Best Bits of Being a Physics Student so far!

Well it’s my last day of work tomorrow. It has been a VERY long summer – being a cleaner is a really tough job. It’s also a horrible job – I think people would be amazed at the disgusting state hotel rooms are left in and there’s only one person who’s going to clean it up – the poor old cleaner! However, it has given me enough money to go on a nice holiday next week (I’m off to Sardinia!) and has given me some more motivation to get back to my degree! It’s a tough truth, but working in a job like this does make me want to work harder just so I hopefully wont have to do anything similar again! It also makes you think about what you like most about your degree as you look forward to not having to clean up other people’s bodily fluids, and so I thought this would be a perfect time to let you know what have been my favourite bits of my degree so far.

Good old first year textbook!
If you're heading off to study
Physics you may well find
yourself with a copy!

Every UK physics degree has to fulfill criteria set out by the Institute of Physics, so every degree at every university will cover some common topics. These include advanced mathematics, mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, quantum physics, condensed matter physics, waves and optics and relativity. This sounds like a lot, but having looked through the list I’ve covered all of these in my first two years (I’ve got another two years to go which will be more specialised). While different universities cover material at different speeds, and some go into more detail than others it guarantees that every physics graduate will have a certain level of knowledge about a wide range of core physics topics. But which bits of these have I enjoyed the most?

Quantum Physics

This has definitely been one of my favourite parts of the course. Not only is it mind bending and really exciting, with each new year it becomes cooler. At school I would always say “Oh yes, I’m really interested in quantum”. Little did I know. Literally. At school, you basically learn about some funny particles with weird names and some concepts that sound pretty cool. It’s when you get to university and get to see WHY it works that it becomes much more amazing. The maths is really pretty, the fact it all works when you apply it both to the micro and macro scales and because it is just so often so impossible to understand (well in a sense that you can’t really imagine it) but you can see that it does work makes it a really FANTASTIC topic to study!

How cool does this look! It's such a
lovely equation! :D

Mechanics

This was the very first topic I studied at university, and what a wake up it was for me. As a result of not having studied Further Maths at school, I’d never done any of the mechanics maths modules. I’d only studied topics like vectors and calculus as fairly abstract topics in maths, so discovering they were so important in physics was actually quite a big jump for me. I’m not ashamed to say that I found this topic really challenging either. Most other people had more experience than me so I had to work really hard. But it paid off and actually was really rewarding for me as I felt like I was getting somewhere straight away. My tutor was also fantastic, and I’ll always be grateful to her for convincing me that I wasn’t completely stupid or out of my depth!

The random, generic 'bodies' that
you use in mechanics quickly became
known as potatoes...

Labs

I really love practical work – I always have. I love actually doing stuff myself and over the years I’ve had the opportunity to do some pretty cool stuff. First year labs weren’t always the most interesting tasks, however as we gained the skills required to become more independent the tasks we were given became much better. At the end of my first year I got to do a week long project using X rays to determine the composition of British Coins – we even got to use super strong acids to remove the outer coatings to determine the compositions of the cores (1p,2p and 5p all have steel cores now as otherwise the metal they are made of would be worth more than the coin. As such, not all coins are magnetic) and got to prove which pound coin out of a selection was fake. It's also meant I am full of a wealth of fairly dull information about British coins! My second year long project was also really good – over 6 weeks we got to write programmes in python and use telescopes with digital cameras attached to determine the temperature of sunspots. Next year I’ve got another long project to come, I don’t know the exact topic yet but it will probably fall within the Nuclear Physics category. Exciting times!  

Believe it or not this is the sun! (And
I took the photo!)

I think these three topics have been the most notable parts for me so far, but I am very excited to continue with my degree and find out more stuff. The great thing about a physics degree though is that it is usually pretty interesting, and there are some real WOW moments. When we managed to find the speed of light using Maxwell’s equations (which link electricity and magnetism), when we first learnt about relativity, when we saw how cool maths could really be, when we spent some amazing hours watching beautiful ‘fly throughs’ of galaxies… they’re moments that make the degree really worth it. And well it’s much better than cleaning!

First year coin project - I spent rather
a long time cleaning coins for this
project!

Great Physics Bake Off!

