Jonathan A. Jones (born 1967) is a professor in atomic and

laser physics Laser science or laser physics is a branch of optics that describes the theory and practice of lasers. Laser science is principally concerned with quantum electronics, laser construction, optical cavity design, the physics of producing a po ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

and tutor in physics at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

Education

Jones studied at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, from 1985 to 1989 and

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

, from 1989 to 1992. He received his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree in 1992 for research on Nuclear magnetic resonance data processing methods supervised by Peter Hore.

Research and career

Although trained in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, he is active in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, especially for his work on

NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which atomic nucleus, nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near and far field, near field) and respond by producing ...

quantum computation for which he was awarded the 2000 Marlow Medal of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

. His main research interest is in quantum computation.

Freedom of information activism

In 2009, Jones joined in making Freedom of Information requests to the Climatic Research Unit following a complaint by blogger Steve McIntyre that the Climatic Research Unit of the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

(UEA) had refused to release raw weather station data. Meteorological organisations had allowed the university to use this data on the understanding that it would be kept private, largely due to its commercial value. Jones made a Freedom of Information request for raw data which the university had shared with another researcher, but refused to provide to McIntyre. The university worked with the Met Office to get meteorological organisations to waive confidentiality on raw instrumental data, most failed to respond and two refused. In 2011 the

Information Commissioner's Office The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is a non-departmental public body which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. It is the independent regu ...

decided that the university had to make the data public, regardless of the wishes of its owners. Jones said to

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

that it was a matter of principle, "This dataset wasn't particularly interesting, but we thought the data in general should be available, and we thought people shouldn't have to make FoI requests for it." The decision was described as a "landmark ruling" and a "victory for critics of the UEA" by Fred Pearce of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Jones said "My sole aim n pursuing the caseis to help restore climate science to something more closely resembling scientific norms".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Jonathan Alcwyn 1967 births Living people British physicists Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Place of birth missing (living people)