Careering Through Astronomy

We are thrilled to present this talk by Prof Jocelyn Bell Burnell.

About the Speaker

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell has made many exceptional contributions to physics, as ground breaking researcher, as a leader of learned societies and as an inspirational ambassador for public engagement.

As a PhD student at Cambridge University, she was involved in opening up a new branch of astrophysics through her involvement in the discovery of pulsars, a particular class of neutron star. She has used telescopes flown on high altitude balloons, launched on rockets which carried satellites and built a radio telescope in Cambridgeshire.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell is a well-known figure in the world of public understanding of science and is a physicist who, while conducting research for her doctorate, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. This discovery later earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1974, but she was not among the awardees.

Since that time, In 2018, she was awarded the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. Following the announcement of the award, she decided to use the $3 million (£2.3 million) prize money to establish a fund to help female, minority and refugee students to become research physicists. In 2021, Bell Burnell became the second female recipient (after Dorothy Hodgkin in 1976) of the Royal Society’s Copley Medal.

Jocelyn has served on many boards and panels throughout Europe, including serving as President of both the Royal Astronomical Society and the Institute of Physics.

Practical Information

The presentation will include time for questions and discussion. Booking is strongly advised.

Access

The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing [email protected]