| Jim Al-Khalili | |
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 Jim Al-Khalili O.B.E
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| Born | 20 September 1962 Baghdad, Iraq |
| Residence | Southsea, Hampshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Physicist |
| Institutions | University of Surrey University College London |
| Alma mater | University of Surrey |
| Doctoral advisor | Ronald C. Johnson |
| Notable awards | Michael Faraday Prize |
Jim Al-Khalili OBE (Arabic: جميل الخليلي, born 20 September 1962) is an Iraqi-born British professor of theoretical physics, author and broadcaster.
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Born in Baghdad in 1962 to an Iraqi father and English mother, Al-Khalili studied physics at the University of Surrey. He graduated with a B.Sc. degree in 1986 and stayed on to pursue a Ph.D. degree in nuclear reaction theory, which he obtained in 1989. In that year he was awarded a Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) postdoctoral fellowship at University College London. He returned to Surrey in 1991, first as a research assistant then lecturer.
Despite his work championing the importance of the scientific contributions of the medieval Islamic empire, Al-Khalili has stated that his interest in Islam itself is 'cultural rather than spiritual'.[1]
He currently divides his time between academia (lecturing and research in theoretical physics) and communicating science to a wider public through his writing and broadcasting. For an academic, his love of Leeds United often strikes an incongruous note. He is a committed "white" since he began following the great Don Revie team of the early 70's.
In 1994, Al-Khalili was awarded an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Advanced Research Fellowship for five years, during which time he established himself as a leading expert on mathematical models of exotic atomic nuclei. He has published widely in his field. [2].
Al-Khalili is now a professor of physics at the University of Surrey where he also holds a chair in the Public Engagement in Science. He is a Trustee and Vice President of the British Science Association.[3] He currently holds an EPSRC Senior Media Fellowship.[4]
In 2004 he was chosen as one of twenty-one "Faces of UK Science" on permanent exhibition in London’s National Portrait Gallery.[5] He was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize for science communication for 2007[6] and elected an Honorary Fellow of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been a Fellow of the Institute of Physics since 2000 when he also received the Institute's Public Awareness of Physics Award. He has lectured widely both in the UK and around the world, particularly for the British Council. He is currently a member of the British Council Science and Engineering Advisory Group, a member of Royal Society Equality and Diversity Panel, an external examiner for Open University Department of Physics and Astronomy, a member of Editorial Board for the open access Journal PMC Physics A and associate editor of Advanced Science Letters. He is also a member of Advisory Committee for Cheltenham Science Festival. In 2007, he was a judge on the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.[7]
As a broadcaster, Al-Khalili appears regularly on television and radio and writes regular articles for the British press[8]. In 2004, he co-presented the Channel 4 documentary The Riddle of Einstein's Brain, produced by Icon Films[9]. His big break as a presenter came in 2007 with Atom, a three-part series on BBC Four about the history of our understanding of the atom and atomic physics.[10] This was followed by a special archive edition of BBC Horizon, The Big Bang. In early 2009, he presented the BBC Four three part series Science and Islam about the leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries.[11]. He has contributed to programmes ranging from Tomorrow's World, BBC Four's Mind Games, The South Bank Show to BBC One's Bang Goes the Theory. In 2010, he presents a new BBC Four three part series called Chemistry: A Volatile History on the history of chemistry as well as a documentary on chaos theory called The Secret Life of Chaos. He is also one of several presenters on Genius of Britain, five-part series for Channel 4, to be shown in 2010, along with Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, James Dyson and David Attenborough.
Al-Khalili is a regular guest on BBC Radio 4's In Our Time, presented by Melvyn Bragg.[12] He has been a guest on Start The Week and the Today programme. In April, 2009, he presented a three-part series called The Secret Scientists for the BBC World Service. He was the Desert Island Discs guest on 14 February 2010.
Popular science books by Al-Khalili:-
These have, between them, been translated into thirteen languages.
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Jim Al-Khalili OBE (born 20 September 1962) is a British theoretical nuclear physicist, academic, author and broadcaster.
   | Faculty page - University of Surrey - Department of Physics - staff & students |
| | Portrait page - National Portrait Gallery - Person - Jim Al-Khalili |
| | The Graviton - BBC - Radio 4 In Our Time - The Graviton |
| | Higgs Boson - BBC - Radio 4 In Our Time - Higgs Boson |
| | Rutherford - BBC - Radio 4 In Our Time Presented By Melvyn Bragg - Rutherford |
| | Press release - Nuclear physicist wins Royal Society prize for science communication |
| | Personal website - al-khalili.co.uk |
| | Nuclear waste is hardly a worry when the climate change threat is so urgent - Jim Al-Khalili: Nuclear waste is hardly a worry when the climate change threat is so urgent | Comment is free | The Guardian |
| | Dr Jim Al-Khalili - Dr Jim Al-Khalili |
| | Personal Web page - Jim Al-Khalili's Home Page |
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