Norna Robertson
Norna Robertson (FRSE, FInstP, FRAS, FAPS) is a lead scientist at LIGO at California Institute of Technology,[1] and professor of experimental physics at the University of Glasgow.[2] Her career has focused on experimental research into suspension systems and instrumentation to achieve the detection of gravitational waves.[3]
Norna Robertson | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Glasgow |
| Awards | President's Medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, California Institute of Technology Staff Service and Impact Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Gravitational waves, experimental physics |
| Institutions | LIGO, California Institute of Technology, University of Glasgow |
| Thesis | Experiments relating to the detection of gravitational radiation and to the suppression of seismic noise in sensitive measurements (1981) |
| Doctoral advisor | Ron Drever and Jim Hough |
Education
[edit]Robertson obtained a Ph.D. in experimental physics in 1981 from the University of Glasgow, researching gravitational wave detection and how seismic noise could be suppressed in sensitive measurements.[4]
Research and career
[edit]Robertson began her postdoctoral career as a researcher at Imperial College London studying infrared astronomy.[5] In 1983, she joined the University of Glasgow as a lecturer and returned to gravitational waves research, becoming a Professor in 1999.[4]
In 2003, Robertson moved to the Gintzon Laboratory at Stanford University as a visiting professor, where her work focused on suspension systems for Advanced LIGO.[6] She became a lead scientist at the LIGO at California Institute of Technology in 2007, leading an international team of 20 scientists and engineers.[7] Her research contributed to the design of detection instrumentation that ultimately led to the first observation of gravitational waves in 2015.[8][9] Her work is now focused on the development of ultra-low noise suspensions systems for Advanced LIGO.[7]
Awards and honours
[edit]Robertson was awarded the President's Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2016 for her work on suspension systems for gravitational wave detection.[10] She received the California Institute of Technology Staff Service and Impact Award in 2017.[11]
She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,[12] the American Physical Society,[13] the Royal Astronomical Society, the Institute of Physics,[14] and the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation.[15]
References
[edit]- ^ "Norna Robertson | Caltech Directory". directory.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "University of Glasgow :: Story :: Biography of Norna Robertson". universitystory.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "'It's the discovery of the decade'". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ a b "The Scottish Connection" (PDF). Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Prof. Norna Anne Robertson - AcademiaNet". www.academia-net.org. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ Calendar, Stanford Event. ""Suspensions for Advanced LIGO"". events.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ a b "Professor Norna Robertson, University of Glasgow". University of Glasgow. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "President's Medals for gravitational wave researchers". www.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ Redacción (2017-10-16). "La impresionante colisión de dos estrellas de neutrones que provocaron las ondas gravitacionales que predijo Einstein". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "President's Medals for University of Glasgow gravitational wave researchers". www.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "LIGO Staff Honored at Caltech's 2017 Service and Impact Awards". LIGO Staff Honored at Caltech's 2017 Service and Impact Awards. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Professor Norna Anne Robertson FRSE". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. 2020-03-24. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "APS Fellow Archive". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "University of Glasgow :: Schools :: School of Physics and Astronomy :: Research :: Research Groups - Institute for Gravitational Research - Our Staff and Students - Personal details". www.physics.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation". www.isgrg.org. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
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- Living people
- Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
- Fellows of the American Physical Society
- Fellows of the Institute of Physics
- Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Scottish physicists
- Experimental physicists
- California Institute of Technology faculty
- Gravitational-wave astronomy
- British women scientists
- Alumni of the University of Glasgow
- American scientist stubs