In a nutshell, PsiStar is the Physics and Astronomy Society at Queen Mary, University of London. In reality we
are much more than that. We are generally a group of students, undergraduates and postgraduates, who have an interest
in Physics and Astronomy whether it be are chosen degree or a 'lay-person' level of interest. We cater for all levels
of background knowledge, as well as providing a environment to relax, network and learn.
Socials
To relax, we organise social events in and around London. This includes leisure activities, ice skating and
bowling being among the favourites, educational trips to science related events and cultural trips to galleries and
museums.
Seminars
To attempt to keep the enthusiasm for physics during our degrees and to inspire us to continue into the further
reaches of Physics, we hold fortnightly* seminars. We invite our resident researchers and lecturers as well as past
students and guest speakers to tell us about their careers and specialist areas. We provide refreshments and snacks at
these events and thus charge a minimal amount to non-members.
Trips
Every 'Reading Week' we organise a special event. In semester A of the academic year 2004/2005, we organised a
trip to the Culham Science Centre, home to JET and MAST, the European and UK fusion experiments. We also ran a trip to
Thorpe Park in 2007 after the exams and in the summer of 2005, we organised a holiday to Cornwall - entirely unscience
related.
We do plan to have more trips to outside london, one idea is a trip to CERN to visit our ex-members who now work
there, and also to Diamond in Oxford. If there is somewhere that you want to visit, even if you really want to go to
JET, let one of our committee know and we'll do our best to organise it.
Annual Events
We have at present three annual events, the Christmas Dinner at the end of semester A, the E* Party at the end
of semester B and the Institute of Physics Paintball Tournament. These events are all subsidised for members.
Challenges
Throughout the year we have challenges set by our Practical Physics Coordinator. These were introduced in 2004
to ease the monotony of our events and allow us to procrastinate constructively. More can be found on our dedicated Challenge Arena.
* These events may not occur exactly every fortnight but are regular.
