep the bulbs in the fridge.
The researchers say there are many more layers to the work and now plan to study how different onion varieties respond to cutting as well as how cutting could influence the spread of airborne pathogens such as salmonella.
Blur benefit: Images on the left were taken by a camera that was moving during exposure. Images on the right used the researchers’ algorithm to increase their resolution with information captured by the camera’s motion. (Courtesy: Pedro Felzenszwalb/Brown University)
Images captured by moving cameras are usually blurred, but researchers at Brown University in the US have found a way to sharpen them up using a new deconvolution algorithm. The technique could allow ordinary cameras to produce gigapixel-quality photos, with applications in biological imaging and archival/preservation work.
“We were interested in the limits of computational photography,” says team co-leader Rashid Zia, “and we recognized that there should be a way to decode the higher-resolution information that motion encodes onto a camera image.”
Conventional techniques to reconstruct high-resolution images from low-resolution ones involve relating low-res to high-res via a mathematical model of the imaging process. These effectiveness of these techniques is limited, however, as they produce only relatively small increases in resolution. If the initial image is blurred due to camera motion, this also limits the maximum resolution possible.
Exploiting the “tracks” left by small points of light
Together with Pedro Felzenszwalb of Brown’s computer science department, Zia and colleagues overcame these problems, successfully reconstructing a high-resolution image from one or several low-resolution images produced by a moving camera. The algorithm they developed to do this takes the “tracks” left by light sources as the camera moves and uses them to pinpoint precisely where the fine details must have been located. It then reconstructs these details on a finer, sub-pixel grid.
“There was some prior theoretical work that suggested this shouldn’t be possible,” says Felzenszwalb. “But we show that there were a few assumptions in those earlier theories that turned out not to be true. And so this is a proof of concept that we really can recover more information by using motion.”
Application scenarios
When they tried the algorithm out, they found that it could indeed exploit the camera motion to produce images with much higher resolution than those without the motion. In one experiment, they used a standard camera to capture a series of images in a grid of high-resolution (sub-pixel) locations. In another, they took one or more images while the sensor was moving. They also simulated recording single images or sequences of pictures while vibrating the sensor and while moving it along a linear path. These scenarios, they note, could be applicable to aerial or satellite imaging. In both, they used their algorithm to construct a single high-resolution image from the shots captured by the camera.
“Our results are especially interesting for applications where one wants high resolution over a relatively large field of view,” Zia says. “This is important at many scales from microscopy to satellite imaging. Other areas that could benefit are super-resolution archival photography of artworks or artifacts and photography from moving aircraft.”
The researchers say they are now looking into the mathematical limits of this approach as well as practical demonstrations. “In particular, we hope to soon share results from consumer camera and mobile phone experiments as well as lab-specific setups using scientific-grade CCDs and thermal focal plane arrays,” Zia tells Physics World.
“While there are existing systems that cameras use to take motion blur out of photos, no one has tried to use that to actually increase resolution,” says Felzenszwalb. “We’ve shown that’s something you could definitely do.”
In a major advance for nuclear physics, scientists on the STAR Detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in the US have spotted subtle but striking fluctuations in the number of protons emerging from high-energy gold–gold collisions. The observation might be the most compelling sign yet of the long-sought “critical point” marking a boundary separating different phases of nuclear matter. This similar to how water can exist in liquid or vapour phases depending on temperature and pressure.
Team member Frank Geurts at Rice University in the US tells Physics World that these findings could confirm that the “generic physics properties of phase diagrams that we know for many chemical substances apply to our most fundamental understanding of nuclear matter, too.”
A phase diagram maps how a substance transforms between solid, liquid, and gas. For everyday materials like water, the diagram is familiar, but the behaviour of nuclear matter under extreme heat and pressure remains a mystery.
Atomic nuclei are made of protons and neutrons tightly bound together. These protons and neutrons are themselves made of quarks that are held together by gluons. When nuclei are smashed together at high energies, the protons and neutrons “melt” into a fluid of quarks and gluons called a quark–gluon plasma. This exotic high-temperature state is thought to have filled the universe just microseconds after the Big Bang.
Smashing gold ions
The quark–gluon plasma is studied by accelerating heavy ions like gold nuclei to nearly the speed of light and smashing them together. “The advantage of using heavy-ion collisions in colliders such as RHIC is that we can repeat the experiment many millions, if not billions, of times,” Geurts explains.
