The Cockcroft Institute is delighted to announce that one of its senior members has been elected this year to a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in recognition of his outstanding scientific achievements.
Professor Paul McKenna is a laser-plasma physicist at the University of Strathclyde. His research focuses on ultra-intense laser-plasma interactions and the development and application of laser-driven radiation sources. Paul has been a member of several EPSRC and STFC senior strategic advisory boards and the scientific advisory committees for international high power laser facilities. Following a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast he undertook postdoctoral research at the University of Glasgow before moving to Strathclyde upon award of a RSE personal research fellowship in 2002. He was an EPSRC Leadership Fellow from 2012-17 and became Head of the Department of Physics at Strathclyde in 2018.
Paul became a member of the Cockcroft Institute in 2016 and much of his research has been carried out at the UK’s Central Laser Facility. He has also been instrumental in the establishment of the SCAPA high power laser facility in Strathclyde.
On being congratulated on his success, Paul replied that “it is a fantastic honour to be recognised in this way by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Collaboration is central to my research, and I would like to acknowledge my current and former PhD students and post-docs, as well as the many other researchers I have had the opportunity to work with.”