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BRIDGCE UK Network

BRIDGCE UK Network is a UK-wide network established to Bridge Research in the different Disciplines related to the Galactic Chemical Evolution and nuclear astrophysics

Welcome to the BRIDGCE UK Network

BRIDGCE [pronounced bridge-C-E] UK Network is a UK-wide network established to BRIdge the Disciplines related to the Galactic Chemical Evolution. The goal of this network is to facilitate collaborations across the different disciplines involved in the study of the origin of the elements.

Why was BRIDGCE UK network set-up?

In order to answer questions like: "Where were the elements we are made of created? How different were the first stars compared to nearby stars? Which nuclear reaction rates affect stellar model predictions and thus need to be (re-)measured and with which precision? How efficiently are chemical elements mixed in the interstellar medium? What are the building blocks of our galaxy?", knowledge in various disciplines of astrophysics and nuclear physics is necessary. Indeed, nuclear data (nuclear reaction rates in particular) are a key input for stellar evolution models since nuclear reactions provide the energy that powers stars, thus they determine their lifetimes, and the composition of their final ejecta. Stars, in turn, provide crucial radiative, kinetic, and chemical feedback into the galaxies they belong to through the light they shine, their strong winds and powerful supernova explosions and the multitudes of chemical elements they produce. Stellar evolution model outputs, in turn, therefore are key ingredients for galactic chemical models of galaxies. These models follow successive episodes of star formation and trace the history of the enrichment of chemical elements in various galaxies. The model predictions can then be compared to observations of stars that carry the chemical fingerprints of the cumulative chemical enrichment that preceded their birth. Comparison to observations can thus constrain both the galactic and stellar evolution models and tell us what aspects of the models need to be improved. Stellar evolution models can also be used as virtual nuclear physics laboratories in which we can test the impact of uncertainties in certain nuclear reaction rates.

Despite the fact that there are many experts in the UK trying to answer these questions, research and collaboration across different disciplines of physics is difficult because of the separate funding agencies and the lack of efficient knowledge transfer mechanisms between different disciplines (in particular between nuclear and astrophysics). The BRIDGCE UK network was set-up to remedy this important problem.

The BRIDGCE consortium has been funded by the STFC since 2015 and have organized parallel sessions at the National Astronomy Meeting, as well as annual network meetings (see Events).

Mailing list:

You can register to our mailing list to stay updated about our activies:

    https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=BRIDGCE

    Aims

    The main goals of BRIDGCE are the following:

    • Facilitate transfer of knowledge and collaborations related to the origin of the elements across the various disciplines and institutions in the UK.
    • Liaise with other national and international networks (e.g. JINA and ChETEC) who share the same goals.
    • Develop synergy between the various expertise available in the UK.
    • Enhance PhD students training in this multi-disciplinary research area.

     

    Members

    The BRIDGCE UK Network as of Sep 2023 has more than 75 members scattered across 20 institutes.

    A steering committee oversees activities in the various disciplines involved and is the main point of contact for new or non-members:

    • Raphael Hirschi (Keele) for stellar astrophysics
    • Alison Laird (York) for nuclear physics
    • Stuart Sim (Belfast) for supernovae/transients

     

    Partial list of members (in alphabetic order) is the following:

    • Armagh Observatory: Erin Higgins, Gautham Sabhahit, Jorick Vink
    • Queen's University Belfast: Stuart Sim
    • University of Birmingham: Martin Freer, Tzany Kokalova-Wheldon
    • University of Bristol: Richard Stancliffe
    • University of Cambridge: Anna Hourihane, Christopher Tout
    • Cardiff University: Janet Bowey, Mike Edmunds, Mikako Matsuura, Freeke van de Voort
    • University College London: Daisuke Kawata
    • University of Edinburgh: Marialuisa Aliotta, Carlo Bruno, Fergus Cullen, Claudia Lederer-Woods, Alexander Murphy, Phil Woods
    • University of Hertfordshire: Souradeep Bhattacharya, Emma Curtis-Lake, Vanessa Graber, Chiaki Kobayashi, Thomas Rauscher, Sean Ryan, Federico Sestito, Benjamin Wehmeyer, Rob Yates
    • University of Hull: Umberto Battino
    • Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge: Roberto Maiolino
    • Keele University: Raphael Hirschi, Vishnu Varma
    • Liverpool John Moores University: Andreea Font, Maurizio Salaris, Ricardo Schiavon
    • University of Manchester: Ian Lyon, Albert Zijlstra
    • Newcastle University: Dominic Bowman
    • University of Oxford: Alex Cameron, Stephen Smartt
    • University of Portsmouth: Claudia Maraston, Daniel Thomas
    • University of Surrey: Payel Das, Robert Izzard, Gavin Lotay, Zsolt Podolyak
    • University of York: Christian Diget, Brian Fulton, Alison Laird
    • University of Warwick: Elizabeth Stanway

