Rate My Professor Dave Charlton

Professor Dave Charlton FRS is the Poynting Professor of Physics and Professor of Particle Physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Birmingham. He obtained his first-class BA Honours in Physics from the University of Oxford in 1985 and his PhD in Particle Physics from the University of Birmingham in 1989. His doctoral research on the UA1 experiment at CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron searched for top quark production in proton-antiproton collisions. Subsequently, he dedicated twelve years to the OPAL experiment at CERN's LEP collider, conducting precision measurements of Z and W bosons. During this period, he advanced to Trigger Coordinator and then Physics Coordinator of the international OPAL Collaboration comprising around 350 physicists.

Since 2005, Charlton has been deeply involved in the ATLAS experiment at the CERN LHC. He led the construction of readout hybrid circuits for ATLAS particle tracking detectors in Birmingham and spearheaded the six-institute collaboration for the first-level calorimeter trigger system. His leadership roles in ATLAS include Deputy Physics Coordinator in 2007, Physics Coordinator in 2008, Deputy Spokesperson from 2009 to 2013—encompassing the 2012 Higgs boson discovery—and Spokesperson from early 2013 to early 2017, guiding nearly 3,000 researchers across 178 institutions in 38 countries. Charlton's research centres on experimental probes of electroweak symmetry breaking mechanisms, including Higgs boson properties, gauge-boson scattering, and precision electroweak measurements at the LHC, alongside developments in trigger systems. He has contributed to approximately 1100 publications with ATLAS, OPAL, and UA1. Among his honours are election as Fellow of the Royal Society in 2014, the Institute of Physics Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize in 2017, and Fellowship of the Institute of Physics in 2009. Charlton has served on key committees such as Chair of the STFC/PPARC Particle Physics Grants Panel (2004-2007) and delivered the 2016 EPS Distinguished Lecture. He currently teaches undergraduate particle physics modules and supervises PhD students on ATLAS-related projects.