IOP Groups

The Shell and Institute of Physics Award for the Very Early Career Woman Physicist of the Year

The 4th annual very early-career £1000 award

Applications for the Shell and Institute of Physics Award for the Very Early Career Woman Physicist of the Year 2010 now open.

Applications are now being accepted for the Very Early Career Award 2010, the closing date for applications is 26 February 2010. For more information about the 2010 award and how to apply please download the poster and application form.

The Women in Physics Group annually invite applications from women at the start of their careers in physics who have made a substantial contribution to the subject and may also have undertaken activities to support and encourage others in the field. The prize is awarded annually to a woman who is within three years of completing her undergraduate degree in physics and who is either working as a physicist or is engaged in postgraduate study.

The winner will receive £1,000 donated by Shell and an award certificate at a major Institute of Physics Women in Physics event. As well as providing recognition of the winner's work through the prize money, the award will also provide valuable networking opportunities. Applicants therefore must be working in the UK or Ireland.

The Very Early Career Woman Physicist of the Year Award seeks to recognise the work done by physicists who are embarking on a career in physics and to promote the career opportunities open to people with physics qualifications.

2009 Winner Announced

The Women in Physics Group is delighted to announce that Victoria Hodges, from Astrium Ltd, is the winner of the 2009 IOP WIPG Very Early Career Woman Physicist of the Year Award. The award ceremony was held at a special outreach event on 27 May. Dr Liz Ainsbury from the Health Protection Agency, who was the first winner of the award in 2007, spoke briefly about what the award has meant for her. Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, founder and Managing Director of Science Innovation Limited, gave a very engaging presentation entitled 'Why do Engagement?' This was followed by two more interesting and inspiring talks from Caitlin Watson (from the IOP) regarding how the IOP can support members wanting to do outreach activities and Dr Carolin Crawford (from the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge), who gave some very useful practical advice for those wanting to get into outreach work. Following the outreach talks, this year's winner Victoria, and the three runners up, Manda Banerji from UCL, Suzanne Sheehy from the University of Oxford, and Natalie Garrett from the University of Exeter, gave presentations describing their work. See the related news story for more information and a full report of the day's events, also the video interview with Victoria Hodges.

Selected presentations from the event

Victoria Hodges (PDF, 160KB)
Suzanne Sheehy (PDF, 920KB)
Manda Banerji
Natalie Garrett (PDF, 2.05MB)

Please see the Career profiles page for more information about the winners and runners up.

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