Physicist Showcase

Key figures in the history of the department

Click on a person's profile to watch them talk about the history and development of the department, their research work, their inspiration and why they chose Durham.

Prof. Paula Chadwick

Paula Chadwick is Head of the Department of Physics and her research investigates gamma-ray astronomy and astroparticle physics.

Prof. Alan Martin

Alan Martin is an Emeritus Professor known for his research in the theory of elementary particles, including kaon physics, pi–pi scattering, hadron spectroscopy & muons.

Prof. Brian Tanner

Brian is an Emeritus Professor and formerly Dean of Knowledge Transfer, and is best known for research and business applications of X-ray diffraction topography.

Prof. Chris Done

Obtaining her PhD at Cambridge, Prof. Chris Done has focused on black holes, the ultimate triumph of gravity, with spacetime so warped that not even light can escape.

Prof. Mark Swinbank

Mark is an astronomer in the Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy. His research interests concern formation and evolution of galaxies, their clusters and interactions.

Prof. Peter Hatton

Peter is the Director of the Durham X-ray Centre, the largest interdisciplinary research centre in the University, and specialises in x-ray scattering techniques.

Prof. Shaun Cole

Shaun is the Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology. His research interests are Galaxy Formation and Large-scale structure.

Professor Shaun Cole

Shaun Cole answers a variety of questions on how he chose his career as an Astrophysicist

Shaun Cole explains how he became an Astrophysicist, how his passion for Physics started and what made him choose to pursue his PhD and come to Durham.