We know how the Universe works - at least, we think we do!
TICKETS: £11.75 (inc. booking fees)
On the largest scales, gravity shapes galaxies and bends space-time. On the smallest, quantum mechanics governs a strange world of uncertainty and probability. Both frameworks are extraordinarily successful.
There’s just one problem: they don’t work together.
This tension sits at the heart of modern physics. When we try to describe extreme environments - black holes, the Big Bang - our best theories break down. So what’s missing? Is space-time truly fundamental, or something that emerges from deeper laws? Is our Universe the only one, or just one of many?
In the search for a “Theory of Everything,” physicists are exploring bold ideas — from string theory to multiverses, even the possibility that reality itself may be more surprising than we imagine.
Join Dr Katy Clough and Prof Toby Wiseman for a fascinating conversation at the frontier of physics. Together, they’ll explore where our current theories succeed, where they fail, and what these cracks might reveal about the true nature of reality.
The chair for this event is Anish Ghoshal.
PANEL GUESTS
DR KATY CLOUGH
Katy is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, and an STFC Ernest Rutherford Research Fellow
Lead for Research Innovation.
Her research focusses on testing the limits of general relativity and the Standard Model of particle physics, in particular using the numerical simulations of the early Universe and the interaction of fundamental fields and particles with black holes.
PROF TOBY WISEMAN
Toby is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London. His research focuses on fundamental aspects of gravity, black holes and quantum field theory.
He is particularly interested in understanding space-time and gravitation at the smallest and largest scales, and also how string theory combines Einstein's theory of gravity with quantum mechanics.
CHAIR
Anish Ghoshal is a theoretical physicist at the University of Sussex, specialising in particle physics, cosmology and gravity. His research focuses on the origins of our universe related to questions about the dark matter, matter-antimatter asymmetry, and gravity.
This event will take place upstairs in The Nightingale Room at The Grand Central Pub, Brighton. Unfortunately there is no wheelchair access available at this venue.
DOORS OPEN : 19:00
TALK STARTS : 19:30
AUDIENCE Q&A : 20:30