Researchers from the Department of Physics held their fifth Eureka conference from Monday 7 July until Wednesday 9 July 2025. The conference was organised by Dr Kristina Rusimova, Professor Ventsislav Valev and Department Coordinator Caz Leech. This three-day meeting took place at the Apex City of Bath Hotel and focused on the theme of security as well as emerging new science and technology with significant future potential. Over 100 delegates from 30 different organisations attended multiple parallel sessions over the three days and engaged in lively conversations with guests and sponsors from industry. The conference was also attended by delegates from Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL).
Professor Ventsi Valev, Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Bath, said: “It was incredibly inspiring to see how rapidly the community is advancing at the intersection of physics, materials, optics, and security. At Eureka 2025, we brought together brilliant minds from academia, industry, defence, and policy, who engaged in open, creative dialogue about emerging technologies and future challenges. We were also delighted to welcome participation from our colleagues in Engineering, DSTL and the US Air Force, which enriched the discussions and highlighted exciting opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations. I’m especially grateful to Caz Leech and Dr Kristina Rusimova for the fantastic organisation that made this event such a success.”
Professor Duncan Craig, Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Bath, said: "It is extremely exciting and gratifying to see our innovative and engaged Physics Department holding their fifth Eureka conference in Bath, with a wide range of participants, sponsors and topics with a central theme of security. This is exactly the type of activity that the University wishes to promote and encourage, and on behalf of the Faculty of Science I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate the organisers, participants and of course prizewinners."
Professor Tim Ibell, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Design at the University of Bath, said: "It is fabulous to see visionary discussions taking place in an inter-disciplinary setting. We’ll solve nothing globally unless we collaborate across boundaries and with all stakeholders. Eureka exemplifies this so beautifully. Congratulations to all involved."
The programme of the conference consisted of plenary talks on day one by Professor Jeremy Baumberg (University of Cambridge) and Professor Sandrine Heutz (Imperial College London). Delegates then attended an afternoon trip to Stonehenge and delegate dinner. On days two and three there were multiple parallel sessions, an industrial exhibition and poster presentation.
The parallel sessions on day two included:
• Photonics for Security chaired by Professor Ventsislav Valev
• Novel Optical Fibres chaired by Professor Jonathan Knight
• Materials in Quantum Technologies chaired by Dr Enrico Da Como
• Quantum Systems and Future Networks chaired by Professor Jonathan Knight
• New Phenomena in 2D Materials: Theory and Experiments chaired by Dr Enrico Da Como
At the end of day two a poster session was held. Three best early career researcher poster prizes were awarded that had been generously sponsored by NKT Photonics. These were won by Hoyeon Choi, University of Bath (1st place), Eric Lundgren, University of Bath (2nd place) and Georgia Booton, University of Bath (3rd place). Three awards were also sponsored by the journals Nanoscale, Nanoscale Advances, and Nanoscale Horizons. These prizes were awarded to Akito Miyama (University of Birmingham), John Kerr (University of Bath), and Charlie Perek-Jennings (University of Bath). The jury for these awards consisted of Dr Monica Allen (Air Force Research Laboratory), Dr Jeffery Allen (Air Force Research Laboratory), Prof Ortwin Hess (Trinity College Dublin), Prof Patrick Gill (National Physical Laboratory), and Dr Jan Tomczak (King’s College London).
The parallel sessions on day three included:
• Organic Electronic Materials and Devices chaired by Professor Alain Nogaret
• Advances in Nanophotonics, Quantum Materials, and Light-Matter Interactions chaired by Dr Kristina Rusimova and Dr Soraya Caixero
• Remote sensing, machine learning and fluid dynamics: astronomers’ toolkit for industrial collaboration chaired by Dr Hendrik van Eerten
• Bioelectronics chaired by Professor Alain Nogaret
• Materials and novel imaging techniques for security and defence chaired by Dr Gary Stevens (DSTL)
• Advanced Materials and Structures chaired by Professor Chris Bowen
The full programme for Eureka 2025! Physics for Security, including talk and poster abstracts, can be found here.
The organisers are especially grateful to Bethany Grubb and Hannah Martin for their help, which allowed the event to run smoothly.
The conference was sponsored by 7 industrial companies including Toptica, Thorlabs, NKT Photonics, Horiba, E&E, Laser2000 and Quantum Design. This was the first event to have included funding mangers and researchers from the defence and security sector, and we hope to continue nurturing and promoting collaboration between Universities and the security and technology sectors in many future Eureka events to come.