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13 July 2020

Physics laboratories reopen

Experimental researchers are returning to the socially distanced laboratories as lockdown measures have been eased.

Socially distanced science

The majority of laboratory work at King’s was suspended in mid-March as the UK was put in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant that the experimental elements of projects were temporarily paused as data could not be collected.

As the country starts emerging from lockdown, the laboratories have now reopened with strict social distancing rules in place.  We asked some of our researchers to send photos of their first days back in the lab and how it feels to return to campus.

M Romero Gomez UV

It’s amazing to resume work in the labs and be able to do one of the things we like the most: keep doing cutting edge research in the generation of plasmonic metamaterials with potential applications ranging from bio sensing to energy harvesting, areas of increasing interest and need in our current and post-pandemic world.

PhD Student Mayela Romero Gómez
Dr J Millen

I run the Levitated Nanophysics group at King's, and the opportunity to return to the lab was a great escape. More importantly, getting access for my research team was a huge relief, as the impact of lab closures on their careers weighed heavily on my mind. I have been involved in many weeks of planning to make this return happen, and we continue to push to safely increase the amount of experimental research in our Physics department. The value to me of just spending a morning playing with a laser... Priceless!

Dr James Millen
A Zaleska

It feels great to be back in the labs and working (>2m apart) alongside my colleagues again. It's quite a relief that I can remember how to do experimental physics at all! Now it's time to conduct various CO2 reduction experiments with my latest plasmonic metamaterials as nanocatalysts!

PhD Student Anastasia Zaleska
Dr Eva Philippaki

I am super excited to be back in our teaching labs after 16 weeks, I’ve missed my students and our laboratory adventures. I can’t wait to see them all again soon.

Dr Eva Philippaki
Bill Luckhurst is the Technical Services Manager in Physics and Engineering. Bill and his team have worked tirelessly to allow the researchers to return to their experiments safely.
Bill Luckhurst is the Technical Services Manager in Physics and Engineering. Bill and his team have worked tirelessly to allow the researchers to return to their experiments safely.

In this story

NMES_JM_lab_sq

Reader in Advanced Photonics

Dr Eva Philippaki

Senior Lecturer in Experimental Physics Education

Bill Luckhurst

Technical Services Manager Physics and Engineering