Materials and Characterisation Group
This is an IOP special interest group, which is a community of IOP members focused on a particular discipline, application or area of interest.
Special interest groups allow members to connect and share knowledge and ideas. The IOP funds groups to deliver a range of activities including events, prizes and bursaries. All of our groups are driven by members.
About the group
As a special interest, member-driven group, we encourage activities focused on materials and material characterisation. Our large and multidisciplinary membership includes national and international academics, industrialists and governmental research organisations.
Broadly, our interests cover:
- properties and application of materials, old and new
- manufacture, modification and extraction of materials
- all types of material characterisation including:
- physical
- electrical
- optical
- elemental
- development of materials characterisation techniques and applications
What the group does
We organise and support meetings that reflect these interests in the physics community.
Joining an IOP special interest group
For non-IOP members: Become a member now
Group prizes
UKSAF Crossley Award
The Materials and Characterisation Group supports the UK Surface Analysis Forum (UKSAF), and sponsors the Crossley Award at the UKSAF Summer Meeting. The Crossley Award was created to recognise researchers whose work has a significant industrial impact.
The award is named after Alison Crossley, previous Secretary for the group, who established the Oxford Materials Characterisation Service (OMCS). Alison has an established research base in nanotechnology, surface and interface studies, has acted as a consultant to Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council on mid-range facilities for surface analysis, scanning probe microscopy and forensic science.
The award is presented for “the best presentation from an industry-based researcher, an academic collaboration with industrial partners or project with demonstratable industry impact”.
Read about previous winners (PDF, 323KB)
Group events
Find events for the Materials and Characterisation Group
Newsletter
- Newsletter, April 2020 (PDF, 1.3MB)
- Newsletter, April 2019 (PDF, 93KB)
- Newsletter, April 2018 (PDF, 1.07MB)
- Newsletter, January 2017 (PDF, 1.54MB)
- Newsletter, November 2014 (PDF, 804KB)
- Newsletter, October 2013 (PDF, 615KB)
- Newsletter, December 2011 (PDF, 669KB)
- Newsletter, May 2010 (PDF, 462KB)
Committee and contact
| Category | Name | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chair | Dr Andrew Pollard, CPhys FInstP | 2024 | 2028 |
| Secretary | Dr Ben Spencer, MInstP | 2024 | 2028 |
| Treasurer | Dr Thomas Hase, CPhys MInstP | 2024 | 2028 |
| Ordinary Member | Dr James Bowen, MInstP | 2024 | 2028 |
| Ordinary Member | Dr Jason Corbett, CPhys FInstP | 2021 | 2025 |
| Ordinary Member | Miss Ashleigh Davidson, MInstP | 2021 | 2025 |
| Ordinary Member | Dr Francesco Enrichi, MInstP | 2022 | 2026 |
| Ordinary Member | Dr Marina Leontiadou, MInstP | 2021 | 2025 |
| Ordinary Member | Dr Catalin Pruncu, MInstP | 2024 | 2028 |
| Ordinary Member | Dr Kerrie Smith, MInstP | 2024 | 2028 |
| Ordinary Member | Dr Ben Spencer, MInstP | 2023 | 2027 |
| Early Career Physicist | Dr Eleonore Poli, MInstP | 2022 | 2026 |
- Email: [email protected]