Jim Al-Khalili

Jim Al-Khalili is an award-winning science communicator and leading theoretical physicist whose work spans nuclear reaction theory, open quantum systems, quantum effects in biology, and the foundations of quantum mechanics. A Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey, he earned his PhD in nuclear reaction theory in 1989 and has since published extensively in the field. His current research focuses on the arrow of time, fundamental questions in quantum mechanics, and the role of quantum phenomena in biological systems.

Al-Khalili is also a prominent author and broadcaster. He has written 15 popular science and history of science books, translated into 26 languages. Among his acclaimed works are Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science, Life on the Edge: The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology, and The World According to Physics, the latter two shortlisted for the Royal Society Book Prize. He is a regular presenter of major television science documentaries, including the BAFTA-nominated Chemistry: A Volatile History, and he hosts BBC Radio 4’s long-running weekly programme The Life Scientific.

A former President of the British Science Association, Al-Khalili has received numerous honours for his contributions to science and public engagement, including the Royal Society’s Michael Faraday and Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medals, the Institute of Physics Kelvin Medal, and the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication. He was appointed OBE in 2007 and CBE in 2021 for services to science. He is a patron or vice president of several organisations, including Humanists UK, the Orthopaedic Research Society, the National Education Museum, the UK Metric Association, RASHID International, and the Daphne Jackson Trust. He is also a Fellow of the Science Museum Group and serves as a Commissioner for the Royal Commission of 1851.