Our Research
Research Excellence Framework (REF), 2021: Across experimental, applied, and theoretical physics 97% of our publications are world leading and internationally excellent. Research impacts spanning cancer diagnostics, supercomputing, public engagement have substantially grown to 50% world leading. 100% of our Environment achieved world leading and internationally excellent ratings.
Our state-of-the-art facilities include: a low-energy positron beam with dedicated instrumentation for the study of positronium, a number of continuous-wave and pulsed laser systems, and scanning tunnelling, near-field optical and Raman microscopes.
High-performance computing resources are available via clusters and dedicated supercomputers.
Staff members lead the ALPHA collaboration, based at CERN, whose goal is to create, trap and manipulate anti-hydrogen. Results of the ALPHA collaboration are regularly published in Nature and featured on the BBC, CNN and other media.
The new Sêr SAM programme funded by the Welsh Government and European Regional Development Fund focuses on the physics of advanced materials with low embodied energy for applications in optoelectronics and bioelectronics. Particular areas of interest and expertise are next generation semiconductors, hybrid conducting electronic-ionic materials, photodetection and solar energy.
The Applied Physics and Materials (APM) group is predominantly experimental with additional supporting simulation and theory efforts. It is highly multidisciplinary spanning fundamental and applied research in areas such as solar energy conversion, sensing, photodetection, bioelectronics, low embodied energy semiconductors and ancillary electronic materials, nanoscale characterisation, biomimetic materials, bioimaging, biospectroscopy and cancer detection.
The Atomic Molecular and Quantum Physics (AMQP) group covers a diverse portfolio of quantum physics research spanning from antimatter to condensed matter, optomechanics, ultra-fast phenomena, imaging and quantum computation and simulation. The work spans both experiment and theory and has applications in several areas, including medical science.
The Particle Physics and Cosmology (PPCT) group conducts research in theoretical and computational particle physics and cosmology, with the aim to uncover the most fundamental description of matter and forces at the smallest length scales, including the true nature of gravity, the origin and evolution of the Universe, and the behaviour of the basic building blocks of matter under extreme conditions.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Our research contributes to the success of these specific UNSDG goals.
