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Two Nobel Laureates - one who has an asteroid named after him - will visit The University of Western Australia for the 10th Frontiers of Fundamental Physics Symposium - the first time the international conference has been held in Australia.

Gerard ‘t Hooft is Professor in theoretical physics at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.  He shared the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics ‘for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions'.  Professor ‘t Hooft, who will give the conference's plenary lecture, has written a humorous ‘constitution' for the asteroid, with one of the bylaws stating: ‘All libraries and university buildings on 9491 Thooft shall be open day and night, regardless of the duration of days and nights on 9491 Thooft.'

Douglas Osheroff is Professor of physics and applied physics at Stanford University, California.  He shared the 1996 Nobel Prize for Physics ‘for discovery of superfluidity in helium-3'.  Professor Osheroff was a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, which determined the causes of the destruction of Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003.  He will also give the inaugural 2009 Marshall-Warren Lecture on November 24.

For more than a decade, the FFP symposium series has attracted some of the world's best physicists.  The broad objective of the series is to enable scholars working in related areas to meet and exchange ideas.  Previous symposia have been held in India, Italy, Spain and Canada.

Topics covered include astronomy and astrophysics, particle physics, theoretical physics, gravitation, cosmology and computational physics.

The conference will be held at UWA's School of Physics from November 24 - 26.  For more information, visit the website: www.ffp10.physics.uwa.edu.au

Media references

Research Professor John Hartnett (+61 8)  6488 7013 (office)
(+61 8)  6488 1332 (lab1) / 3443 (lab2)  /  (+61 4) 19 040 587
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716