We are proud to announce that Rosanne Hasan, a PhD student in the Department of Physics at Royal Holloway, has been awarded the 2025 Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship by the Institute of Physics, in recognition of her exceptional potential and dedication to advancing the field of physics.
Rosanne Hasan, the PhD student, in front of the ATLAS detector at CERN.
The Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund was instigated by leading physicist Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell and the Institute of Physics (IOP) and is designed to encourage greater diversity in physics by supporting physics PhD students from underrepresented groups. The award provides financial support and recognition to help them pursue a research in the field.
Rosanne Hasan is a particle physicist based at Royal Holloway, University of London in the Centre for Particle Physics, and is working on the ATLAS experiment at CERN, Switzerland. The ATLAS experiment is one of four principal experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), with the aim to explore the fundamental structure of matter by colliding high-energy particles and observing the results. Rosanne's research is based on theories that try to answer the gauge hierarchy problem in physics, which is the unexplained difference between two scales in physics – the electroweak and Planck.
The Bell Burnell scholarship involves Rosanne working as an IOP ambassador, while receiving a cash sum towards finishing her PhD. Rosanne is featured in an awardee profile on the IOP website, and has said:
"My university and department have been incredibly supportive, providing an accessible environment and adjustments throughout my studies. But to extend my writing time would require self or additional funding – such as this amazing scholarship! This will allow me to finish my PhD with a focus on research and maintaining my wellbeing, without the extra worry of finances.
I’m also really grateful for the opportunity to be an ambassador. I’ve benefited so much from amazing role models and mentors throughout my studies. I’m very passionate about the importance of outreach and visibility of different people within physics. I’m so excited to meet and be part of such an amazing network of physicists.".
Rosanne Hasan
Improving diversity in Physics is a key part of our ethos here at Royal Holloway, where we are proud holders of the Project Juno champion status and a silver Athena Swan award. As a department, we are committed to the best possible outcomes from all our students, including women and underrepresented minorities within an inclusive community.
We extend our warmest congratulations to Rosanne and look forward to following their future successes in research and beyond.
