Residence Leeds Name Alan Watson Institutions University of Leeds | Nationality Scottish Citizenship British | |
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Fields Ultra-high energy cosmic rays, ultra-high energy gamma-rays and high energy astrophysics Alma mater University of Edinburgh | ||
Education University of Edinburgh | ||
Alan Andrew Watson, FRS, (born 26 September 1938 in Edinburgh) is Physicist and an Emeritus Professor at the University of Leeds, England.
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Education
Watson was educated at the University of Edinburgh (BSc 1960 First class honours in Physics) and was awarded the degree of PhD in 1964 for his thesis on the Physics of Condensation of Water Vapour. His main areas of interest were high-energy cosmic rays, ultra high-energy gamma rays and high-energy astrophysics.
Career and research
Watson was Professor of Physics at the University of Leeds from 1984, having previously been Reader in Particle Cosmic Physics there, and retired in 2003 with the title Emeritus Professor.
Watson was instrumental in the creation of the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina (begun 1999) which gathered the data that led to major discoveries in cosmic-ray astronomy. The Observatory covers an area of 3000 km2 with 1,600 particle detectors each placed at 1.5 km intervals. Watson was serving as the spokesperson of the Pierre Auger collaboration and was later given the title of Spokesperson Emeritus.
Awards and honours
Watson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2000.