I'm a lecturer in physics in the Accelerator Group, in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester; I've been at Manchester since October 2008.

My research, for the public

I am carrying out research in the applications of particle accelerators, both for particle physics and for applications in medical therapy, energy production, and materials studies. Like my accelerator colleagues at Manchester, I am a member of the Cockcroft Institute.

My research, for physicists

My research interests are in the applications of particle accelerators; you can tell the sort of things I work on from my publications. I presently have two PhD students examining how to make FFAGs carry more current. FFAGs are similar to cyclotrons, except that they can be modified to use conventional small synchrotron-like magnets rather than using the usual expensive magnet cores. This work is being carried out in conjunction with the CONFORM/EMMA project. Hopefully these designs will enable better accelerators to drive subcritical reactors, for example Thorium-based reactors, where Roger Barlow and I are involved in the ThorEA organisation.

I'm also interested in accelerators for synchrotron radiation production, and have worked a lot in the past on storage rings, and more recently on the beam dynamics of linac-based light sources. I've also contributed to the UK's New Light Source project (presently on hold). You can look at an early paper of mine on the project, or at the recent design report.

My teaching

I'm presently teaching PHYS20762 Computer Techniques in Physics and PHYS20872 Theory Computing Project to 2nd Year in Semester 4. I also teach 2nd-year nuclear physics lab on Fridays in Semester 1. Like most of the staff here, I'm also an academic and personal tutor, this year a personal/academic tutor to a group of 1st-years and personal tutor to a group of 3rd-years.

Professional activities

I am a member of the Institute of Physics Chartered Physicist Review Panel, and am on the committee of the IOP Particle Accelerators and Beams group.

Outreach

Outreach is really important, not simply because UK.gov funds most of what university physicists do, but really because we think what we're doing is both interesting and important, and we want to inspire people to appreciate that, and maybe to choose to work on the same things. I organised the 2010 Particle Physics Masterclass for A-level students, and have given lectures to the (now defunct) Continuing Education classes.