Research
Organisation of Research
Major investment in research excellence, targeted developments of recognised strengths and successful leadership of external collaborations have fostered an innovating and dynamic physics research community at Strathclyde. A strategic decision to concentrate critical mass in areas of research underpinned by optical sciences was implemented in 2002. 
Recognised strengths in computational optics, photonics, plasma physics, biomolecular physics, and widegap semiconductors led to a reorganisation of the Department into three complementary research divisions – Nanoscience, Optics, and Plasmas. Evidence of international standing in these targeted areas comes not only from high impact publications, leadership of national and international projects, and strong and sustained growth in research income, but also from highly effective knowledge transfer through industrial engagement and commercially significant outputs. Theory and experiment work together to enhance the pull-through of fundamental physics to applications, and underpin effective realisation of an expanding range of multidisciplinary initiatives.
Multi-million-pound extra-University collaborations, notably within the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA) and industry, and expanded intra-University collaborations have led to significant enhancements in our research portfolio. These have reinforced existing excellence and, at the same time, enabled us to make rapid impact in emerging multidisciplinary areas, such as nanometrology, complexity, quantum optics and laser-plasma based nuclear physics and ion acceleration.
Most of the externally-derived research funding is competitively won in peer-reviewed processes, which has resulted in an EPSRC portfolio that is consistently in excess of £12M and makes us one of the larger mainstream physics research centres in the UK. A commitment to strategic, as well as to fundamental research, has led to our success in not only in attracting funds from the EPSRC and the EU, which are core sources for most physics departments, but from a wide range of others, demonstrating our success in collaborative and multidisciplinary research. Our diverse range of recent sponsors include the Wellcome Trust, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, AWE, the Royal Society, Nuffield Foundation, Joint European Torus, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, e2v, Glaxo-Smith-Kline, NKT, and SGI.
The flourishing research activity supports over 30 postdoctoral research fellows and about 65 PhD research students. In addition there are post graduate students on the taught Masters course in High Power Radio Frequency Science and Engineering run jointly with Lancaster University.
Research infrastructure
The research environment for Physics at Strathclyde has been greatly aided by refurbishments and new-builds in an ongoing programme. This includes new suites of laboratories for the Relativistic Electron and Beam activity, the Wolfson Nanometrology Laboratory, the shielded laser-accelerator facility, the Helmholz-Curran Computing suite, and Electron Microscope facilities. A SUPA video-conferencing room and a completely refurbished Science Faculty workshop are housed within the Physics Department building. Further estates refurbishment scheduled for 2008 includes expansion of the nanometrology activity and upgrading of the post-graduate reading room and post-graduate/staff common room.
Research Committee
The Department has set-up a strong target-focused management and planning team, the Research Committee, which reports to the Department’s 7-person Executive Committee, and receives strong support from the University and Science Faculty, both of which promote an ethos of research excellence.
The Director of Research, John Jeffers, leads the research committee consisting of the HoD, the coordinators of the research divisions and the post graduate coordinator.
A Director of Marketing and Communications, Daniel Oi, produces the research newsletter and collates contributions to the University’s and SUPA’s newsletters and other media .
Research Colloquia
(See also the colloquia page)
The department invites distinguished researchers from other UK institutions and from international organisations to provide information about their research activities. The John Anderson Colloquium series regularly brings world-leading researchers to the Department. Since 2001, three Physics Nobel Laureates have visited the Department (Phillips, Hänsch, Hall). Academic and research staff members of the department are also invited to give seminars on their current work. Colloquia are held within the department on a Wednesday afternoon from 3.00 p.m. in room JA3.14 followed by coffee and an informal get-together with the speaker.
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Research Divisions
The department has three research divisions: Nanoscience, Optics, and Plasmas.
Nanoscience
The multidisciplinary Nanoscience Division comprises two groups (Biomolecular & Chemical Physics and Semiconductor Spectroscopy & Devices) with overlapping interests in nanoscale physics, soft condensed matter, chemical physics, materials science, solid-state physics, and nanometrology. Special topics include single molecules (proteins, metabolites, etc.), enzymes, semiconductor nanostructures, nanoparticles, and nanoscale astrochemistry. The work is underpinned by advanced experimental facilities, in-house theoretical expertise, and pioneering instrument development. Particular strengths are time-resolved bio- and chemical physics, spectro-microscopy and optical nanoscience. Visiting Professors are John Pickup (KCL School of Medicine) and Robin Hochstrasse (U Penn) who became a Royal Society of Edinburgh Honorary Fellow in 2008. James Gimzewski of UCLA will visit us as the 2009 Carnegie Centenary Professor.
