New Perspectives in Science Education

Edition 13

Speaker Profile

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Philippa Petts

Institution: Durham University

Address: Department of Physics, South Road,

Postal Code: DH1 3LE

Country: United Kingdom

Pippa is an Assistant Professor of Physics (Teaching) in the Department of Physics at Durham University.

She graduated first with an MPhys and then a PhD in Experimental Nuclear Physics from the University of York, UK. She specialised in experimental gamma-ray spectroscopy of exotic low mass nuclei, working both at CERN and Argonne National Laboratory in the US. Following completion of her PhD, Pippa worked for several years in the radiation detection industry developing products for both commercial and personal use. These involved instruments utilised following the Fukushima reactor disaster in 2011 and associated software for detecting and characterising radioactive signals for medical, security and industrial markets.

Pippa returned to academia at Durham in 2013 first as a Teaching Fellow and then subsequently being promoted to Assistant Professor (Teaching). She teaches at all undergraduate levels, but is particularly involved with running the Level 1 laboratory module “Discovery Skills in Physics”. She is also one of the Directors of Student Experience having responsibility for student pastoral care and integration. Pippa regularly runs Physics Education Research (PER) based MPhys/MSci projects for finalist students, often in collaboration with her colleague Dr Peter Swift. Current investigations include student perceptions and experiences of online learning due to the global pandemic. She won a grant from the Institute of Physics to investigate Troublesome Concepts in First Year Physics. She also maintains a strong connection with the nuclear industry, frequently collaborating on projects.

Pippa is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academedy (FHEA), a chartered physicist (CPhys) and also holds a PGCAP. She is a mother of two young boys (2 and 7 years) and is a disabled wheelchair user.


Areas of expertise: Physics, nuclear physics, radiation detection, physics education research, uncertainties, physics laboratories.

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