An international team of astronomers, including researchers from our Department of Physics, has observed a seemingly dormant supermassive black hole reawaken.

Our astronomers are part of an international team which has discovered a new object – a mash-up of a black hole and an enormous star.

Dr Emma McCabe, Associate Professor in Condensed Matter Physics, has received recognition for two published pieces of research this week.

Professor Ryan Cooke, from our Department of Physics, has been awarded a £5.6m Royal Society fellowship to investigate the first moments after the Big Bang.

Professor Pippa Petts, from our Department of Physics, has been awarded a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship in recognition of her outstanding contribution to teaching and learning.

The Milky Way may have undergone some cosmic gymnastics during its history with a dramatic disc flip, according to new research from our astronomers.

Astronomers from our Physics Department have discovered the earliest known evidence of a galaxy being shaped from the inside out, revealing that key processes in galaxy evolution were already under way when the Universe was still young.

Our physicists are part of one of the most ambitious studies of the Universe ever undertaken.

Our physics research delves into the origins of the Moon and galaxies – and now people can have a go at shaping the cosmos themselves.

Durham University has announced the appointment of renowned physicist Professor Mark Leake as Chair of Natural Philosophy, effective 1st October 2026.

Scientists say the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc), a crucial circulation of water that helps to keep northern Europe warm, is weakening, but it struggles to make the headlines. Dr Fionagh Thomson, a Visiting Research Fellow in our Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy and Institute for Computational Cosmology, looks at Amoc’s image problem.

Professor David Alexander from our top-rated Physics Department has been elected as a trustee of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), one of the UK's leading organisations for astronomy and geophysics.