People


A list of our current members is provided below, followed by some of our past members. We provide links to pdf versions of the doctoral theses of some students below. Whilst a signifciant proportion of our time is spent working in Belfast, much of our work beneifts from collaborations with other groups and work carried out at the Central Laser Facility (UK). We currently have collaborative links with the following people/groups

Members of Ultrafast Belfast



Dr Jason Greenwood
  • j.greenwood@qub.ac.uk
  • Jason is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Physics at QUB, and has been researching atomic and molecular dynamics on femtosecond lasers for the past 10 years. He has spearheaded the application of electrostatic ion traps in fs studies of molecular fragmentation. 


Prof Ian Williams
  • i.williams@qub.ac.uk
  • Ian is a Professor of Physics and currently Director of Education for Physics and Astronomy in the School of Mathematics and Physics. He has been a lecturer at QUB since 1985 and, after significant research in the area of electron-ion scattering, he has been researching atomic and molecular dynamics in intense laser fields for over a decade.


Leigh Graham
  • lgraham15@qub.ac.uk
    • In the final stages of her PhD, Leigh spent a significant part of her doctorate working at the Weizmann Institute in Israel on experiments involving femtosecond interactions with ion beams.


Louise Belshaw
  • lbelshaw01@qub.ac.uk
    • Louise is in the 3rd year of her PhD, working with the KEIRA ion trap mass spectrometer for high-resolution studies of biomolecules. Her main focus is on methods for gas-phase production of biomolecules. 

Past Members


Dr Martin Duffy
Dr Orla Kelly
Dr Chris Calvert
Dr Raymond King
Dr John Alexander
Dr Philip Orr
  • PhD Student 2003-2007, Supervisor: Dr Jason Greenwood
  • Currently: Northern Ireland Medical Physics Agency (Radiation Protection)
  • philip.orr@belfasttrust.hscni.net

Dr Jarlath McKenna
  • PhD Student 2003-2006, Supervisor: Prof Ian Williams
  • Currently: Publishing Editor IoP
  • Jarlath.McKenna@iop.org

Dr Jofre Pedregosa Gutierrez
  • PhD Student 2002-2006, Supervisor: Dr Jason Greenwood
  • Currently;  Physics Lectureship @ Universite de Provence, Marseille
  • jofre.pedregosa@univ-provence.fr

Dr B. Srigengan
  • Postdoctoral Research Assistant with Prof Ian Williams

Dr Muthilingham Suresh
  • PhD Student 2002-2005, Supervisor: Prof Ian Williams

Dr Gail Johnston
  • PhD 2004, Supervisor: Prof Ian Williams
  • Currently: Northern Ireland Medical Physics Agency. 
  • Gail.Johnston@mpa.n-i.nhs.uk

Dr Paul McKenna
  • PhD 2000, Supervisor: Prof Ian Williams
  • Currently: Reader in Physics @ University of Strathclyde
  • p.mckenna@phys.strath.ac.uk