Timothy Peter Softley One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: is Pro-vice-chancellor (PVC) for research and

knowledge transfer Knowledge transfer is the sharing or disseminating of knowledge and the providing of inputs to problem solving. In organizational theory, knowledge transfer is the practical problem of transferring knowledge from one part of the organization to ...

at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

Education

Softley was educated at

The Hewett School The Hewett Academy (formerly the Hewett School) is a coeducational secondary school located in the south of the English city of Norwich. History The school used to comprise three schools. Lakenham Boys' and Lakenham Girls' Secondary modern sc ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

and

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Doroth ...

. He moved to the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

to complete a PhD supervised by

Alan Carrington Alan Carrington CBE, FRS (6 January 1934 – 31 August 2013) was a British chemist and one of the leading spectroscopists in Britain in the late twentieth century. Education Carrington was educated at Colfe's School and the University of Sou ...

in 1984. From 1986 to 1987 Softley worked as a post doctoral researcher in the group of

Richard Zare Richard Neil Zare (born November 19, 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio) is the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science and a Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University. Throughout his career, Zare has made a considerable impact in physic ...

at the Stanford University.

Career and research

Softley is distinguished for his advances in two areas of

Chemical Physics Chemical physics is a subdiscipline of chemistry and physics that investigates physicochemical phenomena using techniques from atomic and molecular physics and condensed matter physics; it is the branch of physics that studies chemical proce ...

. First, the study of atoms and molecules in highly excited quantum states, known as

Rydberg state The Rydberg states of an atom or molecule are electronically excited states with energies that follow the Rydberg formula as they converge on an ionic state with an ionization energy. Although the Rydberg formula was developed to describe atomic e ...

s. He has used his understanding of their properties, gained from laser

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter ...

and theory, to develop new applications including the study of model charge-transfer processes at solid-gas interfaces. Second, he has pioneered unique experiments utilising combinations of novel physical devices for making

cold atoms Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

, molecules and ions, for studying the kinetics and dynamics of chemical processes at ultralow temperatures – close to the absolute zero of temperature – where quantum effects determine the reactivity. Much of his work was conducted in a twenty five-year period at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

, where he served as head of the

Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford The Department of Chemistry is the chemistry department of the University of Oxford, England, which is part of the university's Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division Overview The department has several laboratories in the Scienc ...

from 2011 to 2015. His former doctoral students include

Helen H. Fielding Helen H. Fielding is a Professor of physical chemistry at University College London (UCL). She focuses on ultrafast transient spectroscopy of protein chromophores and molecules. She was the first woman to win the Royal Society of Chemistry (RS ...

Awards and honours

Softley was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematic ...

(FRS) in 2018 for substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge. He is also a

Fellow of the Institute of Physics Fellowship of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) is "the highest level of membership attainable" by physicists who are members of the Institute of Physics (IoP), "for those with a degree in physics or related subject (or equivalent knowledge gaine ...

(FInstP) and a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (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 Ro ...

(FRSC). He was also awarded a

Royal Society University Research Fellow __NOTOC__ The Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF) is a research fellowship awarded to outstanding early career scientists in the United Kingdom who are judged by the Royal Society to have the potential to become leaders in their fie ...

(URF) at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, held a

Harkness Fellowship The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several coun ...

at Stanford University and was awarded the

Corday Morgan Medal Corday is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Betty Corday (1912–1987), American soap opera producer, wife of Ted Corday * Charlotte Corday (1768–1793), assassin of Jean-Paul Marat * Christine Corday (born 1970), American ar ...

in 1994.

References

Living people Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at The Hewett School Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellows of the Institute of Physics Alumni of the University of Oxford Year of birth missing (living people) {{Scientist-stub