Staff information
Prof William Graham
Centre for Plasma Physicsemail: b.graham@qub.ac.uk
Tel: 028 9097 3564
Fax: 028 9097 3110
Room G049
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Queen's University Belfast
University Road
Belfast BT7 1NN
Current Research Interests and Brief CV:
Research Overview: Studies of the fundamental physics and chemistry of non-thermal plasmas and their application, mainly experimental and computer-based modelling.
Recent interests: Low pressure and atmospheric pressure plasmas, plasmas in liquids and plasma jets.
Specific topics: plasma ignition, plasma heating mechanisms, instabilities, mode hops, role of metastables, production of negative ions and radicals, plasma chemistry, interaction of plasmas with biological material and plasma medicine. Development of commercial applications and plasma devices.
Diagnostic tools: current-voltage measurement, optical emission spectroscopy, ns-resolution imaging, Langmuir probes, Thomson Scattering, laser induced fluorescence. chemical and biological assays.
Current Teaching Interests: Development of graduate level courses in Physics. Development of distance learning techniques for use in both the academic and industrial environment, having lead the development of remote MSc courses in plasma physics and plasma and vacuum science and technology. He is currently leading the Maths and Physics Internationalisation programme.
Professor Bill Graham was the first Director of the Centre for Plasma Physics at QUB (2005-2012). He is an elected member of the Royal Irish Academy and Fellow of the American Physical Society and Professor Honoris Causa at the University of Bucharest. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and has served on a number of its boards and committees including the Council and has chaired both the Irish Branch and Plasma Physics Committees. He has served on the Editorial Board of Plasma Sources Science and Technology and is currently an Associate Editor.
He has been a member the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council's (EPSRC) Technical Opportunities Panel. He was coordinator of the EPSRC Technological Plasmas Initiative and has chaired and been a member of many of EPSRC's evaluation, funding and review panels and has been in its Panels Peer Review College since its inception. He has also been on funding panels for the Science Foundation of Ireland and Deutsche Forschungs Geimeinschaft. He has been on the Governing Board of CRANN at Trinity College Dublin and was a reviewer for United States National Research Councils Decadal Review of Plasma Physics.
Professor Graham has been involved in four Research Quality Assessments at Irish Universities and was an assessor for the Romanian Research Assessment Exercise.
He has been or is a member of conference scientific committees including the European Conference on the Atomic and Molecular Physics of Ionised Gases (ESCAMPIG), the Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC), the International Conference on Reactive Plasmas (ICRP) and the Laser Aided and Plasma Diagnostics Conference and has organised both ESCAMPIG and GEC conferences. He has been the chair of the ESCAMPIG International Scientific Committee and the GEC Executive Committee.
He has been invited to talk at most of the major conferences in his field including the ICPIG, ESCAMPIG, GEC, ICPLANTS and ICRP.
