Dr James Chappell from the Department of Physics has been awarded the Institute of Physics’ Culham Thesis Prize: Plasma Physics Group. The annual prize recognises a well-explained thesis that demonstrates a good understanding of the subject and shows significant new work and originality.
Dr Chappell’s thesis is entitled 'Experimental study of long timescale plasma wakefield evolution' and describes measurements performed to study the frequencies at which plasma-based accelerators can be operated and the mechanisms that define their upper limit. Dr Chappell performed the studies while completing his PhD at University College London, working as part of two international collaborations; the AWAKE experiment at CERN and the FLASHForward experiment at DESY.
'It is an honour to have been awarded this prestigious prize,' said Dr Chappell. 'A huge thank you must go out to my colleagues who helped make these measurements possible. I am really excited about the promise that these studies have demonstrated for the field moving forward.'
Dr Chappell has since joined Professor Simon Hooker’s laser-plasma accelerators group in the department to continue working on the development of plasma-based accelerators.