Optics
The core of the Optics Division grew from the Computational Nonlinear and Quantum Optics and the Photonics groups, the former flagged 5* in RAE2001. It encompasses a very wide range of activities covering experimental, theoretical, and computational optics and developing practical applications within the Institute of Photonics (IoP) and the Centre for Biophotonics (CfB). The Division’s activities command a high degree of visibility and have been rewarded by the award of a number of prestigious Research Fellowships. In recent years, several members of the Division have won personal fellowships in open competition from the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh as well as from industrial sponsors. The division’s international visibility is further demonstrated by prominent engagement in five EU funded projects, including one coordinated by the Division. The work has been enhanced by a large number of prestigious visitors and the active engagement of eminent Visiting Professors including Aspect (Orsay), Loudon (Essex), Pegg (Brisbane), Politi (Florence).
Plasmas
The Atoms, Beams and Plasmas (ABP) and Strathclyde Intense Laser Interaction Studies (SILIS) groups together form the Plasma Division. The Division has a strong reputation for innovative research that attracts prestigious Visiting Professors including Sauerbrey (Dresden), Neely (RAL), Lang (RAL-retired) and Shukla (Bochum). Younger members of the Division have won personal fellowships from the Royal Society of Edinburgh and EPSRC while senior members earned prestigious externally-supported chairs and visiting professorships. There is very wide engagement in the research through international laser facilities, involvement in the world’s fusion laboratories and active free-electron physics collaborations with major international laboratories. The Plasma Division has won funding from a range of sources including the UK Research Councils, UK Government Departments, European Union and industry, amounting to over £15M during the period 2001-2007.
Initiatives
Major departmental strategic initiatives have come to fruition recently in the setting up of new multidisciplinary centres. These are the Centre for Molecular Nanometrology and the Institute for Complex Systems, which augment previous in-house centres of excellence in the Femtosecond Research Centre and the Terahertz to Optical Pulse Source. The department played a leading role in the setting up of the Institute of Photonics and the Centre for Biophotonics and with which it still maintains strong collaborative links.
The Centre for Molecular Nanometrology was launced in 2005 with over £2M investment as a joint initiative between the Departments of Physics and Chemistry. The Centre combines world-leading capabilities in the two Departments in time-resolved fluorescence, Raman spectroscopies and novel molecular materials for emitting and scattering light as means of revealing molecular structure and dynamics on the nanometre scale. The Centre is proving to be highly successful in raising funds for novel ideas including in 2006 a £5M EPSRC Science and Innovation Award for "Nanometrology for Molecular Science, Medicine and Manufacture", which is aimed at increasing the UK capacity in this new field. One of the many challenges is not only to measure on such a small scale, but also to be able to do this on molecules in their natural environment and track their dynamics at a level that even single-molecules can be studied, perhaps one-day non-invasively inside the human body to detect the early onset of disease.
Several research groups of the Department of Physics are involved in cross-disciplinary projects via the Institute of Complex Systems at Strathclyde . The ICSS started via an award of a grant from the Research Excellence Fund to support cross-disciplinary projects, workshops and international speakers in the area of Complexity. The ICSS coordinates research activities in complex systems across the Faculties of Science (Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Computer and Life Sciences) and Engineering (Mechanics, Materials and Electronics). The success of the ICSS resulted in the funding of a new Chair in Complexity Science shared between Physics and Mathematics.
Postgraduate Research and Training
(See also the postgraduate section on this website)
The Post-Graduate Tutor, Dr Gordon Robb, oversees a vibrant research student community of 65 students, with our commitment to multidisciplinary research reflected in a number of studentships shared with other Departments. Post-graduate students have the added benefit of being part of the SUPA Graduate School as well as the Department. The range of available post-graduate instructional courses has grown markedly in recent years due to the provision of video-conferencing across the SUPA Graduate School. SUPA postgraduates also benefit from an annual KT workshop hosted by Strathclyde’s Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship. Each year we hold a postgraduate conference, involving compulsory participation of first and second year students at a full day’s programme held at the University’s Ross Priory Conference Retreat. This provides a stimulating forum for students to gain experience in presenting and discussing their work. Student progress and progression are monitored via quarterly reports and annual viva voce assessments. Such carefully constructed bespoke support is resulting in an exceptionally high completion rate of successful PhDs within the specified time. The Department’s PhD, MPhil and MRes graduates have an excellent track record of securing jobs in academic life, in government and industrial research and development, and in science and technology, administration and consultancy.
