Farewell to Cardiff…
Well, it’s my last day of official employment at Cardiff University and I’ve just finished my last big job, checking and collating the marks for the module I taught last semester. That done, I thought I’d have a quick sandwich before packing up a few final bits and pieces, vacating the old office, and handing in my keys.
There was a gathering in the department yesterday afternoon to celebrate my departure, followed by drinks and a nice dinner (at the splendid Purple Poppadom, although the Poppadoms weren’t actually Purple).
The Head of the School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University, Prof. Walter Gear, made a little speech at my departmental send-off before handing me a nice card as well as a gift voucher for the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. I’m a bit overwhelmed by the generosity shown by the good folks of PHYSX – the gift voucher will mean I can afford a few trips from Brighton to the Opera in London, even at Covent Garden’s outrageous prices.
I’ll miss the department here, especially the people that work and/or study here who have put up with me for the past five and a half years or so. Other things I’ll miss about Cardiff include Welsh National Opera, of course, for its excellence and (relative inexpensiveness).
But I’m not going completely just yet. I still have two PhD students and three 4th year project students to look after, so I’ll be coming back from time to time to meet with them. I’ll also be keeping the house in Pontcanna until the summer, so I’ll have a pied-a-terre here when I come back, either for work or for the Opera.
Anyway, I just wanted to say a public “thank you” to Walter for his kind words yesterday, for the support he has given me over the years, and especially last summer, and the generosity he showed in agreeing so quickly to transfer my STFC grant to Sussex. Would that everyone I’ve worked with had acted so unselfishly…
Now, to finish packing….
Follow @telescoper
In the Dark 
January 31, 2013 at 3:11 pm
All the best for Sussex.
mon
xx
January 31, 2013 at 3:42 pm
Peter,
Good luck in your move and new job!
Adrian
February 1, 2013 at 10:51 am
Would you consider getting a cat once you are fixed in Brighton?
February 1, 2013 at 11:30 am
Good luck in the new job. I hope everything goes excellently.
Incidentally, I beat Peter when it comes to leaving the Cardiff physics and astronomy department: I did it twice.
February 1, 2013 at 4:49 pm
Best of luck. I was a student of your and Prof Jon Davies’ Particle and Nuclear Physics module in 2008/9, which I enjoyed but perhaps didn’t make obvious enough with my module mark…
It was your interesting accent that drew me to look for your biography/profile which then led to my finding your blog. I’ve been reading ever since.
Pob hwyl yn Brighton
February 5, 2013 at 5:59 pm
Best of luck to you on your new journey.
January 31, 2016 at 4:41 pm
[…] realised last night that today, 31st January 2013, marks the third anniversary of my last day in the School of Physics & Astronomy at Cardiff University. That was on a Thursday and I was frantically finishing off marking examination scripts before […]
January 31, 2017 at 5:35 pm
[…] thinking about the 31st January deadline made me remember that it was precisely four years ago, on 31st January 2013, that I left Cardiff University to take up a post at the University of Sussex. On that occasion I […]
January 31, 2018 at 11:49 am
[…] waiting in the airport I checked Facebook, which reminded me that it was exactly five years ago today that I left Cardiff to take up the job of Head of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sussex. One […]