Assoc ProfessorSteve Campbell

Steve is a theoretical physicist interested in exploring the role which fundamental bounds, such as the quantum speed limit, play in characterising and designing thermodynamically efficient control protocols for complex quantum systems. He works on a variety of topics including open quantum systems, critical spin systems and phase transitions, metrology, and coherent control.

After a PhD in Queen's University Belfast in 2011 under the supervision of Mauro Paternostro, Steve moved to University College Cork to work with Thomas Busch in 2012. 2013 was spent at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University in Japan. Returning to Belfast he spent 2014 through to 2016 back at Queen's University. In 2017 he was awarded a fellowship from the INFN Sezione di Milano and worked with Bassano Vacchini. From February to September 2019 he was a Senior Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin through the award of an SFI Starting Investigators Research Grant for a project on Quantum Speed Limits in Thermodynamic Processes and moved to UCD in October 2019. Since joining UCD, his research has been supported through several prestigious grants from Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Research Council, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Humboldt Foundation.

Steve was awarded the 2nd G. D. Paparo Prize as "an example of a brilliant and promising researcher in the field of quantum physics" in 2020 and recognised as an Outstanding Reviewer by the American Physical Society for his contributions to peer review in 2022. Since October 2022 he has served as a committee member for the Institute of Physics Ireland. In 2023 he was appointed to the editorial board of New Journal of Physics. He received a fellowship for experienced researchers from the Alexander von Humboldt in 2023 during which he was based at Freie Universitat Berlin. UCD's College of Science recognised Steve's commitment and passion for teaching by honouring him with a Teaching Excellence Award in 2024.