Astrophysicist and Special Fundamental Prize in Physics Laureat

About the Speaker:

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell is a world-renowned astrophysicist. She graduated from the University of Glasgow with a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Philosophy (physics), with honours, in 1965. She was part of the team who constructed the Interplanetary Scintillation Array during her Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge, which would be used to study quasars, which had only recently been discovered. As part of her work, she noticed a signal that was pulsing regularly every 1.3 seconds and which tracked across the sky with the stars.  Initially named LGM (Little Green Men), these objects were soon renamed pulsating radio sources, which were later shortened to pulsars. Her supervisor, Antony Hewish, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1974 for this discovery alongside Martin Ryle. However, Dame Jocelyn was later awarded the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics and used the £2.3 million prize money to set up the scholarship fund. She is convinced that bringing people from a wider range of backgrounds into physics will improve research.

Dame Jocelyn received so many awards including the Michael Faraday Prize (2010), and a Royal Medal (2015) by the Royal Society. In 2021, Dame Jocelyn became the second female recipient (after Dorothy Hodgkin in 1976) of the Copley Medal. She also holds major awards from French, Spanish, and USA organizations. A member of 7 Academies worldwide, she was the first female President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, as well as of the Institute of Physics.

She is currently a visiting Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and holds a Professorial Fellowship in Mansfield College, UK.

Organizing Team:

Christine Adelle Rico-Yuson, Central Mindanao University 

(Program Lead/Project Coordinator)

Reina Reyes, National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines

Cecilia O. Bucayong, Central Mindanao University

Bienvenido M. Butanas, Central Mindanao University

Vanie Y. Benben, Central Mindanao University

Sherwin M. Cupida, Central Mindanao University

Jake H. Destacamento, Department of Education – Bukidnon

Ida Lyn A. Azuelo, Bukidnon National High School

Joy Lyn D. Dela Cruz, Caraga State University- Cabadbaran Campus

Roel N. Baybayon, Central Mindanao University

Katherine M. Emphasis, Central Mindanao University

Majvell Kaye O. Vequizo, Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology