When Craig Jantzen was a PhD student at the University of Manchester in the UK, he used to go to politics and economics lectures alongside his research into nuclear materials. Jantzen is fascinated by all things nuclear, but he also saw the PhD as an opportunity to broaden his horizons beyond science. “You’re not drained from doing a nine-to-five job every day, and you’re around people that want to learn constantly,” he recalls.

Jantzen’s PhD, which he finished in 2017, involved investigating materials for next-generation nuclear reactors. It has been proposed that molten chloride salts, which are excellent heat conductors, could be used instead of water as reactor coolants, but these salts are incredibly corrosive to metals. Jantzen was testing the corrosion of different metal alloys in molten chloride salts in order to identify optimal materials for these reactors. But he is now a diplomat working on science collaboration and policy for the UK government. Given his interest in politics, Jantzen’s job might not seem surprising, but he emphasizes that his career has “not been a straight line”.

Having worked in finance, energy and environmental policy as well as the UK government’s COVID-19 response, Jantzen is currently based in Stockholm as the first secretary and regional manager for the UK’s Science Innovation Network where he covers the Nordic and Baltic regions. The network aims to build collaboration, promote UK research and provide expertise to the government. He leads a team of trained scientists, many of whom have PhDs, using their research experience to address policy issues like AI and climate change.

Embracing change

Jantzen’s first experience of what it would be like to work as a diplomat was sparked by a chance encounter at a conference during his PhD. He attended a talk by a speaker who had worked at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which promotes the safe use of nuclear technologies. Jantzen was particularly intrigued to hear the speaker talk about nuclear safeguards, and in his second year, he did a six-month internship at the IAEA in Vienna, working in the same team that had responded to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in 2011.

I realized I like talking about science a lot more than I enjoy doing science

After his PhD, Jantzen considered staying in academia, but decided that his skills would be of better use elsewhere: “I realized I like talking about science a lot more than I enjoy doing science”. As it turned out, Jantzen’s first job after his PhD was as a financial consultant for Capco in London. “I knew that I would learn a lot in that environment and that they give you a lot of responsibility”, he says, “and I felt that was a good compliment to academic research”. Indeed, he credits this experience with getting him over some of the imposter syndrome he had from his PhD. With an emphasis on meeting deadlines, he had to let go of perfectionism and admit when he didn’t know something, eventually realizing that this allowed him to learn much faster.

But after 18 months in finance, it was time for another change. Wanting to do something he’d find more fulfilling, Jantzen started applying for jobs in the UK government. However, his career in the civil service got off to a slightly bumpy start.

He had been offered a role working for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy on the proposed Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station in north Wales. However, in January 2019 – less than a week before he was supposed to start – the project was suspended. Instead, Jantzen joined the Energy Strategy team in the same department where he worked on the UK’s plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. His research experience had given him “a nuclear energy lens”, but working with modellers and policy teams across technologies like carbon capture and offshore wind gave him a valuable crash-course in the wider energy landscape.

Far-flung ambition

Having previously enjoyed his stint overseas with the IAEA, Jantzen soon started looking for more international-facing roles. With the UK hosting the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), he knew that international environmental affairs was something he wanted to be part of. In November 2019 Jantzen moved to the Government Office for Science where he worked on the development of the UK’s COP26 science strategy. He also volunteered for the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) secretariat during the COVID-19 pandemic, where he co-led the epidemiology policy team and prepared advice that was given to the government.

A science background…helps you do your job more effectively because you understand the technology, you’re not intimidated by it

As it happened, when the opportunity came to move overseas, it was to return to the IAEA on a secondment funded by the UK government. In this role, he advised the IAEA on climate change during COP26 and COP27 – which was held in Egypt in 2022. This gave him the experience he needed to apply for full-time jobs overseas, which is how he ended up in his current position.

Now Jantzen’s day could involve negotiating bilateral agreements, hosting an embassy reception, or running technology workshops. Jantzen believes his science background has been valuable to his career, saying “It helps you do your job more effectively because you understand the technology, you’re not intimidated by it”. As well as technical knowledge, scientists bring a diversity of thought that is valuable to a team, he believes.

Jantzen thinks his school and university-age self would be surprised at where his early interest in nuclear science has taken him: “I never imagined being a diplomat or working internationally.” He had to gradually build up experience before making the jump to a diplomatic role overseas, and his advice to others who are interested in switching from science to diplomacy is not to be deterred if it takes time, saying “I definitely saw stepping stones. I didn’t know exactly what opportunity was going to come up, but when I did, I was just ready for it.”