For the next few blog posts I intend to share with you all a few of my interests beyond Physics (although some of them maybe a bit sneaky and incorporate physics into them too. Because well, physics is pretty awesome right?). I have many and varied interests. This is probably a product of my parents only allowing a limited amount of TV/computer time a day when I was little - to be honest though it was a good thing in end. Ok yes mum, you were right... Anyway, I enjoy lots of things, not all of which will get a mention here (I know you all were desperate to hear about my first forays into Morris dancing, but unfortunately I don't have the time. And well you might giggle. Although it is actually so much harder than it looks and also loads of fun!)

So back to the blog. This week, in honour of the fact that the latest series of the Great British Bakeoff has begun recently I'm going to talk about something I really enjoy - you guessed it - baking! For any of my non British readers who don't know what this is - it's a TV series where amateur bakers compete for the title of 'best British baker'. Yes I hear you - how can baking be that exciting? Well trust me it's possible. The tense atmosphere as the competitors wait for Paul and Mary's comments ("Well you've got a nice crumb, although it's a bit dry and I really can't detect the lavender"), the emotions running high when a baker's scones haven't risen properly, the euphoria as someone manages to construct an elaborate model of the Eiffel Tower made entirely out of shortbread - it's great. Love it (like record numbers of the British population - I'm not the only one!) or loathe it one thing I think we can agree on is that baked goods are great. And an hours worth of looking at cake per week is an hour worth spent in my opinion. 

So baking. I thought it would be fun to come up with some physics themed baked goods for your delight. Whilst I love baking, I can't make all of these in one week, so most are just described for you. When I get round to making them (and trust me I plan to!) you can be assured of a photo accompanied by a recipe, which I'll update on here as I go.

Bread

"Entangled strings" (string theory) Plaited loaf - a Great British Bake-off classic - Paul Hollywood's 8 strand plaited loaf. A recipe for those who enjoy complicated recipes (although if you ever enjoyed making complicated friendship bracelets this is the recipe for you! Click on the photo of my finished creation for the recipe!

The finished creation! 

Cake

Nebula cupcakes - a lovely little set of chocolate cupcakes topped with icing and edible glitter and stars - also brilliant as the messier you are with your glitter the more like nebulas they look!

Biscuits

Quark macaroons - 6 flavours! You can even ice the top with up, down, top, bottom, charm and strange symbols if you want. 

Desserts

"Brownie-n motion" and shake in a bag ice cream - stir through some chocolate chips and scatter some on top to demonstrate the random dispersion of particles in a fluid (well sort of!). This is also the best ever brownie recipe I've come across. Serve with ice cream made by shaking the ingredients in a bag of ice - makes lovely ice cream, can cater for different dietary requirements, shows physics in action and is a great science experiment for kids. What's not to love?!

Pastry

Newton's apple pie - I was actually lucky enough to have some apple from Newton's apple tree (in the physics department of York university they had a cutting of the tree which grew and produces apples). Whilst this will have to use normal cooking apples, maybe you could come up with other ways of making it a Newton Apple pie? Decorate it with extra pastry, serve it by whizzing it across the table and demonstrate those laws in action! Maybe I'll even write out the recipe in Newtons!

EDIT: Just realised I missed an obvious opportunity to make a Pi Pie. Maybe I still will...!

If you haven't seen the ASDF movies, click here. You must!

So well as you can see some of these sound delicious if I say so myself! Can you come up with any creative physics themed baked goods? Keep checking back here to catch up on my progress and check out the recipes! 

What's it like studying in Durham?

Well hello there! Today (delayed by a couple of days due to a really busy weekend!) I thought I’d do a post on my experiences living and studying in Durham. I’ve lived up here for 3 years now, and I love it. When I was applying for university I looked round lots of places but Durham was the place I really liked the look and feel of. I’m originally from “Dahn Saarf” so moving “Oop North” was quite a distance to go, but I’ve really enjoyed my time here and would love to stay in this area following graduation.

So Durham. Consistently ranked among the best in the country – what is it like to actually study here? The departments will differ according to subjects so I wont go into them here – but because of the standing of the university you can be sure of high quality teaching and some excellent teaching facilities (including a really great library!). One of the most important things that marks Durham apart from many UK universities is the fact it is collegiate. This means that Durham is made up of colleges as well as the academic departments. Each student is a member of a college and will (usually) live in college buildings for at least their first year, most of which are fully catered. This isn’t quite the same as living in halls of residence as it means you’ll usually eat every meal in a big dining room with everyone else whilst you “live-in” so it’s lovely to be able to get to know other people really quickly.

