Introduction

         Richard is Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Birmingham and Head of the Nanoscale Physics Research Laboratory, which he established in 1994 as the first centre for nanoscience in the UK. His research interests range from fundamental studies of nanostructures, including atomic clusters and atomic manipulation, to applications including catalysis, cancer research and nanofabrication for next generation electronics. Richard obtained his first degree (1983) and PhD (in 1986) at Cambridge University, where he subsequently held 1851, Clare College and Royal Society Research Fellowships. Richard has held visiting positions at Cornell, Oxford and Harvard Universities and is Honorary Professor at Swansea and Nanjing Universities. In 1996 he was awarded the CV Boys Medal of the Institute of Physics;; in 2010 he received an Honorary Doctoral Degree from Hasselt University, Belgium;; in 2012 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and awarded a senior EPSRC Fellowship;; in 2013 he was awarded the Senior Prize and John Yarwood Memorial Medal of the British Vacuum Council;; and in 2014 he was elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. He has published over 350 papers and 20+families of patent applications, and his research has also led to the formation of a series of spin-­out companies in semiconductor fabrication, biomedicine and instrumentation.