Professor Martin Dawson
Institute of Photonics
Personal statement
Professor Martin D. Dawson FRS FRSE FIEEE FOSA FInstP is a physicist known for his work on lasers and compound semiconductors. He is Director of Research in the University of Strathclyde’s Institute of Photonics, which he helped establish 28 years ago, and he was also appointed inaugural Head and Scientific Director of the Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics (Fh-CAP), the UK's only Fraunhofer research centre, in 2012. Martin has over 35 years’ experience of applied research gained in academia and industry in the UK and USA and he has been involved in the formation and technical development of a number of spin-out businesses, most recently including mLED and Neuro-VLC. He gave the Rank Prize Lecture in 2014 and the Edwards Lecture in 2023 and he has received awards including Gabor Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics; Aron Kessel Award of the IEEE Photonics Society; Nick Holonyak Jr Award from Optica/OSA; Global Solid State Lighting Award of Outstanding Achievement from ISA; Distinguished Service Award from the IEEE Photonics Society. He and his group have twice been awarded the IEEE Photonics Technology Letters Best Paper Award (2019 and 2022). He and his colleagues' contributions were recognised in the award of the 2023 Queen's Anniversary Prize to the University of Strathclyde for 'Excellence, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Photonics'.
Prize And Awards
- Sir Harold Hartley Award (Inst MC)
- Recipient
- 1/11/2023
- 45th Edwards Lecture (City University, London) including WCSIM Medal
- Recipient
- 1/2/2023
- Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS)
- Recipient
- 15/7/2022
- IEEE Photonics Technology Letters Best Paper Award
- Recipient
- 2022
- Nick Holonyak Jr Award (Optica, the Optical Society of America)
- Recipient
- 1/11/2021
- Distinguished Service Award (IEEE Photonics Society)
- Recipient
- 1/11/2021
Publications
- Co-integration of mesoporous GaN distributed Bragg reflectors and light-emitting diodes by transfer printing
- Guilhabert Benoit, Toon Miles, Ghosh Saptarsi, Jevtics Dimitars, Xia Zhongyi, Kappers Menno J, Dawson Martin, Oliver Rachel, Strain Michael
- Optics Letters (2026)
- https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.584532
- Chronically implantable μ LED arrays for optogenetic cortical surface stimulation in mice
- Greer Ryan, Verdier Antonin, Butt Emma, Cheng Yunzhou, Callas Ella, McAlinden Niall, Aniorte Alicia, Mabrouk Kakaouia Eya, Pereyra Magdalena, Dawson Martin D, Bathellier Brice, Mathieson Keith
- Nature Communications Vol 17 (2026)
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-68191-5
- 650 Mbps optical wireless communications using far-ultraviolet-C micro-light-emitting diode arrays
- McKendry JJD, Zimi H, Rajbhandari S, Ruschel J, Rass J, Einfeldt S, Herrnsdorf J, Dawson MD
- 2025 IEEE Photonics Conference (IPC) IEEE Photonics Conference 2025 2025 IEEE Photonics Conference (IPC), pp. 1-2 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1109/ipc65510.2025.11282262
- Polarization-sensitive nanowire terahertz receivers : from laboratory research to industry
- Peng Kun, Morgan Nicholas P, Jevtics Dimitars, Wagner Ford M, Siday Thomas, Xia Chelsea Q, Dede Didem, Boureau Victor, Piazza Valerio, Guilhabert Benoit, Hurtado Antonio, Strain Michael J, Dawson Martin D, Fu Lan, Tan Hark H, Jagadish Chennupati, Morral Anna Fontcuberta i, Johnston Michael B
- 2025 IEEE Photonics Conference (IPC) IEEE Photonics Conference 2025 2025 IEEE Photonics Conference (IPC), pp. 1-2 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1109/ipc65510.2025.11282030
- Eye and skin-safe 150 Mbps Optical Wireless Communications over 1 m using UVC LEDs
- McKendry Jonathan, Zimi Hichem, Shao Yingjie, Rajbhandari Sujan, Herrnsdorf Johannes, Dawson Martin
- IEEE Photonics Technology Letters Vol 37, pp. 1451-1454 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1109/LPT.2025.3571619
- 235 nm and 255 nm light-emitting diode based Gbps optical wireless communications up to 30 meters
- Zimi Hichem, Babadi Sina, Majlesein Behnaz, Osahon Isaac N O, McKendry Jonathan J D, Rajbhandari Sujan, Herrnsdorf Johannes, Haas Harald, Dawson Martin D
- Optics Express Vol 33, pp. 51383-51391 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.580372
Professional Activities
- 2025 30th Microoptics Conference
- Participant
- 25/10/2025
- Royal Society (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 1/1/2025
- IEEE (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 2025
- Royal Society (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 1/9/2024
- Royal Society (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 1/1/2024
- Rank Prize Fund Symposium 'Neuromorphic Photonics'
- Organiser
- 6/2/2023
Projects
- TITAN Extension. Integration of high-speed micro-LED transmitters with reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (micro-LED RIS)
- Herrnsdorf, Johannes (Principal Investigator) Dawson, Martin (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2026
- plaTform drIving The ultimAte coNnectivity (TITAN) (Future Communications Systems Hub)
- Haas, Harald (Principal Investigator) Dawson, Martin (Co-investigator) Herrnsdorf, Johannes (Co-investigator) Tavakkolnia, Iman (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 30-Jan-2026
- Structured light projection for FLIM in scattering environments (QUANTIC)
- Strain, Michael (Principal Investigator) Dawson, Martin (Co-investigator) Herrnsdorf, Johannes (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 30-Jan-2024
- Doctoral Training Partnership 2020-2021 University of Strathclyde | Gray, Johnathan
- Herrnsdorf, Johannes (Principal Investigator) Dawson, Martin (Co-investigator) Gray, Johnathan (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 01-Jan-2025
- Fraunhofer UK Research Limited: Studentship Agreement | Cohen, Steven
- Strain, Michael (Principal Investigator) Dawson, Martin (Co-investigator) Cohen, Steven (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2020 - 01-Jan-2024
- QT Assemble: Integrated Quantum Technology Programme
- Strain, Michael (Principal Investigator) Dawson, Martin (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2020 - 31-Jan-2023