Timothy Softley

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Timothy Peter Softley FRS FRSC FInstP[3][1] is Pro-vice-chancellor (PVC) for research and knowledge transfer at the University of Birmingham.[5][6][7]

Tim Softley
Tim Softley at the Royal Society admissions day in London, July 2018
Born
Timothy Peter Softley
EducationThe Hewett School[3]
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (BA, MA)
University of Southampton (PhD)[4]
AwardsCorday Morgan Medal (1994)[1]
Royal Society University Research Fellowship[when?]
Harkness Fellowship[when?]
Scientific career
FieldsChemical physics
InstitutionsUniversity of Birmingham
University of Oxford
Stanford University
University of Cambridge
ThesisInfrared predissociation spectroscopy of diatomic atoms (1984)
Doctoral advisorAlan Carrington[1]
Doctoral studentsHelen H. Fielding[2]
Websiteresearch.birmingham.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/timothy-softley(67763980-12d3-457a-91af-252836d2661f).html

Education

Softley was educated at The Hewett School in Norwich and Wadham College, Oxford.[3] He moved to the University of Southampton to complete a PhD supervised by Alan Carrington in 1984.[1][4]

Career and research

Softley is distinguished for his advances in two areas of Chemical Physics.[1] First, the study of atoms and molecules in highly excited quantum states, known as Rydberg states.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1]

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.[1] His former doctoral students include Helen H. Fielding.[2]

Awards and honours

Softley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018 for substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge.[1] 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,[when?] held a Harkness Fellowship at Stanford University[1][4] and was awarded the Corday Morgan Medal in 1994.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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)

  2. ^ a b 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.
  3. ^ a b c Anon (2019). "Softley, Prof. Timothy Peter". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. {{cite encyclopedia}}: More than one of |surname= and |author= specified (help); Unknown parameter |othernames= ignored (help) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) (subscription required)
  4. ^ a b c 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.
  5. ^ "Professor Tim Softley". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  6. ^ Timothy Softley publications from Europe PubMed Central
  7. ^ ORCID 0000-0002-5285-6308

  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.