Nuclear Physics in Society

Demonstrations at the National Science
Learning Centre
Credit: David Jenkins

Nuclear Physics positively influences our daily lives, through advances in technology, health, and energy production, and yet is often misunderstood by the general public.

Nuclear physicists can have a huge positive impact when they actively engage the public and schools with their science. When done properly it can encourage interest, develop support for the research, fulfil obligations to funding bodies, support the government's science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) targets agenda and helps to drive recruitment into university departments. This article highlights the importance of Nuclear Physics to society, the range of current public engagement activities, and some advice on how to get involved.

A hundred years of discovery

Nuclear Physics as we know it today is almost a hundred years old. In 2009, we celebrate the centenary of the publication of the results of the Geiger-Marsden (or gold-foil) experiment performed at the University of Manchester. This experiment had results which were completely unexpected at the time, namely if alpha particles were fired at a foil of metal then some were reflected right back at the source, but most passed straight through. This observation was later explained by Ernest Rutherford as pointing to the existence of a small dense positively-charged nucleus at the centre of the atom.

Much of the important early work took place in the UK, with the discovery of the neutron by Chadwick in 1932 and the first nuclear reaction induced by artificially accelerated ions by Cockcroft and Walton the same year.

In the UK, Nuclear Physics remains a strong area of fundamental research into the structure of our physical world. Nuclear reactions power stars, generating energy and forming the chemical elements we find in nature. Nuclear Physics helps us understand how the heavy elements are formed in the violent explosions of stars. UK Nuclear Physicists carry out their research at state-of-the-art facilities worldwide. Many advanced new facilities are planned where UK Nuclear Physicists are taking leading roles.

Demonstrating how a linear accelerator works
Credit: David Jenkins

The UK Nuclear Physics groups carry out fundamental research, and this basic knowledge has important links to applications. These applications are of great value to the UK economy, from energy generation to defence, from industry to medicine. Thousands of lives are saved every year through the use radioisotopes in cancer treatments and in medical imaging such as positron emission tomography (PET).

Around half the highly-trained PhD students who graduate from our research groups find employment in the nuclear industries, where their skills are highly valued. UK Nuclear Physicists are committed to public engagement and the groups are active locally and nationally. Some examples are given below:

• STFC Science-in-Society Fellow
  
  David Jenkins (University of York) is an STFC Science-in-Society Fellow from October 2007 for 2 years. This Fellowship enables him to spend 25% of his time on public engagement activities.
  
  The principal aspect of David’s work has been with the National Science Learning Centre in York, which provides training courses for teachers and school technicians. He has provided content for a number of their courses and designed a teachers’ conference which took place in June 2008. He has run residential events for schoolchildren on the theme of “Big Science” and a number of day workshops and talks at schools. He has also given several public lectures and talks to a range of audiences from local astronomy groups to the BA Science Festival and Cheltenham Science Festival.
  
  
• Nuclear Physics teachers, conference – July 2010
  
  
  
  PhD students from the University of Manchester show the scintillator detector
  Credit: David Jenkins
  A teachers‘ conference was held at Workington Sixth Form Centre on 2nd July 2010. The event was attended by 15 teachers from Cumbria and Lancashire and was organised through Science Learning Centre NW. The event comprised a mixture of lectures, discussion and hands-on workshops. Dr John Roberts from the Dalton Institute presented a talk on nuclear energy. Dr Andy Boston from the University of Liverpool gave an up-beat presentation on the extent to which detector developments in nuclear physics is promising important advances in medical imaging. Professor Rodi Herzberg gave a talk on the quest for the superheavy elements. The event was organised by Dr David Jenkins from the University of York who also gave a talk on nuclear physics and explained how the science is done and the collaborations which are necessary.
  
  This event was funded by the Nuclear Institute who have promised £6000 to organise a series of such events over the next three years.
  
  
• Professor Jim Al-Khalili OBE
  
  Jim Al-Khalili from the University of Surrey has for some years been the public face of Nuclear Physics in the UK. He has done much in helping the public to understand the mysterious quantum and subatomic worlds, through his popular science books and recent BBC series “Atom”. In 2008, Jim received an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in recognition of his contribution to Physics and the public understanding of science.

How to get involved

You don’t need to be on TV to have a positive impact! There are lots of opportunities to get involved in public engagement activities, such as Café Scientifique, the Science and Engineering Ambassadors (SEA) scheme, and the Researcher in Residence programme. Lots of universities have their own established outreach programmes – why not help out at one of their events? Or, if you have an idea, contact the STFC’s Science in Society team – they will be able to advise you.