By adjusting the collision energy, researchers can control the temperature and density of the fleeting quark–gluon plasma they create. This allows physicists to explore the transition between ordinary nuclear matter and the quark–gluon plasma. Within this transition, theory predicts the existence of a critical point where gradual change becomes abrupt.
Now, the STAR Collaboration has focused on measuring the minute fluctuations in the number of protons produced in each collision. These “proton cumulants,” says Geurts, are statistical quantities that “help quantify the shape of a distribution – here, the distribution of the number of protons that we measure”.
In simple terms, the first two cumulants correspond to the average and width of that distribution, while higher-order cumulants describe its asymmetry and sharpness. Ratios of these cumulants are tied to fundamental properties known as susceptibilities, which become highly sensitive near a critical point.
Unexpected discovery
Over three years of experiments, the STAR team studied gold–gold collisions at a wide range of energies, using sophisticated detectors to track and identify the protons and antiprotons created in each event. By comparing how the number of these particles changed with energy, the researchers discovered something unexpected.
As the collision energy decreased, the fluctuations in proton numbers did not follow a smooth trend. “STAR observed what it calls non-monotonic behaviour,” Geurts explains. “While at higher energies the ratios appear to be suppressed, STAR observes an enhancement at lower energies.” Such irregular changes, he said, are consistent with what might happen if the collisions pass near the critical point — the boundary separating different phases of nuclear matter.
For Volodymyr Vovchenko, a physicist at the University of Houston who was not involved in the research, the new measurements represent “a major step forward”. He says that “the STAR Collaboration has delivered the most precise proton-fluctuation data to date across several collision energies”.
Still, interpretation remains delicate. The corrections required to extract pure physical signals from the raw data are complex, and theoretical calculations lag behind in providing precise predictions for what should happen near the critical point.
“The necessary experimental corrections are intricate,” Vovchenko said, and some theoretical models “do not yet implement these corrections in a fully consistent way.” That mismatch, he cautions, “can blur apples-to-apples comparisons.”
The path forward
The STAR team is now studying new data from lower-energy collisions, focusing on the range where the signal appears strongest. The results could reveal whether the observed pattern marks the presence of a nuclear matter critical point or stems from more conventional effects.
Meanwhile, theorists are racing to catch up. “The ball now moves largely to theory’s court,” Vovchenko says. He emphasizes the need for “quantitative predictions across energies and cumulants of various order that are appropriate for apples-to-apples comparisons with these data.”
Future experiments, including RHIC’s fixed-target program and new facilities such as the FAIR accelerator in Germany, will extend the search even further. By probing lower energies and producing vastly larger datasets, they aim to map the transition between ordinary nuclear matter and quark–gluon plasma with unprecedented precision.
Whether or not the critical point is finally revealed, the new data are a milestone in the exploration of the strong force and the early universe. As Geurts put it, these findings trace “landmark properties of the most fundamental phase diagram of nuclear matter,” bringing physicists one step closer to charting how everything – from protons to stars – first came to be.
This year’s Nobel Prize for Physics went to John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantization in an electric circuit”.
That circuit was a superconducting device called a Josephson junction and their work in the 1980s led to the development of some of today’s most promising technologies for quantum computers.
To chat about this year’s laureates, and the wide-reaching scientific and technological consequences of their work I am joined by Ilana Wisby – who is a quantum physicist, deep tech entrepreneur and former CEO of UK-based Oxford Quantum Circuits. We chat about the trio’s breakthrough and its influence on today’s quantum science and technology.
This podcast is supported by American Elements, the world’s leading manufacturer of engineered and advanced materials. The company’s ability to scale laboratory breakthroughs to industrial production has contributed to many of the most significant technological advancements since 1990 – including LED lighting, smartphones, and electric vehicles.
Nuclear power in the UK is on the rise – and so too are the job opportunities for physicists. Whether it’s planning and designing new reactors, operating existing plants safely and reliably, or dealing with waste management and decommissioning, physicists play a key role in the burgeoning nuclear industry.
While many see fusion as the future of nuclear power, it is still in the research and development stages, so fission remains where most job opportunities lie. Although eight of the current fleet of nuclear reactors are to be retired by the end of this decade, the first of the next generation are already in construction. At Hinkley Point C in Somerset, two new reactors are being built with costs estimated to reach £46bn; and in July 2025, Sizewell C in Suffolk got the final go-ahead.
