Mark Johnson

Prof. Mark Johnson is currently the UK Associate Director and Head of the Science Division of the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, since 1 October 2016.

A physics undergraduate student in Durham, Mark Johnson then obtained his PhD from the University of Nottingham where he combined NMR and neutron scattering techniques to study proton tunnelling in molecular systems. He has maintained close connections with both universities and is currently a Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham.

Prof. Johnson moved to Grenoble in 1993 as a Royal Society-funded post-doc at the University Joseph Fourier, where he developed high pressure, high resolution optical spectroscopy experiments. The restart of the ILL reactor in 1995 was an opportunity to join the ILL in the Time-Of-Flight group where he worked on the backscattering spectrometers, IN10 and IN16.

In 1999, Mark Johnson became Head of the Computing for Science group in the Science Division. The group has developed a coherent approach to data treatment across a wide range of instruments and deployed simulation methods to help optimise instrument performance and to provide atomistic models to give detailed insight into neutron scattering data. Since 2012, Prof. Johnson has led the European NMI3-II project, including the consortium's successful bid for further funding with the SINE2020 project in the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme.

As Head of the Science Division, Prof. Johnson has promoted a more flexible access to beam time, in particular through mail-in of samples and most recently remote access, attracted European funding to develop services for users (FILL2030) and pioneer a PhD programme with industry partners (InnovaXN) and organised major events for the European user community in 2018 and 2020.