Timothy Softley
Timothy Peter Softley FRS FRSC FInstP[1][3] is Pro-vice-chancellor (PVC) for research and knowledge transfer at the University of Birmingham.[6][7][8]
Tim Softley | |
|---|---|
 Tim Softley at the Royal Society admissions day in London, July 2018 | |
| Born | Timothy Peter Softley |
| Education | The Hewett School[1] |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford (BA, MA) University of Southampton (PhD)[2] |
| Awards | Corday Morgan Medal (1994)[3] Royal Society University Research Fellowship Harkness Fellowship |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemical physics |
| Institutions | University of Birmingham University of Oxford Stanford University University of Cambridge |
| Thesis | Infrared predissociation spectroscopy of diatomic atoms (1984) |
| Doctoral advisor | Alan Carrington[3] |
| Doctoral students |
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| Website | research |
Education
Softley was educated at The Hewett School in Norwich and Wadham College, Oxford.[1] He moved to the University of Southampton to complete a PhD supervised by Alan Carrington in 1984.[3][2] From 1986 to 1987 Softley worked as a post doctoral researcher in the group of Richard Zare at the Stanford University.[9]
Career and research
Softley is distinguished for his advances in two areas of Chemical Physics.[3] First, the study of atoms and molecules in highly excited quantum states, known as Rydberg states.[3] He has used his understanding of their properties, gained from laser spectroscopy and theory, to develop new applications including the study of model charge-transfer processes at solid-gas interfaces.[3] Second, he has pioneered unique experiments utilising combinations of novel physical devices for making cold atoms, molecules and ions, for studying the kinetics and dynamics of chemical processes at ultralow temperatures – close to the absolute zero of temperature – where quantum effects determine the reactivity.[3]
Much of his work was conducted in a twenty five-year period at Merton College, Oxford , where he served as head of the Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford from 2011 to 2015.[3] His former doctoral students include Helen H. Fielding.[4]
Awards and honours
Softley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018 for substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge.[3] He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). He was also awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellow (URF) at the University of Cambridge, held a Harkness Fellowship at Stanford University[3][2] and was awarded the Corday Morgan Medal in 1994.[3]
References
- Anon (2019). "Softley, Prof. Timothy Peter". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Softley, Timothy Peter (1984). Infrared predissociation spectroscopy of diatomic atoms. jisc.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Southampton. OCLC 59338370. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.354303.
- Anon (2018). "Professor Timothy Softley FRS". London: Royal Society. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:
"All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." --"Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies". Archived from the original on 11 November 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - Fielding, Helen H. (1992). The Stark effect in atomic and molecular Rydberg states (DPhil thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC 863543304. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.314877.
- "CV Frédéric Merkt" (PDF). Leopoldina Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- "Professor Tim Softley". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
- Timothy Softley publications from Europe PubMed Central
- ORCID 0000-0002-5285-6308
- "Zarelab Alumni".
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.