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Information for New Staff and Students

Research Information and resources

  • See the University Research Office website.
  • For information on funding and grants see the relevant section of the General Administration information page.
  • For a list of Australian Societies associated with research in physics, see the Physics External Links page.

The University of Sydney School of Physics is one of the few big schools of Physics in Australia, and have been outstandingly successful in obtaining nationally competitive research grants to support our research programs. These vary from basic research to collaborations with industry, most significantly in the areas of brain waves and materials science.

The School has computational, experimental, observational and theoretical expertise in research areas that include applied physics, astronomy, astrophysics, biological physics, brain dynamics, high energy physics, materials science, medical physics, optics & photonics, physics education, plasma physics, space & solar physics, sustainable energy, theoretical physics and wave physics. The School hosts the Centre for Waves and Complex Systems, the Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), the Institute of Medical Physics, the Institute of Applied Nuclear Science and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS). There is also the Institute of Photonics and Optical Sciences (IPOS) and the Integrated Sustainability Analysis (ISA). Members of the School also belong to various centres based outside the University, including the Brain Dynamics Centre (based at the Westmead Milleniumn Institute) and the Centre for Quantum Computing.

The School of Physics operated one of the first computers in Australia (SILLIAC, 1956) and subsequently the Basser Department of Computer Science evolved to become the School of Information Technologies (now in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies). Physics continues this nurturing of new disciplines via its contribution to the establishment of Vislab (initially based in the School but now in the School of Information Technologies), the Optical Fibre Technology Centre, and the Key Centre in Microscopy and Microanalysis. The School also runs two world-class telescopes, one at optical wavelength (Narrabri) and the other at radio frequencies (Molonglo), and has close contact with the various national astronomy facilities. Our researchers obtain time on a variety of international instruments. Academics from the School play a role in the fundamental particle physics program at CERN in Geneva, and with the HI-heliac national plasma facility at the ANU.

Visiting Academics

For some accommodation options please see the Accommodation sub-section of the Facilities in the University and Surrounding Region page section, which is likely also of use to visitors.


See the HR Policies page for information about Visas, Visiting academics, and the student Occupational Trainee programme.

Also of use may be the Australian Researchers' Mobility Portal organisation site, for researchers planning to move to or from Australia.

Tutoring

See here for some information about Appointing Casual staff and tutors. See also the Main teaching resources page.

Information resources

 Library

The University of Sydney's Fisher Library, with over five million volumes, is the largest academic library in Australia, and one of the largest libraries in the country. It is designed primarily to meet the needs of the University community, but is also available for use by alumni and, to a lesser extent, the general public. The central university library website is http://www.library.usyd.edu.au. There are several libraries in the University of Sydney, with Fisher the main library, and the SciTech library housing physics resources. This is found across the City rd. footbridge in the Jane Foss Russell building G02, Level 1. The catalogue is available to be searched online.

For services of use to researchers, see the library's Services for Research Clients webpage. The liaison librarian for Physics is Charlotte Jarabak. The liaison organises the ordering of books and can help with information searches and hunting down resources.

Sydney University has membership to many scientific journals. Go to the library website to see the list or search. From on-campus computers, access to journals through the university membership is automatic, but offcampus access requires that you login through the library website using your library or MyUni details. Or use the VPN service. See the IT information page for details.

Other services offered include the electronic retrieval of information from online databases and CDROMs, assistance with the location of references, reader education classes and a catalogue of audio-visual materials such as films and videos. See the list of Physics Databases available, and a list of Physics Resources available from the library. Also the  Sydney University Press site may be useful for locating texts.

Your staff card allows you to borrow books and access online information from the library. See here for information on how to obtain your staff card.

Nearby Bookshops

  • The Co-op Bookshop; the campus bookstore, with textbooks in stock and able to be ordered, and other general interest texts. The shop is near the Sport and Aquatic centre.
  • Abbey's Bookstore, in the city on York street.
  • Kinokuniya, in the city on George st.
  • Gleebooks, on Glebe Point rd.

Physics Publications Database

The University maintains a database for all staff/student publications (RIMS), updated on a regular basis.  The Academic Administration Coordinator collects publication data, and will periodically request papers and full details via email. Please ensure that you keep a copy of the final version of your paper/publication (official reprints, pdfs or web links which include all details, including volume and page numbers, are required). Requests for publication data will be sent periodically. This includes any publications you make in a journal, a book chapter or if you are the author of a book.

Each year the University submits to the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) details of staff publications and external grants, and based on this information the School of Physics receives funding, so it is important that the information is condensed and accurately recorded (It may also be audited).

The information to be submitted to the Main Office includes the following, in hard copy and electronic form:

  • Names and initials of ALL authors and their affiliated institutions (no acronyms)
  • Type of publication eg. journal, conference paper, book chapter or book, publication date,
  • ISBN/ISSN and whether it is refereed or not (if it is a refereed paper, then you have to provide proof of the refereeing, ie. the names of the peer review and where etc)
  • Volume Number
  • Start and End Page Numbers
  • If Conference Proceedings, the Name, Place and Year or the Conference as well as proof of national or international significance
  • For books or book chapters, include full publication details of the book including the ISBN number.
  • Evidence indicating research undertaken in author's capacity as a staff member or student or adjunct of USYD
  • Photocopies of contents, preface and introduction and pages showing all bibliographic information for books, book chapters, copies of offprint of article, contribution, pages, showing bibliographic information for journal articles, and copy or offprint of conference papers.

You will be contacted early in the year for this information on any publications.

Postgraduate students please note that in most cases you will co-author a publication with at least one member of Physics staff (eg your Supervisor), who should submit publication details to the administrative team on your behalf.


Business Liaison Office

For researchers with commercial applications to their work, see the Sydnovate site for help with commercialisation.