Physics in desperate situation

Professor Tony Thomas, chair of the Australian Academy of Science's national committee for physics, believes that physics teaching and research in Australia are in a desperate situation.

He says that physics is "a small but essential element of the innovation process." Discoveries in physics underlie electricity, modern communications, space flight, electronics, solar energy, medical imaging, genetic research, radiotherapy, the internet, modelling of climate change, and defence. Between 1994 and 2000 academic staff numbers in physics dropped 29% and support staff dropped 26%. The student to staff ratio in Australia is 16:1, whereas Oxford and Cambridge have ratios of 7:1.

Professor Thomas argued that a full professorship at an Australian university used to be advertised worldwide, but because of the decline in relative salaries, such advertising is now almost pointless. Professors in Europe can earn A$200,000 and in the US up to $400,000.

Professor Thomas continued by saying that the chances of winning a research grant from the Australian Research Council are low. Professor Thomas says that the source of the problem is that university staff are employed primarily to service other subjects, such as engineering and medicine and few senior school teachers are qualified in physics.