Month: August 2019

Science in Sixty Seconds! UNSW Champion Georgina Carson Wins 1 Minute Thesis Competition

By Lisa Nivison-Smith

What do you think when you hear the word thesis?

Long?

Complicated?

Boring?

With the average PhD thesis being 150 pages and covering up to 4 years of research, it’s not surprising that those outside the scientific world would think this about a thesis.

So how can we make PhD research more accessible? Enter the three minute thesis competition: a competition where PhD students must explain their research to an audience of non-experts in 180 seconds. Originating from the University of Queensland, the competition has gone global with thousands of students from hundreds of universities competing every year.

Scanning tunnelling microscope image of an atomic scale quantum device. Blue areas are the silicon crystal, while brighter areas show where phosphorus atoms are embedded. This image is about 1/4000 of the width of a human hair, or the size of the smallest viruses!

So if explaining your research in three minutes is hard – surely explaining it in one minute is near impossible? Not for Georgina Carson, a member of the 2018 Women in Maths and Science Champions program, who won the UNSW Faculty of Science 1MT (1 minute thesis) competition on the 24th of July by explaining her research on quantum computers.

“50 years ago, astronauts landed on the moon using a computer less powerful than your mobile phone,” starts Georgina. “And today we are on the brink of another computing revolution.”

Georgina currently works at the Centre for Quantum Computation & Communication Technology in the Simmons group. They focus on developing atomically precise quantum devices. Georgina’s PhD specifically focuses on using single phosphorus atoms embedded in a silicon crystal to develop a quantum processor to efficiently solve linear systems of equations.

“At large scale, a processor like this would be faster than all the computers in the world working together. This has huge implications for fields like drug design, cryptography, and artificial intelligence.”

Georgina and two other PhD students were crowned the overall winners of the 1MT competition beating over 75 other students. They will now represent the Faculty of Science at the UNSW-wide 3 Minute Thesis competition.

“I’m thrilled to have won this award. Quantum computing is an exciting, but complicated topic and I’m glad I could help people understand it a little better.” says Georgina.

There were also prizes for some of our other UNSW Women in Maths and Science Champion’s Program, including Liz Retita (winner for School of Material Science and Engineering), Michaela Hall (winner for the School of Maths and Statistics), Rose O’Dea (winner for School of Psychology), Xinyun Hu (winner for the School of Aviation) and Manon Sabot (poster prize winner).

Check out Georgina’s winning presentation.

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Quantum Chemistry? Molecular Physics? She can do both! Meet Dr. Laura McKemmish

By Dr Ruth Thomas

Dr Laura McKemmish
Dr Laura McKemmish

Dr Laura McKemmish is not just a chemist or a physicist – she’s both! Straddling the boundary of two scientific fields – Laura’s research uses computational methods and theory to tackle the complicated problems in chemistry and physics, looking at each from the unique perspective of the other field. When she is not researching, you can catch Laura scrapbooking, watching BattleStar Galactica or organising discussing science with the community in her role as outreach officer for UNSW Chemistry and as a UNSW Women Science Champion.

 So, what is your role at UNSW?

I am a Lecturer in the School of Chemistry, with a so-called “40-40-20” appointment. This means I spend about 40% of my time on research, 40% on teaching and 20% on service, which for me is dominated by my role as Chair of the UNSW Chemistry Outreach Committee. I consider myself a quantum chemist and molecular physicist. My expertise is in theoretical and computational modelling of molecules, particularly their spectroscopy. I love interdisciplinary work and combining interesting methods with interesting applications.

How did you become a lecturer? Did you always want to work in science?

I think I was always destined to be a scientist, particularly in the fields of chemistry and physics. As a child, I loved reading books on spectroscopy, quantum mechanics, astronomy and fundamental theories of physics.

My journey began at University of Sydney, where I did a Bachelor of Advanced Science majoring in Physics, with Honours in Chemistry (Theoretical). During my degree, I did a large range of projects:  from disproving a popular model of quantum consciousness to making a New Ionic liquid and taking a supersonic cooled spectra of 1,3,5-trifluorobenzene. I continued on to a PhD at the Australian National University in Chemistry, focusing on the development of new basis sets for quantum chemistry and graduated with my PhD on “Mixed Ramp-Gaussian Basis Sets” in May 2015.

After my PhD, I travelled to London and spent three years as a post-doctoral researcher at University College London’s Physics and Astronomy department. I worked on producing molecular spectroscopic data for studying hot Jupiter exoplanets and developed methods for theoretically treating ultra-cold atom-diatomic collisions. Last year I returned to Australia and have been working on building my own research team at UNSW.

What does your typical workday look like?

I usually start the day by putting together a to-do list and answering emails on the bus while on my way to work. Once at work, I try to get some writing done on papers about my recent research projects or grants to fund more of my research as well plan future research papers and grants. In between this, I have meetings with students and colleagues who I teach or do research with  and spend some time fixing or writing code for ongoing research projects.  I also give myself time to organise outreach activities with the department. Some days can be very hectic!

 

Example of Laura’s activities to teach chemistry to school students
Example of some of Laura’s outreach activities to teach chemistry to primary school students

What are some of the worst stereotypes about you field?

There are not too many stereotypes in my field, as many people do not really know that my field even exists! The most common misconception though is that since I work in chemistry, I must work in a laboratory. In my research, we put molecules into computers and explore them there – not in the laboratory. I actually never go in the lab except to guide and teach my students when needed.

When you are not working, what do you like to do?

I scrapbook, sometimes knit, read fantasy and science fiction books, watch sci-fi tv series like Battlestar Galactica and play Magic the Gathering.

Why did you join the UNSW Science and Maths Women Champions?

I joined this awesome program with the sole intention of building an awesome network of awesome women in science and maths.

Laura representing UNSW Women Science Champions at Fringe lecture series in Adelaide
Laura representing UNSW Women Science Champions at the inaugural Fringe lecture series at University of Adelaide.

 

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