Prof. Richard Jones was educated at Cambridge University, with a first degree and a PhD in physics. After postdoctoral work at Cornell University, he was appointed as a lecturer at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University. In 1998 he moved to Sheffield University, where he is a Professor of Physics. In 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He is an experimental physicist, whose research centres around the properties of polymer molecules at interfaces and ultrathin polymer films. Richard is currently the Senior Strategic Advisor for Nanotechnology for the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.