It’s World Space Week! On the first day of @WorldSpaceWeek 2018, we're throwing you back to @newscilive where we showcased our space story and involvement in the upcoming @BepiColombo mission to Mercury! #WSW2018 #TBT #OutofthisWorld ?? pic.twitter.com/jRo17gMzPc — Uni of Leicester (@uniofleicester) October 4, 2018 So what is World Space Week? In 1999 the UN declared that this week each year as “An international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition.” Each year there is a theme, this year the theme is “Space Unites The Wor ..read more

New Scientist Live is a 4 day festival held in London made for anyone curious about science and what scientist do everyday to unveil the many secrets of the universe. Brain surgery, general relativity, immortality, quantum mechanics, AI, aliens… the list goes on. Whatever it is in science which peaks your interest they’ll most likely be a talk or a exhibition on the subject.   This year they have got some fantastic speakers: Jim Al-Khaili, who’ve I’ve talk about in a previous blog; Hannah Fry, who has featured many times on on of my favourite YouTube channels Numberphile; Carlo Rovelli&nb ..read more

If you have just finished sixth form or college and are starting uni in September and just got your results back about a week ago, you most likely know where you’re going to uni and you are excited / worried about your first day of uni. I remember that day (about three year ago now for me), however, the day was quite strange for me. Earlier that year I had accepted an unconditional offer from the University of Leicester. This meant that I had a place study physics here regardless of how I did in my A levels.   However, in sixth form, though I think relative to my education level was just ..read more

One of the best things in the Physics department at the University of Leicester is the the open door policy. Unlike some universities the physics department at Leicester does not have office hours, instead they have a policy which means that you should always be able to get hold of a lecturer who can help with your problem. This means that if you, say, did not understand something during a lecture you could later go to that lecturer’s office and most likely they will be able to help you there and then. Of course there maybe circumstances when that particular lecturer is busy, in which case you ..read more

Falcon Heavy Nearly two years ago I wrote a blog about Mars, where Elon Musk discussed his plans for missions to Mars. Since then the rocketry side of SpaceX has improved (I mean there is currently a car floating around space), but I don’t feel any closer to Mars. I don’t really expect SpaceX to be the first to land men on Mars, I still think NASA will get there first, but it doesn’t really feel like there seems to be any sense of urgency. Though I have full confidence than men will land on Mars within my lifetime, the wait is frustrating. In NASA’s Mars mission overview they say that they p ..read more

Here is a list of things that I think anyone studying physics at the University of Leicester should try do at some point in their degree. Entrance to CERN Go to one of the pub quiz nights. These are great fun and a good way to make friends during freshers. There are normally a couple of these during freshers fortnight and a few more dotted throughout the year. Pub quizzes are fun whether you drink or not. Initially I didn’t think there were many events for people that don’t drink, but recently there have been more and more non-drinking events organised. Go abroad! Physoc (the physics s ..read more

For the past few years I have been listening to many podcasts and audio-books. I want to tell you why audio based content if fantastic and what some of my favorite podcasts are. Note that I did not mention radio, I don’t listen to radio for the same reason I don’t watch TV: I don’t want to have to adhere to a schedule to watch or listen to something (and I just know I won’t record it). If it’s not on demand, I’ll most likely never watch it.   There are many reasons I listen to podcasts and audio-books. For example I like going for long walks and a light-hearted podcast can make the walk t ..read more

Since my last blog I have been scouring the internet for advice on applying for PhDs. The first thing I came across was a blog from a previous University of Leicester blogger, Lilian. She talks about her experience applying for PhDs, her successful application to the University of Leicester, and her advice for future applicants you can find her blog here. The second thing I came across was a video from one of my favorite Youtubers Simon Clark. He did a PhD in atmospheric physics and vlogged the whole thing! As well as vlogs and science videos, he makes videos giving advice to both prospec ..read more

I have recently been trying to create a shortlist for the universities that I might be applying for PhDs at. The projects offered by universities won’t be released until autumn, so now is the perfect time for me to start planning. Compared to when I was applying for my undergraduate degree when I was in sixth form, I have a lot more factors I want to take into consideration. These include: How far away it is from where my parents live. When I was applying for my undergraduate degree this was not a major consideration; I wast just excited that I’d be moving out and living somewhere new. Howeve ..read more

The main reason I titled this blog success was because I titled the last one Failure and I thought the juxtaposition was pretty neat. However, I do have something that I can label as a success, results have come in and am very happy with how I did. I’m glad to say most my exams went well, although there was one exam which I got lower than I expected (but not so low that I am disappointed), and another exam which I thought went terribly which actually went very well (I don’t think I’ll ever understand this).   However, as much as it is nice to do well on exams, for me, I am more interested ..read more