The Australian Institute of Physics was established in 1963, when it replaced the Australian Branch of the British Institute of Physics based in London.[1] The purpose of the institute is to promote the role of physics in research, education, industry and the community.[2] The AIP publishes Australian Physics (ISSN 1036-3831) since 1963. Every two years, the Institute organises a national congress, the latest being held in December 2022 in Adelaide.[3]
The Bragg Gold Medal for Excellence in Physics has been awarded since 1992 for the best PhD thesis by a student from an Australian University and to commemorate Sir Lawrence Bragg (in front on the medal) and his father Sir William Henry Bragg who both played a significant part in physics education in Australia. Winners so far are:[18]
1992 Stephen Bass, University of Adelaide
1993 Henry Chapman, University of Melbourne
1994 Wolodymyr Melnitchouk, University of Adelaide
2009 Christian Romer Rosberg, Australian National University
2010 Clancy William James, University of Adelaide
2011 Adrian D'Alfonso, University of Melbourne
2012 Eva Kuhnle, Swinburne University of Technology
2013 Martin Fuechsle, University of New South Wales
2014 Andrew Sutton, Australian National University
2015 Jarryd Pla, University of New South Wales
Dirac Medal
The Dirac Medal for the Advancement of Theoretical Physics is awarded by the University of New South Wales in Sydney, jointly with the Australian Institute of Physics on the occasion of the public Dirac Lecture.[19] The Lecture and the Medal commemorate the visit to the university in 1975 of Professor Dirac, who gave five lectures there. These lectures were subsequently published as a book: Directions of Physics (Wiley, 1978 – H. Hora and J. Shepanski, eds.). Professor Dirac donated the royalties from this book to the University for the establishment of the Dirac Lecture series. The prize, first awarded in 1979, includes a silver medal and honorarium. The recipients of the price are:[20][21]