Peter Day Award 2009 winner

Paul O'Brien
University of Manchester

Awarded for his work on the preparation of precursors for semiconductor thin films and nanoparticles.

About the winner

Prof. Paul O'Brien is at present the Chair of Inorganic Materials Chemistry at the University of Manchester, a joint appointment between the Schools of Chemistry and the Materials Science.

He served as Research Dean at the Victoria University of Manchester (2000-2002) and as Head of the Department and subsequently School of Chemistry through the formation of the new University (2002-2009). He has worked in London at Chelsea, Queen Mary and Imperial Colleges, and as a visiting Professor at Georgia Tech (1995-99).

He is the recipient of distinguished alumni awards from both Liverpool (Potts Medal) and Cardiff (A.G.Evans Memorial Medal) and the Kroll Award from the IOMMM for process chemistry. 

His research centres on developing new chemical processes for thin films and nanoparticles; especially of chalcogenide containing materials. In 2002 he founded Nanoco a company which manufactures nanoparticles which is now listed on AIM (April 2009). 

He is active in the RSC leading the Materials Forum (2001-2006) and as a Trustee (Member of Council since 2001). He managed for the Royal Society, a major programme (>£500 K over 12 years) in an historically black South African University (UZULU). He has addressed the Ghanaian Academy of Arts and Sciences on behalf of the Royal Society and has been funded by the RS them to build links with Ghana and Tanzania.

He is a firm advocate of the promotion of science and engineering: Chemistry President of the BA, a frequent presenter at Café Scientifique, is featured in the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

He has lectured widely at venues as diverse as the Royal Society, The Victoria and Albert Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Arts and for the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. Each year he presents several School's lectures including a very popular master class on nanotechnology.