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Professor Alison Bruce - experimental nuclear physicist

Professor Alison Bruce is an experimental nuclear physicist who uses the techniques of gamma-ray spectroscopy to study the properties of exotic nuclei. A particular focus at the moment is the study of shape evolution in neutron-rich nuclei where experimental work at the Radioactive Ion Beam Facility at the RIKEN laboratory in Japan has shown that exotic zirconium nuclei retain their prolate (rugby ball) shape rather than switch to oblate (hamburger) shape which had been predicted by some theorists. These nuclei are produced in the nuclear fission process in power reactors so the results have an indirect impact on modelling of reactor control.

Alison Bruce

Professor Alison Bruce

Nuclear Structure Physics is a fascinating subject which underpins many areas ranging from nuclear fusion to medical imaging. For me, it's the beauty that comes from understanding the behaviour of the building blocks of nature that keeps me intrigued. For example, measurements that we make in the lab contribute to our understanding of how elements were formed and the processes occurring now in stars. It's fascinating. I'm particularly proud of the range of careers that my PhD students have gone on to, including working on the UK nuclear fusion project, developing medical scanners with better position resolution and teaching in a South African University. It's talking to the students that makes the subject come alive for me.

Professor Alison Bruce

In recent years, Alison has taken a lead role in the design, construction and commissioning of new UK-funded experimental equipment for the FAIR facility which is a unique international accelerator being built in Darmstadt, Germany.

She is currently on the board representing the users of one of the experimental programmes at the facility.

Experiment nuclear physics equipment
Alison is an excellent role model for aspiring women scientists. She has carried out front-line research in Nuclear Physics at laboratories on four continents and she is playing a leading role in the UK Nuclear Physics community.

Professor Bill Gelletly, Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Surrey

Inspiring others

Alison studied at the University of Manchester and spent time at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US and the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark before joining the University of Brighton. When she started at Brighton there were about 50 nuclear academics in the UK of which only two were female. Now the ratio has increased to approximately 15 per cent and she is proud that a high proportion of her completed PhD students are females who have gone on to careers in the nuclear industry.

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