Professor Paul McKenna
Deputy Associate Principal
Physics
Personal statement
Paul McKenna is Deputy Associate Principal (Research & Knowledge Exchange). He leads activity in the areas of Research and Knowledge Exchange, with associated roles aligning with the University’s Postgraduate Research portfolio and Researcher Development. He was Vice Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Science from September 2021 to January 2023 and Head of the Department of Physics from August 2018 to August 2021.
Prof. McKenna’s research focuses on ultra-intense laser-plasma interactions, including the development and application of laser-driven particle and radiation sources, plasma optics and photonics, and high field science.
He is a member of EPSRC's Capital Infrastructure Strategic Advisory Team since 2017 and a former member of STFC's Science Board (2017-20). He holds scientific advisory roles for several international high power laser facilities (e.g. the Program Advisory Committee for the Extreme Light infrastructure-Nuclear Physics facility) and held a visiting position at the Central Laser Facility at Harwell. He was an EPSRC Leadership Fellow from 2012-17 and was elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2021.
Prize And Awards
- High Power Laser Science and Engineering Outstanding Contribution Award
- Recipient
- 1/10/2023
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
- Recipient
- 30/3/2020
Publications
- A neural network-based synthetic diagnostic of laser-accelerated proton energy spectra
- McQueen Christopher JG, Wilson Robbie, Frazer Timothy P, King Martin, Alderton Matthew, Bacon Ewan FJ, Dolier Ewan J, Dzelzainis Thomas, Patel Jesel K, Peat Maia P, Torrance Ben C, Gray Ross J, McKenna Paul
- Communications Physics Vol 8 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01984-8
- Stable laser-acceleration of high-flux proton beams with plasma collimation
- Streeter M J V, Glenn G D, Dilorio S, Treffert F, Loughran B, Ahmed H, Astbury S, Borghesi M, Bourgeois N, Curry C B, Dann S J D, Dover N P, Dzelzainis T, Ettlinger O C, Gauthier M, Giuffrida L, Glenzer S H, Gray R J, Green J S, Hicks G S, Hyland C, Istokskaia V, King M, Margarone D, McCusker O, McKenna P, Najmudin Z, Parisuaña C, Parsons P, Spindloe C, Symes D R, Thomas AGR, Xu N, Palmer C A J
- Nature Communications Vol 16 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56248-4
- Commissioning of a high repetition rate ion source target area at the SCAPA facility
- Dolier Ewan, Wilson Robbie, Torrance Ben, Peat Romero Maia, Alderton Matthew, McQueen Christopher, Wiggins Mark, Manahan Grace, Brunetti Enrico, Li Wentao, Jaroszynski Dino, Gray Ross, McKenna Paul
- 2024 Christmas Meeting of the High Power Laser User Community (2024)
- A scintillating fiber imaging spectrometer for active characterization of laser-driven proton beams
- Patel J K, Armstrong C D, Wilson R, Alderton M, Dolier E J, Frazer T P, Horne A, Lofrese A, Peat M, Woodward M, Zielbauer B, Clarke R J, Deas R, Rajeev P P, Gray R J, McKenna P
- High Power Laser Science and Engineering Vol 12 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1017/hpl.2024.62
- Target sensitivity study of density transition-injected electrons in laser wakefield accelerators
- Cobo C C, Arran C, Bourgeois N, Calvin L, Carderelli J, Cavanagh N, Colgan C, Dann S J D, Fitzgarrald R, Gerstmayr E, Kettle B, Los E E, Mangles S P D, McKenna P, Najmudin Z, Rajeev P P, Ridgers C P, Sarri G, Streeter M J V, Symes D R, Thomas A G R, Watt R, Murphy C D
- Physical Review Accelerators and Beams Vol 27 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevaccelbeams.27.111301
- Laser harmonic generation with independent control of frequency and orbital angular momentum
- Trines Raoul, Schmitz Holger, King Martin, McKenna Paul, Bingham Robert
- Nature Communications Vol 15 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51311-y
Professional Activities
- Invited Talk - Queens University Belfast Sir Harrie Massey Colloquia
- Speaker
- 21/5/2025
- Frontiers in Plasma Physics and Technology (FPPT-11) International Conference
- Participant
- 5/5/2025
- Invited Talk at the Frontiers in Plasma Physics and Technology (FPPT-11) International Conference
- Speaker
- 5/5/2025
- Laser-Plasma Accelerators Workshop (LPAW 2025)
- Participant
- 13/4/2025
- Invited Talk at the Cockcroft Institute Scientific Advisory Committee meeting 2025
- Speaker
- 2/2025
- Progress Towards High Repetition-Rate Ultra-Thin Targetry
- Contributor
- 15/1/2025
Projects
- Relativistic plasma apertures: Generating ultraintense structured light with orbital angular momentum (Responsive Mode)
- McKenna, Paul (Principal Investigator) Gray, Ross (Co-investigator) King, Martin (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 29-Jan-2028
- DTP 2224 University of Strathclyde | Leena Sadasivan Nair, Sreejith Sadan
- McKenna, Paul (Principal Investigator) Gray, Ross (Co-investigator) Leena Sadasivan Nair, Sreejith Sadan (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 01-Jan-2028
- Cultures of Collaborative Research in a Socially Progressive Technological University
- McDonald, James (Principal Investigator) Bedford, Tim (Co-investigator) Compton-Daw, Emma (Co-investigator) Connolly, Patricia (Co-investigator) Grealy, Madeleine (Co-investigator) Mahn, Churnjeet (Co-investigator) McKenna, Paul (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2025
- Industrial CASE Account - University of Strathclyde 2024
- McKenna, Paul (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2029
- Bayesian optimisation of inertial confinement fusion in multi-scale simulations
- McKenna, Paul (Principal Investigator) Gray, Ross (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2028
- Cultures of Collaborative Research in a Socially Progressive Technological University / R230557-207
- McDonald, James (Principal Investigator) Bedford, Tim (Co-investigator) Compton-Daw, Emma (Co-investigator) Connolly, Patricia (Co-investigator) Grealy, Madeleine (Co-investigator) Mahn, Churnjeet (Co-investigator) McKenna, Paul (Co-investigator)
- 16-Jan-2024 - 15-Jan-2025
Contact
Professor
Paul
McKenna
Deputy Associate Principal
Physics
Email: paul.mckenna@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 5712