Physics

Karla-Luise, 3rd year

'I’ve always wanted to study Physics. I saw Apollo 13 when I was about 13 years old and there’s this bit where the scientists are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole – this made me want to work for NASA! But the more Physics I study the more I realise that there’s so much awesome stuff apart from Astrophysics; I’ve ended up focusing on condensed matter which gets me thinking about the applications of physics in the real world. Learning the theoretical stuff is all very well, but I like being able to get useful things out of it.

In the second year, part of my marks came from presenting a paper to my examiners; learning to explain science to people who don’t have your level of knowledge is incredibly valuable. It’s great preparation for giving presentations at conferences as a graduate Physicist (which is what I hope to go on to do).

I am president of the Oxford University Physics Society. One of the main things we do is get famous Physicists in to speak to us. This can help students to remember the exciting, real-world cool stuff that got them into Physics in the first place even when they’re struggling through reams of Maths problem sheets.

I also do some Access work, which includes going into schools and trying to inspire students with science workshops. You can make explosions, make huge machines, take mountains to pieces, and play with liquid nitrogen (which is always fun!). Talking to my friends at other universities I can see that it’s definitely true that we have much more work to do at Oxford. This has been great for my time management skills, though!'