Professor Paul Goddard has been announced as the winner of the 2023 Brian Pippard Prize from the Institute of Physics (IOP) Superconductivity Group.

The Pippard Prize is named in honour of Professor Sir Brian Pippard, and is awarded on an annual basis by the IOP Superconductivity Group to a scientist working in the UK who has made a significant contribution to the field of superconductivity in the last few years.

Paul’s journey began in the late 1990’s as a graduate student at University of Oxford where he was investigating the electronic structure of organic superconductors in very high magnetic fields.

Since then, Paul has used high fields to advance the understanding of magnetic, metallic and superconducting materials in which strong electronic correlations give rise to theoretically or technologically significant properties.

Paul tells us about his work:

“My work is fundamental in nature, aimed at furthering our understanding of quantum processes in new materials. Having said that, research in the area of superconductivity has a clear real-world goal: to determine how high-temperature superconductivity works and use this information to create materials with physical properties optimised for widespread application. The ability to transmit and, perhaps more importantly, to store electricity without losing energy to dissipation is a key goal to ensure the future of our society. As time goes on, the unfolding energy and climate crises make it only more urgent. “

Paul has been awarded the prize for his developmental work on the technique of angle-dependent magnetoresistance (AMR) and its application to mapping Fermi surfaces. His work has been pivotal in advancing the understanding of the electronic properties of several important superconducting systems. He has used this tool to reveal the fine details of how the Fermi surface reconstructs itself at critical points in the phase diagram of the high-temperature superconductors.

He says:

“AMR continues to be a very powerful technique for exploring the Fermi-surface properties of two-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional materials, and I am very pleased that my work in this area has been recognised by this award. All the work was highly collaborative, and my coworkers deserve a significant piece of this recognition.”

Professor Goddard will be hosting a lecture in the future as prize winner and we will update our news page with dates. You can read the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) article or find out more about Paul’s research.