St Aidan's College and University College (I'm at Aidan's)

College is also central in terms of activities – each college will have its own student societies and sports teams, as well as a JCR committee (JCR: Junior Common Room). These are students who have been elected to help keep college running as the students want it to be run. They are responsible for running events throughout each term from festivals to balls, are responsible for the running of some of the college facilities like the shop (selling a variety of essentials and snacks like sweets, toasties or icecream) and the bar. There is also the college welfare team run by both staff and students so all in all college really makes you feel at home as soon as you arrive at university. Pretty much everyone ends up feeling the same college pride, vigorously arguing about how good your college is compared to the others and enjoying joining in with the traditional college chants and songs. Basically colleges are fantastic!*

College Christmas formal, Traditional Aidan's Chant "Shoes
off if you love Aidans" and Summer Ball

Durham itself is also lovely. The city is small, so you can get everywhere in the centre really easily on foot. In later years when people usually “live-out” of college in privately rented houses these may be slightly further out of the city centre, but lots of students bring bikes or use some of the good bus services. It is also great value for money for students – the North East is much cheaper than other parts of the country but just as good! The city is full of lovely buildings, most notably the cathedral (which you can see from almost everywhere) and castle (which is actually part of the university). It has a good range of shops, with a selection that you’d find in most normal sized towns, as well as a range of restaurants, loads of cafes and a range of nightlife, as well as theatre and cinema. It is also really close to Newcastle which is great for providing access to more shops, concerts and other activities. The surrounding countryside is also really beautiful. Just beware of the cobbles, the hills and the weather!

Durham (lots of Cathedral) and Newcastle

Of course university isn’t just about where you live or the subject you do. It’s about the people you meet and the things you get up to, and in this respect Durham is great. As said previously the college system is great for meeting people particularly in your first few days – I had a large group of friends I have remained friends with by the end of Fresher’s week whereas I know people at other universities who found it a lot harder (as they were separated into random flats and it was much harder to mix with new people). However Durham also provides lots of other opportunities to meet people and enjoy things you love. With a huge number of societies (from music groups to language societies to the cheese tasting society), sports teams (which compete both at an extremely successful national level to casual inter-college level) and other student groups there really is something for everyone. Whilst I’ve been here I’ve enjoyed being a part of:

·      A choir and orchestra

·      First Aid society

·      Yoga, Aerobics and Archery

·      Folk society (both music sessions and Morris dancing – so cool! :P )

·      The Atheist, Secularist and Humanist society

And had a go at a lot more! Societies are a great way to try something new and meet new people with similar interests.

IVFDF Ceilidh with Folk Society, DASH and St John Ambulance

I’ve loved uni and all of the opportunities I’ve had and the people I’ve met. I’m really glad that I ended up at Durham as I think it has been the perfect place for me, however I would recommend to anyone looking at applying to university to actually go and look at the university before you accept an offer. There’s no point accepting somewhere you’re going to end up hating. Prospectuses are also not always a good source of information – lots of universities will just have lovely glossy photos of a very small part of the campus (which you might never actually get to go to). Open days are better, but also make sure you get away from the tours and go and explore a bit for yourself – it should be about what you like and are looking for, not what the university want you to see. Get a feel for the campus, the city and if you can talk to some current students to get a clearer idea. However do bear in mind most people love uni in the end so wherever you end up, I’m sure you’ll have a great time!

Which universities do you go to/ are looking at going to? What do you like most about them? Any questions about Durham?

*It’s worth noting that while quite a lot like the collegiate system at Oxford/Cambridge, it’s not quite the same as no teaching is done in college. Instead teaching is done in lectures that everyone attends and tutorials where the groups are students from a mix of colleges. 

How to... Cope with Physics Exams

NOTE: Due to technical difficulties this blog was originally posted on 24/05/14 but seems to have disappeared since then - so here it is again! 

