The Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA)

The constituent Schools and Departments of SUPA already contain a wealth of world quality research. The concept is to build the alliance around key research strengths on which there is multi-institutional agreement including: Astronomy & Space Physics, Condensed Matter & Materials Physics (CMMP), Energy, Nuclear & Plasma Physics, Particle Physics, Photonics, Physics & Life Sciences (PaLS).

The foundations of SUPA are (i) a Scottish Graduate School in Physics and (ii) a coordinated approach to research under a single management umbrella incorporating:

• New faculty positions directed to enhance research and graduate training.
• Enhancement of research excellence through theme-based strategic leadership.
• Efficient collaborative use of state-of-the-art research infrastructure.
• A distinguished visitor programme.
• High profile Scottish Graduate School studentships open to all nationalities.
• Broadband video-links for research training and collaborations.
• Summer schools building on the proven international reputation of the Scottish Universities Summer School in Physics (SUSSP) to attract top researchers.
• Establishment of new outward-looking interdisciplinary research links at all levels - Scottish, UK and international.

From a combination of SFC funding and our own existing resource we have recruited approximately 20 new Chairs and Lecturers, 14 SUPA Research Fellowships, and 8 competitive studentships per year, as well as the selection of an overall Chief Executive to run the enterprise, and a Director of the Scottish Graduate School in Physics. This enhanced research base will be developed under the guidance of an Advisory Board consisting of scientists selected from a range of disciplines:

SUPA Advisory Board

Prof Malcolm Longair (Cambridge, chair), Dr. Eugene Arthurs (SPIE), Prof. Ted Haensch (Munich), Prof. David Miller (Stanford), Margaret McGarry (Director, Technology Collaboration Group, Scottish Enterprise), Prof. Mike Gunn (Birmingham), Dr. Takis Hadjifotiou, Dr.Lesley Thompson, Dr. Colin Zimmerman (Nexia Solutions), Prof. Helen Gleeson (Manchester), Prof. Walter Henning (GSI Darmstadt), Dr. Stuart Fancey (SFC), Prof. Rolf Heuer(DESY).