Dr Judith Hillier elected to Institute of Physics Council
Dr Judith Hillier, a Fellow at Kellogg College, has been elected Vice-President for Learning and Skills at the Institute of Physics (IOP) Council and will take up her role from 1 October 2024. IOP’s Council of Trustees has the ultimate responsibility for directing the affairs of IOP; it sets and monitors IOP’s strategy, which in turn delivers the charitable outcomes for which it was set up.
The Institute of Physics’ goal is to ensure physics improves our daily lives and our future, and they ensure that physicists have a voice in education, science, innovation and wider policy debates of our age. They bring physicists from around the world together to share knowledge, deliver breakthroughs and help turn scientific discoveries into real-world applications. They also help physicists share the wonder of physics with the next generation of potential physicists, and work to enable under-represented groups to become physics professionals.
Dr Hillier, Associate Professor of Science Education (Physics), University of Oxford, has been at the university’s Department of Education since 2007, where she is Deputy PGCE Course Director and lead PGCE Science Tutor. Her research interests lie in the education of science teachers, the recruitment and retention of physics teachers, the role of language in the development of scientific explanations in the classroom, and gender and diversity in STEM education.
In her new role as Vice-President for Learning and Skills, Dr Hillier will lead the Council’s oversight of relevant learning and skills programmes and policy work, actively engaging with the physics education community across all types of education and training. She will support the IOP’s programmes across teacher recruitment and retention, pedagogy, curriculum development, inclusion in education, skills for physics-powered and the IOP’s work on higher education.
In 2021, Dr Hillier was awarded the IOP’s Marie Curie-Sklodowska Medal for her significant contribution to the support of women in physics through her work with the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics, and to the education of teachers of physics.