Hello everyone! I’m so sorry it has been so long, but I have been living holed up in my room and the library for the last month! However I have now broken out of the stress of exams, the monotony of revision and can once again turn my attentions to more fun endeavours. From now I will be blogging regularly (aiming for once a week, to be published on Saturdays). 

So, exams. Exams are hard, and everyone knows it. Having now been taking official exams every summer for the last 8 years (goodness me that’s a lot of exams!) I can now say that I think I’ve got my revision strategies worked out. Now of course everyone has different methods for revision, but this blog post just aims to give some ideas about what works for me, and what may work for others if they want some ideas.

First off: Revising for different subjects really does necessitate revising in different ways. I mean, different subjects obviously have different content, but that content is also applied very differently in exams. I studied Physics, Maths, English Literature and Music at A level and even then it was obvious that each subject needed to be approached in a different way. But it was approaching my first year university exams that it became clearer I needed to hone my revision techniques to be most efficient for revising Physics. At school many hours were spent doing (slightly weird) workshops that were meant to tell you what kind of learner you were, and therefore how you should revise. Everyone was encouraged to produce many different resources in order to revise, but many subjects didn’t actually give any hints about how to revise specifically for their subject.

Physics, at least at university level, is hard. The exams are tough. There is a lot of content to know (formula sheets are a vague memory from the past), but it isn’t enough to just know what you’ve been told in lectures. You have to be able to use this knowledge to do things that you may never have seen before, so you really have to understand it all too (and where it all comes from and how it all links together). You then also need to have the maths skills to do some pretty complicated mathematical tasks, where a small error will completely ruin your final answer. So what would I recommend?

·      Make your notes for the content in a way that works for you - People learn the content in different ways. I used to make colourful posters, as my memory works in such a way that I can usually visualise particular pages of revision and particular sections of that page and the colour can help me recall the image. However as the amount of content has increased, I have just found that often I don’t have enough time to cover all of the content in this way. Instead, I go through and make notes for the entire course, but making sure I understand every single part before I write it down as I will only have time to do this step once. I try and structure my notes such that content is presented in a logical order, and cross reference different parts so I understand how it all fits together and refer back to this resource whilst practicing.

·      Go back over everything regularly using the syllabus as a guide – when going back over your notes, use the syllabus (which should define what you need to know) to check your knowledge. You can write yourself a list of questions that you should be able to answer, and then go through it. (My boyfriend Adam came up with this one and it really works! :)) If you can’t write down the correct answer, go back through your notes and try again (sometimes writing it out a few times again helps). And do this regularly, starting a long time before the exams actually happen.

·      PRACTICE – the most important part of Physics revision is practice. Not only does it let you practice your maths skills properly, it can give you clues as to what sort of questions might come up and how these questions might be phrased. If you get sample solutions it can also give you good tips of how to answer questions and what to write down to gain the maximum number of marks.

·      In the exam – don’t panic. Many exams at university follow a different format to exams at school such that you can choose a certain number of questions to answer and leave the rest. Some people like to read the whole exam paper at the start, some people find that may panic them and prefer to answer some questions first, particularly if they are compulsory. But anyway – keeping calm is the most important thing. Even if you think you can’t do a question, write down what things you know about the topic. These might help you start to come up with a solution, as they can help you focus more on the topic but even if not may gain you some marks.

·      Make sure you write down your working. You’ll get told this constantly whilst at school and you know what – they’re right. It means if you make a mistake during a calculation they can see where you went wrong and then give you marks for the bits you did right. This is way more important as calculations get longer and harder.

And remember – at university the bar changes. 70% or more is excellent, gone are the days when less than 90% meant you missed out on the top grade. They are meant to be hard so don’t necessarily panic if you can’t do everything, just make sure you are especially careful when answering questions on things you can do.

All of the above may seem like common sense, but I’ve come across many people who really do find it hard to revise and are looking for a bit of help. So if that is you, best of luck! Hopefully something I’ve said might help but remember it’s all about what works for you!

To anyone else – do you have any revision tips that you think might help someone? What works for you?

Addressing the positives

First off, again I apologise that this is late – revision is really taking over my life! Easter holidays in particular are never really holidays at all due to all the revision that you’ve got to be doing, alongside all of the other bits and bobs that come up. Going to the dentist, getting your hair cut, visiting family and friends and trying to catch up with people all take up time too! My birthday is coming up next week too so all in all it has been rather hectic. However only 4 weeks (ish) until my exams are over – then I promise I’ll blog more regularly!

