The 一本道 University Physics Education Research (SUPER) Group hosted a follow-up meeting with Scottish Physics Higher Education staff on the 12th July 2026. This aimed to develop the outcomes of a previous meeting (Capturing Current issues in Scottish Physics HE: Transition, labs and resilience) into a large-scale Scotland-wide project.
Dr Iain Moore presented the preliminary findings from the initial discussions to a group which had representation from four of the Scottish universities offering undergraduate physics degrees. This information was then considered by the group, before they provided details of existing literature and current studies within each theme and subtheme, as well as suggesting the research gaps including ideas which could be investigated.
Lunch allowed digestion (literally and figuratively!), with the organising team collating the attendees notes into four potential research areas. These were discussed in smaller groups, based on participants’ interests, to work out the way forward. Following a review of the information provided, these were reworked and ideas for studies within them have been shared with those who took part over the two meetings.
SUPER member Brian Patton shared his thoughts on the day:
“This was an exciting meeting. Participants from multiple institutions noted similar changes in students over the last decade that we must respond to – we cannot pretend that the genuine issues raised are somehow the fault of students. We have to meet students where they are to get them where they need to be and it was a brilliant experience to see so many talented colleagues focus their expertise on a project that will give practical help to future cohorts of Scottish physicists.”
Next steps are to host an online focus group to firm up subprojects, leads/teams, and thereafter plans for a grant proposal. We welcome further collaborators, so please contact us at SUPER if you are interested.
In a random colliding of two worlds, we had a flying visit and photo opportunity from two NASA astronauts. Suni Williams and were attending an event at the Scottish Space School and kindly posed with the group, getting the day off to an exciting start:
Report from Laura Gray on behalf of the SUPER group.