We bounce neutrons off surfaces to look at ultra-thin layers on top of them. How come? Well its a bit like when you see colours in an oil film on a wet road.

The colours are interference fringes which appear because the light has a wavelength close to the thickness of the oil film.

Neutrons turn out to be  waves (..thats another story…) with very small wavelength, so you can look at very thin films – one molecule thick

We study layers  of molecules which look like cell membranes, so we can investigate how new drugs get into your body, how alcohol might “work” and lots of other nano-things.

My field, neutron scattering, uses large machines at big research centres (check out ISIS) and is VERY expensive to run, so we don’t get to do it as often as I like, maybe a few days a month.

This means that we have to use ALL the time possible, so a typical neutron day might involve changing samples at 3am, sleeping under the desk before changing again at 6am, followed by croissants and espresso at the cafe (we do a lot of experiments in France). And then more of the same, especially coffee

However, most days,  I’m in my office in Bath, emailing, writing, meeting and teaching students or in the lab getting ready for another trip to the neutron scattering centres.

I’ve been helping to run a series of popular science lectures at the University for several years.

We have had expert speakers talking about all sort of topics ranging from medicine, formula one racing, drugs, TV nature shows to

the science of football and how the brain works. We invite lot of local schools and provide transport for those who need it. All this needs cash.