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New research shows that phones could be strengthened by adding a layer of material to the screen that fluidized during an impact. In a paper published in PNAS, the team from the University of Edinburgh and Corning, a US-based materials company, developed a mathematical model of an object hitting a phone screen. Using modelling and experiments they identify the optimized fluid properties for this application. Their results show that fluids that become runnier during impact are most effective at protecting the screen.

Despite the development of toughened glass, a smashed phone screen is a commonplace annoyance. James Richards, a postdoc in Edinburgh who led the research, explains that the aim was to design a fluid-based alternative that would sit under the glass and absorb impacts.

The suspension of a car uses a piston moving through hydraulic fluid to absorb bumps in the road. The resistance of the fluid increases the faster the piston moves, which allows the system to adapt to large and small shocks.

In this project, instead of mechanical components, the screen would be protected by a layer of fluid, like a mattress sitting below the glass. To build a system that would adapt to different impacts, the researchers turned to a class of materials called non-Newtonian fluids, whose viscosity changes depending on the force applied. A mixture of cornflour and water is an example of a shear-thickening fluid because it becomes more viscous the harder it is hit. It is also possible to have shear-thinning fluids that become runnier under impact – an example of this is paint.

Soaking Kevlar vests in shear-thickening fluid can make them more resistant to projectiles because the fabric can absorb the impact whilst remaining flexible when worn. As a result, Richards and colleagues suspected that a shear-thickening fluid could also be used to protect phone screen glass.

When an object exerts a force on a screen, the fluid resists the deformation, but the force on the glass itself depends on how much the screen has deformed. This feedback loop makes it difficult to predict how a given fluid will respond, particularly if the fluid is non-Newtonian. “The challenge here is we didn’t know where we were in a design space,” says Richards “So we needed something much, much more general.”

The researchers wanted to perform an optimization that would test their theory that shear-thickening fluids are best at protecting the screen. This is challenging because the height of the bending screen varies continuously, so there are effectively an infinite number of variables to be optimized.

Simplified phone screen for design optimization

The team looked for a way to simplify the system whilst still capturing the essential physics. They identified that the problem would be a lot easier to solve if the screen was flat – meaning the height during impact would be the same everywhere. The quantity that determines whether the screen breaks would then just be the bending moment – the product of the diameter of the plate and the force on it.

The researchers argue that close to the impact, there will be some area of the plate that is effectively flat, with  the size of this flat part becoming smaller the more the screen bends. By solving the equations of motion of the fluid under the plate, the researchers were able to reduce the problem of the flexible plate to a single flat plate whose diameter changes as it squeezes down.

With this simplified system, the team was able to factor in shear thickening or shear thinning fluid behaviour, allowing them to identify the fluid that minimized the bending moment. They were surprised to find that the optimal fluid was not shear-thickening but shear-thinning “It turns out our initial thoughts were entirely wrong” says Richards.

A tight squeeze causes an unexpected fluid response

They attribute this unexpected behaviour to the geometry of the system. During impact, the deformation of the screen squeezes the fluid through a smaller and smaller gap. It’s harder to push a shear-thickening fluid through a narrower space, so whilst it stops the impact, the glass experiences a large force. By contrast, if the fluid is shear-thinning, it will get easier to squeeze as the screen bends. This means the impact spreads out over a longer time, and provided the fluid never gets too runny, it is still possible to absorb the force whilst protecting the screen.

As proof of concept, the researchers tested transparent shear-thickening and shear-thinning fluids in an experiment that mimicked a phone screen. The fluid was sandwiched between a solid base and a sheet of glass, and the force on the glass was measured as a solid wedge pushed down on it. Their result confirms that the force on the glass increases more gradually during impact with the shear-thinning fluid, indicating that this class of fluids would be most effective as screen protectors.

The researchers say that one of their main motivations was to develop a shock absorber that could be used to build flexible phone screens. Their work establishes a framework to optimize the squeezing of non-Newtonian fluids, and they believe it could have applications such as in car windows or even to study how skin creams are applied.

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Very few world-changing physics breakthroughs happen in a classroom, but many of them started there. However, an increasing number of young people in England simply do not have access to a specialist physics teacher. In 2022 the number of physics teachers recruited in England was only 17% of the government’s target, and the Institute of Physics (IOP) estimates that an additional 3500 teachers are needed to make up the shortage.

This leaves young people at the mercy of a postcode lottery, with schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas more likely to suffer

Hari Rentala, head of learning and skills at the IOP

Hari Rentala, head of learning and skills at the IOP, says that in some areas, schools struggle to recruit a single specialist physics teacher. “This leaves young people at the mercy of a postcode lottery, with schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas more likely to suffer.” It is no understatement to say that the future of the next generation of physicists is at stake.