So in my last blog, I chose to post about some of my thoughts on some of the issues surrounding girls going on to study STEM subjects, Physics in particular. However in this blog I want to address some of the positives. Instead of looking at the fact there is a gender imbalance, we’re going to celebrate some of the achievements of women in STEM fields, particularly in Maths and Physics. Women like Marie Curie and Rosalind Franklin are now becoming more widely known and celebrated, which is brilliant. However here are just a few women you may not have heard of who all contributed to their field in significant ways, yet are rarely heard of or mentioned.

1)     Emilie du Chatelet (1706-1749)– a mathematician and physicist. Her translation of  Newton’s “Principia Mathematica” into French is still used today.

2)     Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) – as an astronomer she is credited with the discovery of several comets and for producing catalogues of stars and nebulae.

3)     Mary Somerville (1780-1872) – produced a series of writings on astronomy, chemistry, physics and mathematics and experimented with magnetism, as well as providing a translation of Laplace’s “The Mechanism of the Heavens” which was used for much of the next century.

4)     Henrietta Leavitt (1868-1921) – whilst working at Harvard, measuring and cataloguing stars, she developed an idea known as the period-luminosity relationship, which has been later used as the basis for many other famous discoveries.

5)     Lise Meitner (1878-1968) – following the work done by Ida Noddack was part of the team who demonstrated that nuclear fission was responsible for the lack of any naturally occurring stable elements beyond uranium, and that the breaking down of atomic nuclei could produce huge amounts of energy.

6)     Emmy Noether (1882-1935) – a mathematician whose work made huge contributions to abstract algebra and theoretical Physics, including the theorem that explains the connection between symmetry and conservation laws.

7)     Ida Noddack (1896-1978) – was the first to mention the idea of nuclear fission and with her husband discovered a new element, Rhenium.

8)     Cecilia Payne (1900-1979) – after being the first woman to gain a PhD in astronomy from Radcliffe, she went on to publish multiple papers. Her most significant discovery was of what elements made up stars.

9)     Maria Mayer (1906-1972) – The second woman to win a Noble prize in Physics. She was the first to propose the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus.

10) Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997) – she made significant contributions to the field of radioactivity, including working on the Manhattan project and for performing the famous Wu experiment that contradicted the Law of Conservation and Parity.

These are just a few of the many amazing women that have made huge impacts on the Physical sciences – and look at just how important some of their discoveries really were! These are only a few I picked out whilst reading recently but there are many more women who have worked in fields other than Physics. There are also so many amazing women who work in science today – just getting on with their jobs and everyday lives but discovering and doing amazing things. I just think it’s such a positive message to send out – look at all of these women who have achieved and are achieving so much.

One story that has really inspired me is that of Agnes. Agnes is a young woman supported by the KISS charity in Uganda. KISS stands for KIddie Support Scheme and works to support vulnerable children in Uganda, providing access to education, personal support and care, emergency funds and a safe place to meet and play for any child who wants to come. Every child and family is treated on an individual basis which means KISS is able to provide much more personal and appropriate help to the people in its care. I first became involved with the charity at school where every year we raised money to help support the vulnerable children KISS looked after. I was then lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit the community in Uganda on two occasions, once as a sixth former and again whilst at university. The people I met and the stories I heard have had a profound effect on me, and I hope I can continue my support of the charity for a long time. 

Agnes - such a wonderful,
bright individual.

So Agnes. Agnes is an orphan, and was raised by her godparents. Her childhood was incredibly hard. As an extra child in a new family who were already living in a very difficult situation, she was expected to do far more work around the house to help the family. However, with the support of KISS she was able to gain a full education and is now almost finished her training as an electrical engineer. But let’s let Agnes tell this in her own words… Please click here to view an interview with Agnes.

Agnes’s strength and determination to achieve what she wants despite all the struggles she has faced really inspire me. She is also just one of the most lovely, friendly people I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

So let’s hear it for girls in STEM fields – doing amazing things – daily.

If you want to find out more about the KISS charity, please check out this Youtube video and their website here.

A photo showing some of the KISS community during one
of my visits to see them.

