Dr. Simon Hooker

Biography

Simon Hooker is a professor at the University of Oxford, focusing on atomic and laser physics. He leads a research group that specializes in plasma accelerators and novel sources of coherent x-rays. His group is part of the Laser-plasma accelerator group at the Oxford Centre for High Energy Density Science (OxCHEDS). Previously, he worked as a tutorial fellow with undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Oxford, after which he moved to Stanford University before returning to Oxford. He has received notable recognition including the co-recipient of the American Physical Society's John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research in 2010 and the Institute of Physics's Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Medal Prize in 2020. Hooker is a fellow of the Institute of Physics and a member of the Optical Society of America. He has contributed to the field by co-authoring an undergraduate textbook titled 'Laser Physics' published by Oxford University Press, which was written alongside Colin Webb, FRS. Hooker's interests lie in the realms of light-matter interactions, plasma accelerators, and high energy density science.

Research Interests