Professor Brian P. Schmidt AC FAA FRS

The Nobel Prize in Physics 

Brian Schmidt shares the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess for their discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae. 

Whilst studying supernovae, their research determined how supernovae moved, leading to the discovery that the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. This was a shocking discovery to the world of astrophysics, as until then it was widely believed that the expansion of the universe would wane due to the effect of opposing gravitational forces.  

Brian served as the 12th Vice-Chancellor and President of ANU.