Our research

The School of Physics at UNSW is a national leader of research excellence.

The School of Physics at UNSW is a national leader of research excellence. For example, in 2020, the school received over five million dollars in external research funding, published over 200 refereed papers and made 90 conferences presentations.


We have nine areas of research expertise: astrophysics, acoustics, biophysics, computational physics and big data, condensed matter physics and quantum devices, experimental and observational physics, fundamental physics, theoretical physics, and physics education research.

The School of Physics UNSW is a partner in four Australian Centres of Excellence. 

  • The Australian Centre of Excellence Exciton Science (ACEx)
  • Centre for Quantum Computing & Communication Technology (CQC²T)
  • Future Low Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET)
  • Centre of Excellence in Astrophysics (ASTRO 3D)

For more information regarding research in the School of Physics please contact the Research Director, Dr Michael Schmidt.

For general queries, please contact: research@phys.unsw.edu.au

School of Physics Research Committee

The Research Committee advises the School of Physics on matters related to research strategy and direction. The committee consists of:

  • Prof. Alex Hamilton
  • Dr Sarah Martell
  • Dr Peter Reece
  • Dr Michael Schmidt (Research Director, Chair)
  • A/Prof. Dennis Stello
  • Prof. Oleg Sushkov
  • Prof. Joe Wolfe 

​The Research Committee can be contacted at:

E: research@phys.unsw.edu.au