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Materials
How does electricity flow through small objects?
Single molecules are small – really small! But what if we could harness some of their abilities to conduct and control electricity to create new electronic components? Researchers at the University of Oxford are investigating just this to find more energy efficient ways to transfer information. By looking at electricity at a small scale, we can...
Mechanobiology: the stress of life
We often think of our bodies in terms of cells and genes, but we shouldn’t forget that they’re also complex mechanical structures. From an Achilles tendon – that can carry half the weight of a Mini – to our constantly pulsing blood vessels, they’re feats of meticulous engineering. Scientists at the University of Oxford are showing how research...
Chemistry for the Future: Strange Substances and Structures
Learn about how chemists are discovering weird and wonderful materials with properties unlike everything else we know - and which may be the materials of the future, with potential uses including powering vehicles and minimising friction.
Click the link below to access as series of 5 videos on the topic:
Matters of Scale 3 - Nanomedicine
Dr Sonia Trigueros explains how she is using nanotechnologies to create targeted drug delivery systems. Chemotherapy is a particularly harmful treatment, with patients losing their hair and suffering from infections due to damage to their immune systems. By using the unique properties of cancer cells, they can be used to deliver targeted...
Richard G. Compton
I chose chemistry as a career partly because, when I was a schoolboy at a state school in rural Somerset and when I was a student both at Oxford University and at Imperial College London, I had wide interests - especially in chemistry, mathematics and geology. Becoming a physical chemist has allowed me to be active in all three areas. For...
Listen to podcasts on the science of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division.
The Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS) Division is one of the four academic divisions of the University of Oxford. They have over 6,000 students and research staff, and generate over half of our funding from external research grants. They collaborate closely with colleagues in Oxford across the medical sciences, social sciences and...
Merel Lefferts
I’ve always been interested in combining physics and chemistry, and in the area of small scale phenomena where physics and chemistry meet. I did my undergraduate at University College Utrecht (Utrecht University, the Netherlands), where I focussed on physics and chemistry. I then did a masters in the physics of nanomaterials at Utrecht...
Run For Your Light
You may have heard the word “quantum” bandied around a lot. But what does it mean? In this animation we take a look at how the photon – the quantum particle of light – is being harnessed to help create new technologies like quantum computers.
Where is my hoverboard?
According to the much-loved 'Back to the Future' franchise, we should all be zipping around on hoverboards by now. As we come to terms with our disappointment that they STILL haven't hit the shelves, Dr Clara Barker from Oxford University's Materials Science department discusses the technology that would be required to build one, and we learn...
