School research

The School of Information and Physical Sciences is active in many areas of research.

Our research groups in mathematics, physics, statistics, computing and information technology, and cyber security attract funding from industry, government organisations and the highly competitive Australian Research Council grant schemes.

Our School researchers are involved with collaborations with other University of Newcastle researchers as part of several research groups. For more information, please click on the “Centres and groups” tile below.

The main themes of our mathematical research are modelling of physical systems at both the macro- and nano-scale, computational mathematics, signal processing, partial differential equations, number theory and topological algebra. We work with researchers in other disciplines within the university, and our strong national and international profiles in many of these areas involve external collaborations.

In physics, we conduct research on materials, including nano-materials and organic electronics, solar and space physics, laser physics and photonics, and medical physics. We collaborate with internal and external partners across the fields of science and engineering - and beyond - to tackle global challenges in areas such as advanced manufacturing, public health, and renewable energy.

Research in computing and IT, data science and statistics ranges from fundamental research in human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, software engineering and image processing, to more applied research in educational technology, decision making, virtual reality, simulation and robotics. There is a strong industry participation in our research activities, which address key challenges in industries such as health, education, food, logistics, mining, defence, transport and business.