Rate My Professor Alasdair Clark

Alasdair Clark is Professor of Nanoscale Engineering in the James Watt School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow, where he leads the Nanophotonic Devices research group. He received a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Physics from the University of Strathclyde in 2005 and a PhD from the University of Glasgow in 2009 for his thesis entitled 'Nanophotonic split-ring resonators as dichroics for molecular spectroscopy.' Clark held a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship from 2011 to 2016 on 'Plasmon Enhanced Pyroelectrodynamic Nanoscale Trapping and Sensing,' funded at £594k, and a University of Glasgow Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Leadership Fellowship from 2013 to 2016. In 2013, he received the Scottish Crucible Award from the Royal Society of Edinburgh for 'The Development of a Viral Outbreak Early Warning System for Field and Hospital Use,' in collaboration with researchers from Heriot-Watt University and the University of the West of Scotland. He serves on the EPSRC Peer Review College since 2016 and has secured major grants including EPSRC funding for 'Decentralised Water Technologies' (2021-2026, £4M as Co-I) and BBSRC sLoLa grant on RNA-Binding Proteins (2020-2025, £4.1M collaboration).

Clark's research specializes in photonic metasurfaces and nano-engineered devices exploiting light-nanostructure interactions for applications in optics, photonics, bio-imaging, sensing, diagnostics, and DNA nanotechnology. His expertise encompasses plasmonics, electron-beam lithography, structural color, molecular nanopatterning, biosensors, and cross-reactive sensor arrays. Notable publications include 'Dual color plasmonic pixels create a polarization controlled nano color palette' (ACS Nano, 2016; 301 citations), 'Roadmap on photonic metasurfaces' (Applied Physics Letters, 2024; 155 citations), 'Plasmonic split-ring resonators as dichroic nanophotonic DNA biosensors' (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2009; 132 citations), 'Whisky tasting using a bimetallic nanoplasmonic tongue' (Nanoscale, 2019), and 'Plasmonic color filters as dual-state nanopixels for high-density microimage encoding' (Advanced Functional Materials, 2017; 153 citations). His innovations include nanophotonic sensors for whisky authentication developed with the Scotch Whisky Research Institute and plasmonic arrays for drinking water assessment. Clark supervises PhD students and research associates, contributing to advancements in biomedical engineering and environmental sensing.