School of Mathematics and Physics academic and IOP Council Member Dr Dermot Green recently represented the Institute of Physics and QUB at Stormont to raise awareness of the crucial role and huge potential of physics to the NI economy, highlight the challenges in our education system, and advise on the NI curriculum.

In December 2024, Dermot was joined by the Institute of Physics CEO Tom Grinyer, IOP's Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Tony McBride, IOP Ireland's Policy Manager Michelle McQuaid and Co-Head of IOP Ireland Lee Reynolds at Stormont. The team had individual meetings with the Northern Ireland Education Minister Paul Givan MLA, the Junior First Ministers Pam Cameron MLA and Aisling Reilly MLA, the Chair of the Stormont Education Committee Nick Mathison MLA, and the Chief Scientific and Innovation Officer Prof Helen McCarthy.

In particular, the crucial role of physics in the Northern Ireland economy (e.g., physics-based industries contributing to 7% of Northern Ireland's GDP https://www.iop.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/IOP-Contribution-of-Physics-to-the-NI-economy-summary.pdf ) was highlighted, as was the importance of the elevation of science in the NI curriculum, including primary curriculum.

Further to this, in January 2025 Dermot met with Lucy Crehan, the educational consultant tasked with the review of the NI Curriculum. Dermot was joined by IOP Head of Education Charles Tracy and IOP Ireland Co-Head Lee Reynolds. The IOP's recent extensive work around physics curriculum design at primary and post-primary level was presented, as was the IOP's response to the current curriculum review questions.  See e.g., https://www.iop.org/about/news/report-on-future-of-primary-science-curriculum-published and https://www.iop.org/about/publications/fundamentals-11-19-physics for further details.