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Episode 1

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Published on:

3rd Feb 2022

Louise Hirst

Our guest this month is LOUISE HIRST, Assistant Professor of Physics, and specialist of the development of advanced, high efficiency photovoltaics for space applications like powering satellites and exploring space. 

As a teenager and young adult, she contemplated a dual career in music and science, but knew she could not do both so finally decided to push her physics studies, with the idea she could get into finance or banking. Today, she’s not working in the City but continues to play the trumpet and piano when she’s not manipulating materials in the lab.

She spent several years at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC, where she did her postdoc. The lab brings together civilians and military staff, an environment she found both intellectually stimulating and challenging. 

Louise Hirst is not easily impressionable, andcertainly not easily discouraged. But is it a natural trait or did she have to build her confidence the hard way? We’re asking her and more in this episode.

Jump into the conversation:

[00:00] - Guest intro

[01:50] - How did it all start?

[02:56] - Music or physics? Finance or research?

[05:15] - It’s all about photovoltaics

[09:58] - Working with military staff in the U.S.

[13:13] - In the news this month - 3D printed nanomagnets unveil a world of patterns in the magnetic field

[15:10] - Being a woman in science and sticking up for oneself      

[20:50] – Interdisciplinary and translational themes at the University of Cambridge

[23:50] – Is physics changing?

[28:00] – Where next?

[29:28] - Outro

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  • Any comment about the podcast or question you would like to ask our physicists? Email us at podcast@phy.cam.ac.uk or join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #PeopleDoingPhysics.

Episode credits:

Hosts: Vanessa Bismuth and Paolo Molignini

News presenters: Jacob Butler and Simone Eizagirre Barker

Producer: Chris Brock



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
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About the Podcast

People doing Physics
The podcast exploring the personal side of physics
As fascinating as physics can be, it can also seem very abstract, but behind each experiment and discovery stands a real person trying to understand the universe. Join us at the Cavendish Laboratory on the first Thursday of every month as we get up close and personal with the researchers, technicians, students, teachers, and people that are the beating heart of Cambridge University’s Physics department. Each episode also covers the most exciting and up-to-date physics news coming out of our labs. If you want to know what goes on behind the doors of a Physics department, are curious to know how people get into physics, or simply wonder what physicists think and dream about, listen in!
Join us on Twitter @DeptofPhysics using the hashtag #PeopleDoingPhysics.

About your hosts

Simone Eizagirre Barker

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I'm a PhD student in experimental physics studying new materials for quantum technologies. Outside the lab, I love getting involved in science journalism initiatives that explore the relationship between science and society, as well as the stories of scientists themselves.

Vanessa Bismuth

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I'm the Cavendish's Communications Manager and I want the world to know about the extraordinary people that are working, researching and studying here.

Jacob Breward Butler

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Working in the Outreach Office of the Cavendish Laboratory, I run Cambridge University's educational Physics outreach programmes while studying a part-time Masters' in Education.