Alan Soper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alan Soper
|
|
|---|---|
Alan Soper at the Royal Society admissions day in London, July 2014
|
|
| Born |
Alan Kenneth Soper
15 June 1951 Romford, Essex
|
| Alma mater | University of Leicester (BSc, PhD) |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields |
|
| Institutions |
|
| Thesis | The Structure of Aqueous Solutions (1977) |
| Doctoral advisor | John Enderby |
Alan Kenneth Soper is a well-known scientist born in 1951. He is a Senior Fellow at the ISIS neutron source, which is part of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, England. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a very high honor for scientists.
Education and Early Career
Alan Soper went to The Campion School when he was younger. Later, he studied at the University of Leicester. He earned his first degree, a Bachelor of Science, in 1973. In 1977, he completed his PhD. His PhD research was about the structure of aqueous solutions, which are solutions where water is the main liquid. He did this research at a special science center in France.
Before joining the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in 1997, Dr. Soper worked in other places. He was a researcher and assistant professor at the University of Guelph in Canada. He also worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States.
Amazing Research on Water
Dr. Soper's research focuses on understanding how molecules are arranged in liquids and other messy systems. He is a world expert on the structure of water and solutions made with water. He studies how water molecules are organized and how they behave. He also looks at how water interacts with other molecules and surfaces.
He uses special tools like neutron diffraction and X-ray diffraction. These tools help him see the tiny structures of molecules. He also uses computer programs to create 3D models of these structures. His work is very important because water is essential for all living things.
Dr. Soper has studied water in extreme conditions. For example, he has looked at water found deep in the ocean. He has also studied water trapped in tiny spaces inside minerals. He found that this water can be under a lot of pressure, like being squeezed very hard.
Awards and Honors
In 2014, Alan Soper was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is one of the highest awards a scientist can receive in the United Kingdom. The Royal Society recognized him as the best experimental scientist studying the structure of water and water-based solutions. They also noted his important work on other liquids and glasses.
He also helped create new tools and methods for studying liquids. These new tools have changed how scientists do research in this field. In 2009, Dr. Soper was also named an ISIS neutron source Senior Research Fellow.