Also finally - if anyone reading this has any feedback, questions or things they'd like me to address in a future blog, please let me know in the comments section below!

Next Blog: Survival Guide: Physics Exams

I’m not an anomaly – I'm just me!

First off – sorry that this is a little late! I’m now getting stuck into proper revision mode so my blogging may be a little erratic! I will aim to post approximately once every fortnight, however which day this happens to be on may change each time depending on how enthralled I am in theoretical quantum mechanics at the time (which is exciting, although I’ll admit theoretical anything is probably my least favourite part of Physics. It’s got to be done though!).

As promised, I wanted to do a post on what it’s like to study Physics as a female. Following International Women’s Day earlier in March, several interesting discussions took place about women in STEM, both in education and as a career. I would like to say from the outset – this is not a post saying that men are at fault. This is not a post that aims to point the finger and start accusing people of active discrimination. However bias does still exist in society. And there are lots of us that want to identify why, and come up with solutions to help combat it. Check out this talk from Shelley Correll, Professor of Sociology at Stanford University. She explains how women may be subject to negative bias within a work setting and suggests some solutions that may combat this. 

I'd also like to say that I have a great time studying Physics as a woman. I have great male and female friends and have role models of both genders that I look up to. Yes, it was annoying when I started my degree that so many people remembered me as "that girl" from the open day, just because as one of 7 girls in a group of 50 males my gender did make me stand out. However for the most part I've had a very positive experience of Physics education. I wanted to make this post to address the fact that so many others aren't as lucky as me. Please note I am not a psychologist though, and all the statements I make are based on information I have read in a variety of articles and research papers. I don't claim to be an expert, but I do feel justified in supporting other peoples ideas with my own experiences in life.

It is well known that less women study Physics and thus there are less women who go into careers involving Physics. So let’s look at the facts. In 2011 only 20% of A level Physics students were girls. This is despite the fact that girls perform just as well and usually outperform boys at GCSE level. Check out more statistics here, in a resource produced by the IoP. Uptake of other subjects such as Maths and Chemistry by girls is much higher than uptake of Physics. Uptake of Physics at single sex girls schools is again much higher. So why in general are less girls taking Physics at A level?

Reasons for this have been postulated for years, some of which have been widely accepted by the population. However many of these ‘reasons’ are not necessarily accurate, and in any case are not useful to teach as fact to the population at large. Let’s have a look at some of them:

·     Men’s and women’s brains are different: Yes, this is true. Studies have shown that there are differences in how men and women’s brains are structured and how they use their brains. But most studies are inconclusive about whether most of these differences are due to nature or nurture. From the time you are born you are stereotyped. In general girls play with dolls, boys play with cars and construction sets. Is it any wonder that boys and girls develop more in different areas if in their first stages of learning they are often actively encouraged to follow certain patterns? Even if men's and women's brains are inherently different surely every subject would benefit from having different ways of thinking about it, rather than restricting ourselves to the idea that one approach is best. However, more importantly, instead of arguing about whether males and females are inherently better at certain things, I think it’s more important to STOP spreading the belief that we are different just because of our gender. Books like “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” would have us all believe that nature has kitted us out for predetermined roles and that anyone who varies from the norm is an anomaly that can’t be explained. Is it not more valuable to just think of EVERYONE as unique individuals with different skills?

UPDATE: I remembered this article from the Independent. This supports the idea that the brain develops through learning, can change and thus whilst there may be small differences, most of the differences are due to our experience. 

Our brains are different - but shouldn't we recognise the fact
that we are all unqiue? Just because our brains are different
doesn't mean we shouldn't study certain subjects.