Rolls-Royce, meanwhile, has just won a government-funded bid to develop small modular reactors (SMR) in the UK. Although currently an unproven technology, the hope is that SMRs will be cheaper and quicker to build than traditional plants, with proponents saying that each reactor could produce enough affordable emission-free energy to power about 600,000 homes for at least 60 years.
Supported by an investment of £763m by 2030 from the UK government and industry, the plan’s objectives include quadrupling the number of PhDs in nuclear fission, and doubling the number of graduates entering the workforce. It also aims to provide opportunities for people to “upskill” and join the sector mid-career. The overall hope is to fill 40,000 new jobs by the end of the decade.
Having a degree in physics can open the door to any part of the nuclear-energy industry, from designing, operating or decommissioning a reactor, to training staff, overseeing safety or working as a consultant. We talk to six nuclear experts who all studied physics at university but now work across the sector, for a range of companies – including EDF Energy and Great British Energy–Nuclear. They give a quick snapshot of their “nuclear journeys”, and offer advice to those thinking of following in their footsteps.
My interest in nuclear power started when I did a project on energy at secondary school. I learnt that there were significant challenges around the world’s future energy demands, resource security, and need for clean generation. Although at the time these were not topics commonly talked about, I could see they were vital to work on, and thought nuclear would play an important role.
I went on to study physics at the University of Surrey, with a year at Michigan State University in the US and another at CERN. After working for a couple of years, I returned to Surrey to do a part-time masters in radiation detection and instrumentation, followed a few years later by a PhD in radiation-hard semiconductor neutron detectors.
Up until recently, my professional work has mainly been in the supply chain for nuclear applications, working for Thermo Fisher Scientific, Centronic and Exosens. Nuclear power isn’t made by one company, it’s a combination of thousands of suppliers and sub-suppliers, the majority of which are small to medium-sized enterprises that need to operate across multiple industries. My job was primarily a technical design authority for manufacturers of radiation detectors and instruments, used in applications such as reactor power monitoring, health physics, industrial controls, and laboratory equipment, to name but a few. Now I work at Rolls-Royce SMR as a lead engineer for the control and instrumentation team. This role involves selecting and qualifying the thousands of different detectors and control instruments that will support the operation of small modular reactors.
Logical, evidence-based problem solving is the cornerstone of science and a powerful tool in any work setting
Beyond the technical knowledge I’ve gained throughout my education, studying physics has also given me two important skills. Firstly, learning how to learn – this is critical in academia but it also helps you step into any professional role. The second skill is the logical, evidence-based problem solving that is the cornerstone of science, which is a powerful tool in any work setting.
A career in nuclear energy can take many forms. The industry is comprised of a range of sectors and thousands of organizations that altogether form a complex support structure. My advice for any role is that knowledge is important, but experience is critical. While studying, try to look for opportunities to gain professional experience – this may be industry placements, research projects, or even volunteering. And it doesn’t have to be in your specific area of interest – cross-disciplinary experience breeds novel thinking. Utilizing these opportunities can guide your professional interests, set your CV apart from your peers, and bring pragmatism to your future roles.
I studied physics at the University of Leicester simply because it was a subject I enjoyed – at the time I had no idea what I wanted to do for a career. I first became interested in nuclear energy when I was looking for graduate jobs. The British Energy (now EDF) graduate scheme caught my eye because it offered a good balance of training and on-the-job experience. I was able to spend time in multiple different departments at different power stations before I decided which career path was right for me.
At the end of my graduate scheme, I worked in nuclear safety for several years. This involved reactor physics testing and advising on safety issues concerning the core and fuel. It was during that time I became interested in the operational response to faults. I therefore applied for the company’s reactor operator training programme – a two-year course that was a mixture of classroom and simulator training. I really enjoyed being a reactor operator, particularly during outages when the plant would be shutdown, cooled, depressurised and dissembled for refuelling before reversing the process to start up again. But after almost 10 years in the control room, I wanted a new challenge.
Now I develop and deliver the training for the control-room teams. My job, which includes simulator and classroom training, covers everything from operator fundamentals (such as reactor physics and thermodynamics) and normal operations (e.g. start up and shutdown), through to accident scenarios.
My background in physics gives me a solid foundation for understanding the reactor physics and thermodynamics of the plant. However, there are also a lot of softer skills essential for my role. Teaching others requires the ability to present and explain technical material; to facilitate a constructive debrief after a simulator scenario; and to deliver effective coaching and feedback. The training focuses as much on human performance as it does technical knowledge, highlighting the importance of effective teamwork, error prevention and clear communications.
