When: Wednesday 5th October, 12:00PM – 2:00PM
Where: Physics Courtyard (under the David Caro ramp)
What’s free: Sausages, veggie burgers, soft drinks, beer & cider!
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=276062815748753

See you there!

Following the elections we welcome 5 new faces to the committee, and 4 experienced members are returning for another term*.

Here are the election results:

Congratulations to the new committee, and anyone else who wants to help out is more than welcome to: just send us an email.

* Angus McInnes now holds the record for longest-serving committee member. (Treasurer 2008-2011, General Committee 2011- )

This is a very important event in our calendar, as this is the time that we elect next year’s committee. Most of the current committee members will be graduating at the end of the year, so it is important that their positions are filled to ensure the club’s future.

The following committee positions will be up for re-election, and are open to all members of the Society who are University of Melbourne students:
- President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Education Officer
- First Year Representative
- General Committee Member (4 positions)

Details of the AGM:
Date: Tuesday 30 August, 2011
Time: 1:05 pm
Venue: Physics Conference Room. This is on level 7 of the main physics building.

We need at least twenty members to show up in order to hold a quorate AGM, so please come along even if you’re just after a free lunch. To this end, free pizza and soft drinks will be provided.

There are no amendments to the constitution this year. The agenda for the meeting is available here

If you have any questions about what’s involved in being part of the committee, please send us an email. Hope to see you on Tuesday!

– The PSS Committee

Watch this space for information about upcoming events, including model rockets, BBQs and more Physics in the Pub!

BBQ Details
Date: Wednesday 25 May
Time: 12:30 – 2:00pm
Venue: Physics Courtyard (under the David Caro ramp near the Hercus lecture theatre)
What’s free: Sausages, veggie burgers, beer, cider & soft-drinks.

Please note the new venue. Or more precisely, the old venue, which has been a construction site since the beginning of the year.

New members are welcome to join the PSS at the BBQ, so bring along your friends

Also keep an eye out for the next installment of Physics in the Pub. This will most likely be held on Monday 9 May, and will be confirmed closer to the date.

These are the election results:

Congratulations to the new committee members, and anyone else who wants to help out is more than welcome to: just send us an email.

This week is O-Week, which means that we’re about to welcome some new faces to the PSS!

This is what we have in store for O-Week 2011:

• A free BBQ from 12.30 to 2.00 PM on Course Orientation Day (Wednesday 23rd February) in the Redmond Barry courtyard

• A liquid nitrogen demonstration (with free ice-cream!) on Clubs day (Thursday 24th February) from 12.30 to 2.00 PM on South Lawn

We’ll also have a stall at the Clubs & Societies Expo (Wilson Hall) on both the Thursday and Friday of O-Week.

These activities are intended to introduce the PSS to incoming first years, so if you know anyone starting at Melbourne this year, send them our way. Previous PSS members are also welcome to come along and grab a free sausage and some ice cream.

Here’s some of the stuff the science communication class got up to in 2010:

Special guests

Almost every week we had a visit from a special guest. These guests were from many different professions. However all of them were passionate, engaging and most importantly fun. Guests included

• Dr Simon Torok (CSIRO) – Communication and Marketing Manager for CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
• Dr Andi Horvath (Melbourne museum) – Senior curator, Science Communication
• Tim Thwaites (Science in public) – Science writer and broadcaster and former national president of the Australian Science Communicators
• Danielle Clode – Award winning author
• Chris KP (CSIRO) – Science Performer and Manager of the CSIRO Science Education Centre

A public blog

During semester we were asked to contribute to a blog but with a little twist. Instead of only us being able to see it, the blog was made public so that everyone in the world could see what we were talking about. We wrote posts about time travel, climate change, astronomy, dissection and even herpes.

Group projects

As part of our assessment we were invited to take part in a major group project related to science communication. These projects pushed us out into the University of Melbourne community and beyond. With groups working with Melbourne museum, visiting high school students, developing a high school science blog, working with the media unit and presenting a live radio show.

The handbook entry for this subject can be found here