Glasgow researcher wins Bronze for physics display in Parliament

‌Emma Wisniewski-Barker, 23, PhD researcher from the Optics Group in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow won the Bronze Medal at a competition in the House of Commons, for the excellence of her physics research, walking away with a £1,000 prize yesterday.
Emma presented her research on slowing down the speed of light to dozens of politicians and a panel of expert judges, as part of the poster competition SET for Britain, on Monday 18 March.

Her research, which looks to slow and store light in steps towards all-optical processing and much faster and more efficient computing, was judged against 29 other shortlisted researchers’ work.

On winning Bronze, Emma said, “It is a great honour, particularly given how much interesting research we were competing with.”

Emma plans to spend her winnings on a flight home to the United States to visit her family.

SET for Britain aims to help politicians understand more about the UK’s thriving science and engineering base and rewards some of the strongest scientific and engineering research being undertaken in the UK.

Steve Brambley, Deputy Director of GAMBICA, sponsors of the Bronze Medal in the Physics Section, said:  “GAMBICA members depend on innovative and talented scientists and engineers to push their businesses forward and make them competitive in a global market. We need to recognise and encourage the current and future generations of young people to maximise their potential in this exciting arena and to build tomorrow’s world.”

Professor Sir Peter Knight, President of the Institute of Physics, said, “It’s an incredible pleasure to see thirty of our leading early career physicists here in Parliament and I know the judges have had a very difficult time judging the medal winners of this Section.

“All of the researchers stand testament to the health and importance of the physics base in the UK and I hope that the event today has encouraged them to continue pursuing their ambitions in science.”

The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee run the event in collaboration with the Institute of Physics, The Physiological Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Society of Biology and the Society of Chemical Industry, with financial support from BP, Airbus/EADS, INEOS, AgChemAccess, Essar, the Institute of Biomedical Science, GAMBICA and WMG.

Andrew Miller MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, said, “This annual competition is an important date in the parliamentary calendar because it gives MPs an opportunity to speak to a wide range of the country’s best young researchers.

“These early career scientists are the architects of our future and SET for Britain is politicians’ best opportunity to meet them and understand their work.”