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Norna Robertson

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Norna Robertson (FRSE, FInstP, FRAS, FAPS) is a lead scientist at LIGO at California Institute of Technology,[1] and professor of experimental physics at the University of Glasgow.[2] Her career has focused on experimental research into suspension systems and instrumentation to achieve the detection of gravitational waves.[3]

Norna Robertson
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
AwardsPresident's Medal of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, California Institute of Technology Staff Service and Impact Award
Scientific career
FieldsGravitational waves, experimental physics
InstitutionsLIGO, California Institute of Technology, University of Glasgow
Thesis Experiments relating to the detection of gravitational radiation and to the suppression of seismic noise in sensitive measurements  (1981)
Doctoral advisorRon Drever and Jim Hough

Education

Robertson obtained a Ph.D. in experimental physics in 1981 from the University of Glasgow, researching gravitational wave detection and how seismic noise could be suppressed in sensitive measurements.[4]

Research and career

Robertson began her postdoctoral career as a researcher at Imperial College London studying infrared astronomy.[5] In 1983, she joined the University of Glasgow as a lecturer and returned to gravitational waves research, becoming a Professor in 1999.[4]

In 2003, Robertson moved to the Gintzon Laboratory at Stanford University as a visiting professor, where her work focused on suspension systems for Advanced LIGO.[6] She became a lead scientist at the LIGO at California Institute of Technology in 2007, leading an international team of 20 scientists and engineers.[7] Her research contributed to the design of detection instrumentation that ultimately led to the first observation of gravitational waves in 2015.[8][9] Her work is now focused on the development of ultra-low noise suspensions systems for Advanced LIGO.[7]

Awards and honours

Robertson was awarded the President's Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2016 for her work on suspension systems for gravitational wave detection.[10] She received the California Institute of Technology Staff Service and Impact Award in 2017.[11]

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,[12] the American Physical Society,[13] the Royal Astronomical Society, the Institute of Physics,[14] and the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation.[15]

References

  1. ^ "Norna Robertson | Caltech Directory". directory.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  2. ^ "University of Glasgow :: Story :: Biography of Norna Robertson". universitystory.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  3. ^ "'It's the discovery of the decade'". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  4. ^ a b "The Scottish Connection" (PDF). Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  5. ^ "Prof. Norna Anne Robertson - AcademiaNet". www.academia-net.org. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  6. ^ Calendar, Stanford Event. ""Suspensions for Advanced LIGO"". events.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  7. ^ a b "Professor Norna Robertson, University of Glasgow". University of Glasgow. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  8. ^ "President's Medals for gravitational wave researchers". www.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  9. ^ Redacción (2017-10-16). "La impresionante colisión de dos estrellas de neutrones que provocaron las ondas gravitacionales que predijo Einstein". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  10. ^ "President's Medals for University of Glasgow gravitational wave researchers". www.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  11. ^ "LIGO Staff Honored at Caltech's 2017 Service and Impact Awards". LIGO Staff Honored at Caltech's 2017 Service and Impact Awards. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  12. ^ "Professor Norna Anne Robertson FRSE". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. 2020-03-24. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  13. ^ "APS Fellow Archive". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  14. ^ "University of Glasgow :: Schools :: School of Physics and Astronomy :: Research :: Research Groups - Institute for Gravitational Research - Our Staff and Students - Personal details". www.physics.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  15. ^ "International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation". www.isgrg.org. Retrieved 2020-06-23.


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