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Professor John Cunningham

Professor John Cunningham

  • Position: Professor
  • Areas of expertise: MHz to THz electronic devices and systems; Surface and bulk acoustic waves; on-chip GHz/THz devices and systems; semiconductor devices; interdisciplinary applications of high frequency electronics.
  • Email: J.E.Cunningham@leeds.ac.uk
  • Phone: +44(0)113 343 0618
  • Location: 1.63 School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering
  • Website: Googlescholar | ORCID

Responsibilities

  • Director of Research and Innovation

Research interests

Professor John Cunningham obtained his BSc in Physical Sciences from University College London in 1996 (1st class honours).  He then studied Semiconductor Physics obtaining an MSc with distinction from Imperial College in 1996.  He then moved to the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, obtaining a PhD in Physics in 2000, where he worked under his supervisor Professor Sir Michael Pepper on single-electron transport using surface acoustic waves.  

After working as a PDRA while being a College Fellow at Selwyn College Cambridge, he then moved to the University of Leeds School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering in 2003 to work on high frequency (terahertz) electronics, obtaining both Royal Academy of Engineering (2003) and EPSRC Advanced (2004) Fellowships.  He was promoted to Reader in 2008, and full Professor from 2010.  From 2011 to 2016 he was Director of the Institute of Microwaves and Photonics (now Pollard Institute), and from 2017 to 2023 acted as Deputy Head of School.  He has been awarded a career total of £8.3M as PI and an additional £27.2M as co-investigator.  He is a member of the EPSRC peer review College, and a frequent ESPRC, DFG, and Foundation for Polish science panel member.  Alongside frequent duties as a journal and grant reviewer, he has acted on the Scientific Advisory Board of CHIST-ERA, as General Co-chair and treasurer for European Microwave Week, and as Technical Programme Committee member for the International Microwave Symposium.  He led the UK Network for Terahertz Science and Technology (Teranet) from 2014 to 2021 and is currently Director of Research and Innovation for his School.
 

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Some research projects I'm currently working on, or have worked on, will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Research groups and institutes

  • Pollard Institute
  • Terahertz electronics and photonics
  • Bio-nanoelectronics

Current postgraduate researchers

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>
Projects
    <li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1161-terahertz-photonics">Terahertz Photonics</a></li>