ISS2011: Light & Matter
The Professor Harry Messel International Science School (ISS) is the flagship of the Science Foundation for Physics, with a forty-five-year history and a reputation as the best program of its kind in the world.
The ISS is a free science educational program run biennially by the Science Foundation for Physics within the University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. In 2011 the ISS is held over a two-week period in the University of Sydney and will run from 3-16 July. The theme for ISS2011 is Light & Matter.
While hosted by the School of Physics, the ISS covers a wide range of science: from geology to psychology, from astronomy to quantum computing, from green chemistry to plasma physics, you'll find it at the ISS.
ISS2011 – The Book
Download the book of the ISS2011: Light & Matter lecture series – (almost) all of the lectures during the ISS have been painstakingly written up as chapters for your enjoyment and edification. Download them here, either as
One large PDF file (around 6MB)
or in four smaller parts:
Part A – Part B – Part C – Part D
About ISS2011: Light & Matter
| I am writing this email to personally thank you from the bottom of my heart for organising and ensuring the ISS ran so perfectly. The two weeks at the ISS truly were the greatest two weeks of my life thus far. |  |
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| Brandon Munn, ISS2009 |
The ISS is a free, biennial science educational program that honours excellence in talented Year 11 and 12 students and encourages them to pursue careers in science. Around 145 ISS scholars attend from over all Australia, China, Japan, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, UK and the USA. It's a unique opportunity for senior secondary school students to meet scientists working in diverse areas not only from within the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney but from all over the world.
The theme of Light & Matter brings together work being carried out in physics, chemistry, biology and engineering. Sir John Pendry, meta-materials researcher and pioneer of the "invisibility cloak", will be a keynote lecturer at this ISS, as will Prof. Allan Clark from the University of Geneva, scientist at the Atlas detector at the Large Hadron Collider.
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, media science guru and our own Julius Sumner Miller Fellow, is also a regular ISS guest speaker (not to mention one of the most popular!).
All ISS scholars live on campus for their two-week stay in the Women's College. For many it is their first visit to Sydney, and their first opportunity to meet like-minded young scientists from different countries and cultures.
For more information about the International Science School, see our list of ISS FAQs.
ISS2011 by day: Lectures and Activities
By day, the ISS Scholars attend lectures by leading scientists from Australia and overseas, on topics ranging from meta-materials and invisibility cloaks to plasma thrusters for space travel, from the motion of tectonic plates to the collective behaviour of animals, from the discovery of the smallest subatomic particles to the origins of the universe itself.
They take part in scientific activities like the University of Newcastle's Science and Engineering Challenge, take guided tours of scientific laboratories and the University's museums, and get hands on with some seriously amazing science.
| Coming from a rural community to a city environment even for two weeks was an enormous step for me and I cannot think of a better time or place to have done this in than ISS. To be able to access the knowledge contained in Sydney University is something I had never dreamed of and certainly did not think I would ever be able to do from Jindabyne. |
| Nicola Fleming, ISS2009 |
ISS2011 by night: The Social Scene
One of the most rewarding aspects of the two weeks at the ISS is the chance to mix with like-minded students from different backgrounds and cultures.
There are no words within me that can possibly describe this unforgettable experience ... the places, the atmosphere and, most of all, the people ... ISS scholar, 2003
The Scholars stay at The Women's College for the two weeks – during that time many friendships are forged, some of which last a lifetime. Plenty of activities are organised, many by the Young Scientists of Australia organisation, to keep the ISS scholars busy: trivia competitions, movie nights, dances, even an evening cruise of Sydney Harbour to see this great city at its best. The formal ISS2011 Gala Reception gives scholars, staff, alumni and supporters of the ISS a chance to meet each other celebrate an amazing shared experience.