     

    Past BRIDGCE PDRAs:

    • Gabriele Cescutti (2015-16), now a faculty at University of Trieste, Italy
    • Fiorenzo Vincenzo (2017-19), now CCAPP Fellow at Ohio State University, USA
    • Andreas Sander (2018-20), now Emmy Noether Research Group Leader, Heidelberg, Germany

    News

    Site News
    2021 Annual Meeting 13-17 Dec (online)
    Abstract submission deadline 1st Dec.
    2022 Calendar of Women Scientists Who Made Nuclear Astrophysics
    News
    BRIDGCE became a new partner of IReNA
    BRIDGCE UK network members join new €5 MILLION European Nuclear Astrophysics Network
    Calendar of Women Scientists Who Made Nuclear Astrophysics
    The calendar is produced by EU network ChETEC and is available also in the UK now!
    Call for BRIDGCE AM orgenizers
    The BRIDGCE annual meeting is planned for the week of 12th December (TBC).
    Call for NAM BRIDGCE parallel session organizers
    EAS session - submit abstract by 4 March
    Alex Cameron from BRIDGCE is the SOC chair of a session at the historically important place for chemical evolution - Padova.
    ERC Synergy Grant "HEAVYMETAL"
    Dr Stuart Sim from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), a member of the BRIDGECE steering committee has been awarded funding as part of the 11M Euro European Research Council Synergy Grant “HEAVYMETAL”.
    Meeting Report: "Nucleosynthesis - Origins and Impacts
    Meeting Report: "Nucleosynthesis - Origins and Impacts" A Royal Astronomical Society Specialist Discussion. Valentine's Day, 2014
    Register NAM 2021 by 5th July
    NAM session 2021: Unveiling cosmic chemical evolution: the role of transients, the origin of elements, and galaxy evolution
    New STFC-funded project on 3D simulations of massive stars in Keele
    New STFC-funded project on mass loss and Ionising flux from massive stars started in Armagh
    Nuclei in the Cosmos XVII, Daejeon, South Korea 2023
    PDRA Job Advertisement: Closing Date 1st October 2014
    PDRA Job Advertisement: Closing Date 1st October 2014 / Keele University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Astrophysics Group / Research Associate in Theoretical Stellar Astrophysics
    Abstract submission for BRIDGCE AM 2022
    Abstract submission is open for the annual BRIDGCE meeting
    Stellar origin of the 182Hf cosmochronometer and the presolar history of solar system matter
    New study of the 182Hf cosmochronometer published in Science
    Submit abstract for BRIDGCE annual meeting 2024
    University of Surrey, 8-10th July 2024
    Submit abstract for BRIDGCE annual meeting 2023
    UH CAR Research Fellowships
    University of Hertfordshire, Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR) closing date: February 20, 2022
    Annual meeting in December 2020 - first annoucement
    Virtual annual meeting of BRIDGCE network in the week of 14-18th December 2020, on Zoom.

    Publications, talks, ...

    Publications and material produced by BRIDGCE members or during BRIDGCE events
    Slides of RAS meeting talks
    See http://forum.astro.keele.ac.uk:9080/bridgce/news/meeting-report-nucleosynthesis-origins-and-impacts for a brief summary of the meeting

    Periodic Table, K20 public release version

    See the details in https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020ApJ...900..179K
    Periodic Table, K20 public release version
    Full-size image: 538 KB | View image View Download image Download

    Annual Meeting

    BRIDGCE host an annal meeting at a member institute

    Annual Meeting - Read More…

    Join BRIDGCE

    Join the UK nuclear astrophysics network BRIDGCE

     

    If you would like to participate BRIDGCE network activities, just join the BRIDGCE mailing list below!

    https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=BRIDGCE

    If you would like to participate the BRIDGCE consortium for STFC grants, please contact the PI.