·      Girls are, from a young age, lead to believe they are bad at maths and science. This comes from toys, children’s books, TV characters (even in The Big Bang Theory, a programme that often is praised for putting a positive spin on Physics, the first ‘normal’ woman who did Physics was introduced in series 6. Series 6!) and even clothes (see here). Based on arguments like the fact that our brains are different, girls grow up with the expectation that they will be less good at maths and science, even if the evidence suggests that they aren’t actually any worse than boys. Comments such as “Isn’t that sort of a boy subject” are common but comments that “Girls are just not as good at science” terrify me most. Even parents and teachers are guilty of this, and these are people that will influence a young person’s decisions later in life. It’s also notable that this bias is not as prominent when looking at this from the opposite perspective – are there subjects that boys are inherently bad at? There are subjects that significantly less boys study (like Dance and Health and Social Care), but from my own experience and from talking to male friends about this, this is not because it is suggested that boys are automatically worse at them. Boys in those subjects may be accused of becoming less masculine but they don’t grow up with the expectation that they will be bad at them, it’s more the fact that it would be a social faux pas to take these subjects up. So yes, gender inequality does impact men as well, but I would argue a) not to the same extent and b) Gender equality benefits people of both genders anyway. Why is everyone (men and women) not working towards the same goal where no one is judged for what they find interesting? It’s not a war between men and women. It’s about allowing everyone the space to find out what they are good at for themselves.

This dog might be bad at science - not all women fall into the
same category.

·      Physics often tends to be taught in a way that does, in general, appeal to boys more than girls. Questions will usually involve scenarios that are more appealing to a male audience (footballs moving through the air, cars accelerating) and focus less on things that more girls might find more interesting. Please realise this doesn't mean make everything pink or about lipstick - that's patronising. Girls are often more inclined to want to know what real life impact something might have and more focus needs to be given to what Physics actually achieves in the world with more positive role models of both genders. Even if historically men discovered things (because they had access to the education) women are doing exciting things TODAY and this idea needs to be pushed more.

There are a myriad of other factors too, but I think it is important to show most of our preconceived ideas are challenged by evidence. Girls are as good at boys at Physics according to exam results, but choose not to continue to study Physics. I would say this therefore has more to do with a cultural expectation of what they should study rather than inherent ability. Looking at cultures that are undergoing rapid development, such as in parts of Africa and Asia the sciences are valued more in general, and women are often leading in these areas. I believe we all need to think about our preconceived ideas about who studies what and why and accept that different people like different things for different reasons. Stop labeling me as an anomaly, just recognise I am unique!

For more reading on this topic (there’s lots) here are a few articles I found interesting. Organisations such as ScienceGrrl also aims to educate people about the roles women hold in STEM subjects and hold events to discuss this and to promote STEM subjects to girls. Check out some of these links! J

Science Grrl - promoting women in STEM subjects

The Telegraph on Girls studying Physics and Maths- warning the comments are depressing!

The Government's notes on research on promoting girls in Physics

So what is it like being a Physics student?

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't written for a while but it's all been extraordinarily busy recently! As this blog aims to demonstrate what it is like to study Physics at university, this seemed like a fairly obvious topic to begin with. However, seeing as this weekend marks International Women's Day I felt I ought to say a little on what it's like to study Physics as a female. In a nutshell, it's getting better. More and more girls are feeling able to go away and study Physics at whatever level they want to. More high profile science is being done by women. People are gradually accepting that females can study Physics and can be as good at it. I mean, you still come across some idiots who think that if you are studying Physics you are either a) deluded about being good at a 'male' subject or b) just looking for a husband. Thank goodness times are moving ahead and we are beginning to reach a stage where a woman can feel confident about entering a male dominated subject. International Women's Day is such a brilliant way to celebrate the many, diverse achievements of women from across the world, but also to highlight areas in which progress still needs to be made in terms of gender equality. However, that's enough for now. I will be doing a proper blog post about being a woman in Physics in the next few weeks so watch this space!

Anyway... what is it like doing a Physics degree? Firstly: BUSY! During your degree you really do learn what being busy really means. You will probably have one of the highest number of contact hours of any subject (around 20 hours a week). That doesn't sound too bad you think? I mean school has about 25 hours a week? The difference is in the amount of work you have to do outside of the the teaching hours, and how much more intense the teaching really is. There will be days when you really start to resent your friends on other degree programmes, who might just about manage to get in for 5 hours teaching time per week. Reading they say, we have to do lots of reading. And they're right, they do work hard too. But you know the unfair bit? The physicist also has to read -  if they have time that is! As well as the aforementioned contact hours (lectures, lab sessions, tutorials and workshops), each week there are multiple problems to complete and hand in, each of which will probably take hours to do. Add in a couple of lab reports a term, some computing projects and some poster presentations (which will inevitably all be due in at the same time) and you already have a very busy timetable. Then add the reading that we're meant to do (otherwise you'll have no idea what is going on in the course) and there are suddenly no spare hours in the day. 

