SUPA is the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, a strategic alliance of eight Physics Schools with a shared strategy for research with funding from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). Our members are the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, St Andrews, Strathclyde and West of Scotland.
SUPA is a community of over 1200 physicists (academics, research staff and post-graduate students) across Scotland. Through a coherent approach to staffing strategy, research initiatives, graduate education, industry engagement and funding opportunities, physics research in Scotland has flourished with SUPA partner institutions forming the largest cluster of research power in physics in the UK.
SUPA is theme led, reflecting research strengths in the eight partner universities. Five themes represent physics sub-disciplines: Astronomy & Space Sciences, Condensed Matter & Materials Sciences, Nuclear & Plasma Physics, Particle Physics and Photonics. A further two themes represent impact strengths: Energy and Physics & Life Sciences.
The Graduate School, with around 600 PhD students, has been a major success of SUPA. Over 50 advanced specialist and professional development courses, corresponding to over 800 hours of lectures, are delivered annually via a network of video classrooms.