Dr Robert Jacobs studied for his first degree and D.Phil at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, before in 2000 being appointed as Manager of the Surface Analysis Facility in the Chemistry Department of the University of Oxford and Lecturer at Magdalen College, University of Oxford.

Research Interests

My research interests are focused around applying state of the art instrumentation in surface science to novel problems. This has lead me into a wide range of fields including, amongst others, nanotechnology, electrochemistry and biotechnology. Many of the projects in which I become involved arise through collaborations with groups across the Department. Examples of publications arising from my work, are given below. My role in the Chemistry Department is as Instrument Scientist and Manager responsible for the Surface Analysis Facility (SAF). This is a suite of equipment housed in several purpose built laboratories in the basement of the Chemistry Research Laboratory. The SAF contains a wide variety of state of the art scientific equipment capable of many experimental methods including: atomic force microscopy, scanning tunnelling microscopy, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (including IRRAS, PMIRRAS and ATR spectroscopy), ellipsometry, X-ray reflectometry, surface characterisation by gas adsorption (surface area, pore size distribution etc.) and dynamic surface tension and contact angle measurements.