A graduate training scheme is an excellent way to get an overview of the business, and gain experience across many different departments and disciplines
With Hinkley Point C construction progressing well and the recent final investment decision for Sizewell C, now is an exciting time to join the nuclear industry. A graduate training scheme is an excellent way to get an overview of the business, and gain experience across many different departments and disciplines, before making the decision about which area is right for you.
I’d been generally interested in nuclear science throughout my undergraduate physics degree at the University of Manchester, but this really accelerated after studying modules in applied nuclear and reactor physics. The topic was engaging, and the nuclear industry offered a way to explore real-world implementation of physics concepts. This led me to do a masters in nuclear science and technology, also at Manchester (under the Nuclear Technology Education Consortium), to develop the skills the UK nuclear sector required.
My first job was as a graduate nuclear safety engineer at Atkins (now AtkinsRealis), an engineering consultancy. It opened my eyes to the breadth of physics-related opportunities in the industry. I worked on new and operational power station projects for Hitachi-GE and EDF, as well as a variety of defence new-build projects. I primarily worked in hazard analysis, using modelling and simulation tools to generate evidence on topics like fire, blast and flooding to support safety case claims and inform reactor designs. I was also able to gain experience in project management, business development, and other energy projects, such as offshore wind farms. The analytical and problem solving skills I had developed during my physics studies really helped me to adapt to all of these roles.
Currently I work as a principal nuclear safety inspector at the Office for Nuclear Regulation. My role is quite varied. Day to day I might be assessing safety case submissions from a prospective reactor vendor; planning and delivering inspections at fuel and waste sites; or managing fire research projects as part of an international programme. A physics background helps me to understand complex safety arguments and how they link to technical evidence; and to make reasoned and logical regulatory judgements as a result.
Physics skills and experience are valued across the nuclear industry, from hazards and fault assessment to security, safeguards, project management and more
It’s a great time to join the nuclear industry with a huge amount of activity and investment across the nuclear lifecycle. I’d advise early-career professionals to cast the net wide when looking for roles. There are some obvious physics-related areas such as health physics, fuel and core design, and criticality safety, but physics skills and experience are valued across the nuclear industry, from hazards and fault assessment to security, safeguards, project management and more. Don’t be limited by the physicist label.
My interest in a career in nuclear energy sparked mid-way through my degree in physics and mathematics at the University of Sheffield, when I was researching “safer nuclear power” for an essay. Several rabbit holes later, I had discovered a myriad of opportunities in the sector that would allow me to use the skills and knowledge I’d gained through my degree in an industrial setting.
My first job in the field was as a technical support advisor on a graduate training scheme, where I supported plant operations on a nuclear licensed site. Next, I did a stint working in strategy development and delivery across the back end of the fuel cycle, before moving into consultancy. I now work as a principal consultant for Galson Sciences Ltd, part of the Egis group. Egis is an international multi-disciplinary consulting and engineering firm, within which Galson Sciences provides specialist nuclear decommissioning and waste management consultancy services to nuclear sector clients worldwide.
Ultimately, my role boils down to providing strategic and technical support to help clients make decisions. My focus these days tends to be around radioactive waste management, which can mean anything from analysing radioactive waste inventories to assessing the environmental safety of disposal facilities.
In terms of technical skills needed for the role, data analysis and the ability to provide high-quality reports on time and within budget are at the top of the list. Physics-wise, an understanding of radioactive decay, criticality mechanisms and the physico-chemical properties of different isotopes are fairly fundamental requirements. Meanwhile, as a consultant, some of the most important soft skills are being able to lead, teach and mentor less experienced colleagues; develop and maintain strong client relationships; and look after the well-being and deployment of my staff.
Whichever part of the nuclear fuel cycle you end up in, the work you do makes a difference
My advice to anyone looking to go into the nuclear energy is to go for it. There are lots of really interesting things happening right now across the industry, all the way from building new reactors and operating the current fleet, to decommissioning, site remediation and waste management activities. Whichever part of the nuclear fuel cycle you end up in, the work you do makes a difference, whether that’s by cleaning up the legacy of years gone by or by helping to meet the UK’s energy demands. Don’t be afraid to say “yes” to opportunities even if they’re outside your comfort zone, keep learning, and keep being curious about the world around you.
As a child, I remember going to the visitors’ centre at the Sellafield nuclear site – a large nuclear facility in the north-west of England that’s now the subject of a major clean-up and decommissioning operation. At the centre, there was a show about splitting the atom that really sparked my interest in physics and nuclear energy.