The urgent need for more physics teachers is one reason why the Department for Education in England earlier this year launched a new recruitment pathway called “teacher degree apprenticeships” (TDAs). Physicists who want to become teachers currently have to do a degree followed by a postgraduate teaching qualification. TDAs are four-year degrees, but students would spend only 40% of their time in university and the rest working in a school. Prospective teachers will therefore earn money as they study.

The vicious circle of physics teacher shortages

Teaching is often described as a vocation – it is rewarding to instil a passion for physics in young people, but it isn’t as well paid as many pathways available to physics graduates. According to the 2023 Science Teacher Survey, which was supported by the IOP and received more than 3700 responses from teachers and technicians, low pay is one of many barriers to recruitment and retention.

The challenge of recruiting enough physics teachers is made worse by the fact that almost half of new physics teachers leave within their first five years of qualifying. One reason for the high attrition rate is that in England it is common for physics teachers to also cover chemistry and biology despite not having specific expertise in those areas. “This has the potential to decrease job satisfaction and increase workload, especially for newly qualified teachers who may not have studied the other sciences for many years,” says Rentala.

This can leave physics teachers feeling isolated and – especially in their early years – without sufficient access to the informal subject-specific mentoring and support that most of us turn to when we begin our careers

Hari Rentala

The situation is different in Scotland. Physics teachers there generally only teach physics, which leads to them staying far longer in the profession. Rentala says eight times as many physics teachers leave after the first two years in England compared with Scotland. Indeed, many physics graduates who do decide to become teachers in England end up training as maths teachers to avoid teaching subjects in which they do not have a specialism.

However, teacher retention is a UK-wide issue, with more than half of the respondents to the survey reporting that their school had a shortage of physics teachers. “This can leave physics teachers feeling isolated and – especially in their early years – without sufficient access to the informal subject-specific mentoring and support that most of us turn to when we begin our careers,” Rentala says.

As a result of the overall shortage, physics teachers gravitate towards high-achieving schools in more affluent areas, which threatens to entrench regional and economic inequality. In England, 70% of physics A-level students come from only 30% of schools. But will the new TDAs make a difference?

Alternative pathways for physics teachers

Charles Tracy, the IOP’s senior adviser for learning and skills, thinks that TDAs are an efficient way to become a teacher. “Otherwise, they’d have to take a physics degree and learn lots of things that they would never otherwise use in their teaching.” Depending on the course, apprentices might not learn content like, say, relativity and quantum mechanics, which generally do not appear on school syllabuses.

TDAs are due to start accepting applications later this year, with the first cohort of apprentices beginning their training in 2025, although it is not clear which universities will be offering the courses. Tracy, however, thinks that the scheme might particularly appeal to people who are already working in schools, such as teaching assistants or computer or lab technicians.

[There’s a] need for a laser-like focus on improving recruitment and retention – which must involve government action to improve pay, reduce workload and make the accountability systems…less punitive

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders

But TDAs will only ever be part of the solution. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, says that while the principle behind the apprenticeships is good, the pilot scheme of 150 recruits will be a “drop in the ocean”.

“The main event is the challenge that exists right now, and this involves the need for a laser-like focus on improving recruitment and retention – which must involve government action to improve pay, reduce workload and make the accountability system of Ofsted inspections and performance tables less punitive.”

As well as supporting the apprenticeship scheme, last year the IOP submitted evidence to a parliamentary committee that recommended serious reforms to the physics curriculum in England. Rentala believes that ensuring that physics teachers only teach their specialist subject would tackle the high attrition of physics teachers by reducing workload and allowing teachers to focus on the topics that they are passionate about. But he adds that organizations like the IOP cannot do everything on their own. “This is a complex issue and one where the real step-changes can ultimately only be unlocked through government policy.”

The post Tackling England’s physics teacher shortage with a new apprenticeship scheme appeared first on Physics World.

What skills do you use every day in your job?

As a researcher, I rely on creative thinking both to design research projects and to solve problems in the laboratory. We have custom-built machines in the lab which often require some improvisation so that we can progress with our experiments quickly. As a group leader, I also need to work efficiently, keep everyone motivated and handle finances. I’ve always been very organized, but I have developed and refined other skills during my academic journey. When I started my research group a year ago, I was faced with an increasing workload and limited hours in the day, and learning to manage time effectively was a big challenge. My experience as a postdoc has also been valuable. For example, with limited financial resources, I quickly learned to prioritize cost-effective solutions. Similarly, I recognized that projects progress much faster in a team, so now I actively foster a collaborative environment within my group.

