Workshop Leader, ‘Peer Review:  Why and How’: Professor Simon Hands, FLSW, University of Liverpool

Professor Simon Hands is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Liverpool, with interests in spanning particle, nuclear and condensed matter physics. After studies at first Cambridge and then Edinburgh Universities, followed by postdocs at Oxford, Illinois, Glasgow and CERN, he joined the newly-formed particle theory group at Swansea University in 1993, before moving to the University of Liverpool in 2021. 

His research uses lattice field theory to study microscopic properties of matter  in particular the quark-gluon plasma thought to exist for temperatures in excess of a trillion degrees; and the ultra-dense quark matter possibly to be found in the cores of neutron stars.

A Fellow in the Learned Society of Wales since 2013, in 2021 Simon was recognised by the American Physical Society as an Outstanding Referee for his work on behalf of Physical Review. As a member of the Learned Society of Wales’ Advisory Group for Researcher Development, Simon perceives that  the toughest transition any ECR has to overcome is acquiring research independence, indicated by both access to resources and publication profile.  “My experience has been in theoretical areas of science, where a key skill is organising thoughts, ideas and workload to produce independent (perhaps even single-author) publications. Sometimes it’s hard to recognise longer-term research priorities, especially in a world apparently dominated by REF, bibliometrics, ever-increasing teaching loads, and social media. I have also worked closely with younger experimental colleagues and understand all too well the huge difficulties involved in equipping a research laboratory. I want to be able to guide ECRs to make the optimal choices and decisions to advance their careers.