Posted on: 29 April 2011
Professor Jonathan Coleman, Associate Professor of Physics at Trinity College and Principal Investigator at the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN), has been named among the top 100 materials scientists of the past decade by Times Higher Education. Professor Coleman is the only Irish scientist named in the top 100 and one of the youngest on the list. Ranked 61st in the world, Professor Coleman was chosen from a list of approximately 500,000 materials scientists, ranking him among the top 0.02 percent in the field.
Materials science is an interdisciplinary field that overlaps with chemistry, physics, engineering and other areas and involves the study of the properties of matter and the application of materials to various areas of science and engineering. Professor Coleman’s research has led to the development of materials that could be incorporated into products that use plastic, making composites which are stronger, lighter and more environmentally friendly e.g. aircraft parts, car parts, sport and household goods.
Professor Jonathan Coleman, Associate Professor of Physics at Trinity College.
Speaking about the remarkable achievement Head of the School of Physics at TCD, Professor John Donegan, said: “Prof Jonathan Coleman is a scientist of great international repute. His publication record is extraordinary and he is a gifted communicator. The School is proud of his listing in the global review of the most prominent researchers in the field and we fully expect further great new science to arise from his research.”
Director of CRANN, Professor John Boland said: “I would like to congratulate Prof Coleman on this achievement, which is great recognition of the work he and his team are doing to develop next-generation materials. Ireland is beginning to take a globally recognised leadership position in Nanoresearch and scientists of the calibre of Professor Coleman are critical to building our reputation in this area.”
Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing field of research with the potential to bring significant developments in electronics, energy, environment and healthcare. CRANN’s researchers are working across physics, chemistry, materials science and medicine on areas including realistic solutions for faster and smarter electronic devices, more sensitive medical diagnostics and more efficient, cleaner energy solutions. CRANN is the leading institute for nanoscience research in Ireland, funded by Science Foundation Ireland and based at Trinity College Dublin as well as the School of Chemistry at University College Cork.
Professor Coleman received his PhD from Trinity College Dublin in 1999. He has since been awarded a Higher Education Authority Research Fellowship to continue his research into polymer-nanotube composites. In 2010 Professor Coleman was awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starter Grant of €1.5 million. The prestigious ERC Grants are given to only 300 top scientists across Europe, representing less than 10% of those who apply. Professor Coleman’s current research focus is on splitting 2-dimensional layered materials to give atomically thin ‘nanosheets’. These nanomaterials have chemical and electronic properties that have the potential to enable new electronic and energy storage technologies. Along with an international team, he published a paper in February 2011 in the prestigious journal Science on a new method of splitting these materials.
The Times Higher Education list, compiled by publishing giant Thomson Reuters, lists the 100 most influential materials scientists of the past decade, measured by the average citation count of their papers published since January 2000. The average citation impact in materials science for the period was 6.93 – all researchers listed achieved more than six times that mark.
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