In my role as a university teacher, I need to make complex scientific ideas accessible to my students. I want to make them aware that the lecture content also has real-world applications, so I show them how the concepts I teach them are used in my laboratory. I also taught a course in which the students were asked to draft a proposal for an experiment at a large-scale laser facility. I wanted them to reflect on the lecture material and develop creative ideas for experiments.

What do you like best and least about your job?

The most rewarding aspect of my work is the opportunity to pursue projects that I am passionate about, ranging from understanding molecular interactions to constructing intricate scientific apparatuses for our research. I value the freedom to shape my daily schedule and to choose the projects that I want to engage in. There are also exciting aspects that I did not anticipate during my student days, such as the chance to attend international conferences and participate in scientific initiatives at large-scale research facilities all over Europe.

While my career is extremely exciting, frequent relocations over the past decade have made it difficult to establish roots and maintain friendships. Another challenge I have faced is the limited number of permanent academic positions – the uncertainty regarding my personal and professional future was something I found stressful. I feel very fortunate to have secured a position in Innsbruck, which has an exceptional working environment and a high quality of life, with many opportunities for outdoor activities.

What do you know today, that you wish you knew when you were starting out in your career?

Reflecting on my journey, I realize that I may have rushed through my studies. It is clear to me now that investing extra time in exploring content beyond that taught during university classes is crucial. Specifically, I regret not dedicating more time to studying quantum mechanics during my student years. I found myself needing to teach myself a considerable amount of it during my PhD.

Looking back, I wish I had trusted in myself more and started applying for scholarships as an undergraduate student. When I was asked to apply for scholarships for my PhD, I initially doubted my abilities, but with the help of my supervisor I took the chance, and I succeeded. My advice to other students struggling with imposter syndrome is to avoid comparing themselves to their peers and to find supportive mentors, as I did at this early stage.

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Earlier this month, I attended the Careers in Quantum fair at the University of Bristol, organized by the Quantum Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT). There was an enthusiastic buzz in the air — perhaps unsurprising considering that last year the UK government announced £2.5bn funding for developing quantum technologies as part of the government’s National Quantum Strategy, which includes a plan to double the number of quantum CDTs. The event was led by students in the CDT and featured stalls from nearly 30 quantum companies as well as a programme of talks and discussions.

The day was kicked off by Winfried Hensinger, a researcher at the University of Sussex and co-founder of Universal Quantum. The company’s goal is to build a million-qubit quantum computer, with Hensinger saying he wanted Universal Quantum to be “the AWS [Amazon Web Services] of quantum computing”. The challenge of scaling up quantum computers would come up again and again, and Hensinger’s ambitious talk – in which he revealed he’d wanted to build a quantum computer ever since his PhD – set the tone for the event.

The first panel discussion examined starting a quantum company. Immediately noticing the all-male line-up, the panellists made a point of encouraging female founders, and the gender imbalance was luckily not reflected in the rest of the day. Two panellists – Josh Silverstone of Qontrol and Dominic Sulway of Light Trace Photonics – had spun out their firms from their PhDs.

Although a doctorate is great for developing your technical knowledge and skills, the consensus was that a PhD is not always necessary for success in the sector. That notion would later be echoed in the last talk of the day by Harry Bromley from Aegiq, who spoke about his decision to pursue a career in quantum straight out of his master’s degree.

The importance of communication skills for pitching to investors and describing technical concepts in an accessible way was also highlighted – I was partly there to deliver a short presentation promoting the Physics World PhD contributor network, so I hope this is something that attendees took to heart.

The afternoon began with another panel discussion, this time on the near-term applications of quantum technology. Andrew Weld of QLM predicted that in 10 years, “no-one will be talking about quantum”, because the technology will be so widespread that “quantum technology” will become a meaningless phrase.

The event was dominated by start-ups, with lots of discussion of the challenges of recruitment, attracting investment and finding customers. However, one participant on this panel was Zoe Davidson, a research specialist in optical networks for British Telecom (BT) – which employs more than 100,000 people. She spoke about the company’s projects and what it’s like to deploy cutting-edge technology in a big organization.

The rest of the talks included several University of Bristol alumni (and previous conference organizers) who had returned as speakers, discussing their work at ORCA computing and Wave Photonics. Most of the conference was UK-centric, but there were also talks from Sofie Lindskov Hansen of Danish Sparrow Quantum and Jonas Philips of the Germany-based Quix Quantum – with Philips emphasizing the need for a European quantum supply chain.

Doing a PhD in quantum seems like a safe bet in terms of landing a job, but students still have a lot of choices to make about their futures. Based on the number of speakers who had spun out a company from their research, it’s likely that some of the students wandering around the hall, chatting to companies, and picking up free pens might be sitting on the next big quantum start-up.

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