Credit goes to Gary Larson, creator of The Far Side
cartoon series.

However this in turn has its own benefits. One way of looking at it? You're getting much better value for your tuition fees. And university really is all about hard work and learning at the end of the day. Physics is HARD, there are no two ways about it. But there are rewards in the end. At the same time you also do learn to make the most of the time you have. You find you can actually fit an awful lot into the day and still have time to join societies, go out, make friends and enjoy your time. Even if it means having occasional frantic panics about work. It's still worth it. For example, as well as my degree I enjoy music, including singing in my college choir. I enjoy swimming, yoga and archery. I participate in folk dance, including a recent weekend trip to Edinburgh for IVFDF - the Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival which was great. This is as well as being involved with many other societies and activities; and spending time with friends. So despite all the busyness there's a lot else to get involved with and a lot of fun to have. I mean, university is about trying new things too. It's just a case of learning how to use your time. 

Secondly: Studying Physics at university level is nothing like studying it at school. Gone are the days of A level Physics where it was all about passing exams. Passing those exams are also a distant memory - no longer are questions short, no longer does the paper lead you towards the answer they want and memories of formula booklets are now fading fast. Exams are now 3 hours long but have far fewer questions. It is no longer a memory test; instead it is a test of your understanding of the actual Physics. Instead of being given some variables that you just plug into a formula you may or may not need to remember you are expected to derive different formula. You need to use MATHS to just get towards a solution to the problem in terms of many variables before you even think about maybe plugging real numbers in. And of course your answer might not have much to do with real life at the end of it anyway. I guess that is one of the biggest differences - Physics at university is all about the maths. If you are considering a Physics degree make sure you a) actually enjoy maths just for the pure maths-y-ness of it and b) are pretty good at it. You will suddenly discover all the varied and wonderful uses for all those things you learnt at A level about which we all said "But yeah, when am I going to have to use this in real life?". I'll tell you where - in a lecture where you write several long pages of notes but never write a single word, except maybe the title. Sometimes not even then. Expect to be pretty much perpetually confused, desperately hoping everyone else is as confused as you are. Sometimes it's worse when you actually think you understand it, you can't help feeling you must have missed the point. Not even joking, questions sometimes look like this when you're feeling lost: "A roof is sloped at 42.7 degrees. A ball is dropped from a height of 1.63m. Remembering the assumption that we are working in just 3 dimensions; when an orange lorry drives past at 99.9% of the speed of light, what is the probability that a pineapple will be produced when the system is observed for the second time? Can we tell what colour it will be?"

However it's not all that bad. Lots of the degree is confusing and will make you tear your hair out but equally it will fascinate you too. You get to break out of the limitations of the physics you learn at school and learn about some really cool stuff. And feel pretty darn smart and smug when you get to quote Physics at other people. To put it briefly - it is all worth it. Yes you spend a lot of time wondering what is going on, and wondering whether you're actually going a little bit mad or whether maybe someone is playing a massive joke on you and this stuff really is just made up. But then there are moments like working out a particularly nasty solution to a complicated integral and finding that suddenly the solution you are meant to get out "just falls out so beautifully and neatly and IT JUST IS SO BEAUTIFUL". Or getting more than a little excited about how particularly stunning your graph turned out to be. (Yes. I get excited about graphs.) Or the moment when your code works so you run through your house proclaiming "IT WORKS. AND IT IS THE MOST MAGNIFICENT THING I HAVE EVER CREATED". These are all the moments that make it worthwhile - despite the fact that you may look a little bit like a total weirdo. Oh well - weird is good. At least it's fun!

Credit to the creator at twisteddoodles.com

So yes, as with any degree Physics has it's ups and downs. There are plenty of boring bits (at least to you - you have to try and remember that someone somewhere thinks this is the most fascinating subject of all) but they are made worth it by the bits where everything suddenly makes sense and you finally feel like you're on top of everything. It's a bit like life really. So is it worth it? Why yes, of course!

What about you? Are you interested in pursuing Physics as a degree? Are you like me currently in the middle of it all? Or have you finished? Has your opinion changed at all? Feel free to ask any questions or add your own thoughts below!