I went on to study physics at Durham University, and did two summer placements at Sellafield, working with radiometric instruments. I feel these placements helped me get a place on the Rolls-Royce nuclear engineering graduate scheme after university. From there I joined Urenco, an international supplier of uranium enrichment services and fuel cycle products for the civil nuclear industry.
While at Urenco, I have undertaken a range of interesting roles in nuclear safety and radiation physics, including criticality safety assessment and safety case management. Highlights have included being the licensing manager for a project looking to deploy a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor design, and presenting a paper at a nuclear industry conference in Japan. These roles have allowed me to directly apply my physics background – such as using Monte Carlo radiation transport codes to model nuclear systems and radiation sources – as well as develop broader knowledge and skills in safety, engineering and project management.
My current role is nuclear licensing manager at the Capenhurst site in Cheshire, where we operate a number of nuclear facilities including three uranium enrichment plants, a uranium chemical deconversion facility, and waste management facilities. I lead a team who ensure the site complies with regulations, and achieves the required approvals for our programme of activities. Key skills for this role include building relationships with internal and external stakeholders; being able to understand and explain complex technical issues to a range of audiences; and planning programmes of work.
I would always recommend anyone interested in working in nuclear energy to look for work experience
Some form of relevant experience is always advantageous, so I would always recommend anyone interested in working in nuclear energy to look for work experience visits, summer placements or degree schemes that include working with industry.
During my physics degree at the University of Bristol, my interest in energy led me to write a dissertation on nuclear power. This inspired me to do a masters in nuclear science and technology at the University of Manchester under the Nuclear Technology Education Consortium. The course opened doors for me, such as a summer placement with the UK National Nuclear Laboratory, and my first role as a junior safety consultant with Orano.
I worked in nuclear safety for roughly 10 years, progressing to principal consultant with Abbott Risk Consulting, but decided that this wasn’t where my strengths and passions lay. During my career, I volunteered for the Nuclear Institute (NI), and worked with the society’s young members group – the Young Generation Network (YGN). I ended up becoming chair of the YGN and a trustee of the NI, which involved supporting skills initiatives including those feeding into the Nuclear Skills Plan. Having a strategic view of the sector and helping to solve its skills challenges energized me in a new way, so I chose to change career paths and moved to Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) as skills lead. In this role I plan for what skills the business and wider sector will need for a nuclear new build programme, as well as develop interventions to address skills gaps.
GBE-N’s current remit is to deliver Europe’s first fleet of small modular reactors, but there is relatively limited experience of building this technology. Problem-solving skills from my background in physics have been essential to understanding what assumptions we can put in place at this early stage, learning from other nuclear new builds and major infrastructure projects, to help set us up for the future.
The UK’s nuclear sector is seeing significant government commitment, but there is a major skills gap
To anyone interested in nuclear energy, my advice is to get involved now. The UK’s nuclear sector is seeing significant government commitment, but there is a major skills gap. Nuclear offers a lifelong career with challenging, complex projects – ideal for physicists who enjoy solving problems and making a difference.
In general, when you measure material properties such as optical permittivity, your measurement doesn’t depend on the direction in which you make it.
However, recent research has shown that this is not the case for all materials. In some cases, their optical permittivity is directional. This is commonly known as in-plane opticalanisotropy. A larger difference between optical permittivity in different directions means a larger anisotropy.
Materials with very large anisotropies have applications in a wide range of fields from photonics and electronics to medical imaging. However, for most materials remains available today, the value remains relatively low.
These potential applications combined with the current limitation has driven a large amount of research into novel anisotropic materials.
In this latest work, a team of researchers studied the quasi-one-dimensional van der Waals crystal: Ta2NiSe5.
Van der Waals (vdW) crystals are made up of chains, ribbons, or layers of atoms that stick together through weak van der Waals forces.
In quasi-one-dimensional vdW crystals, the atoms are strongly connected along one direction, while the connections in the other directions are much weaker, making their properties very direction-dependent.
This structure makes quasi-one-dimensional vdW crystals a good place to search for large optical anisotropy values. The researchers studied the new crystal by using a range of measurement techniques such as ellipsometry and spectroscopy as well as state of the art first principles computer simulations.
The results show that Ta2NiSe5 has a record-breaking in-plane optical anisotropy across the visible to infrared spectral region, representing the highest value reported among van der Waals materials to date.
The study therefore has large implications for next-generation devices in photonics and beyond.
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