Congratulations to Dr George Green whose work has been shortlisted for this year’s Vice-Chancellor’s Awards. Selection for this prestigious honour was highly competitive, with nearly 170 entries and around 1,000 individuals included in nominations.
Dr George Green (Associate Professor in Classical and Scientific Archaeology) has been shortlisted for the Breakthrough Researcher Award. He holds a newly created post jointly supported by the School of Archaeology, Faculty of Classics, Ashmolean Museum and the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source. George’s inclusion on the awards shortlist recognises the significant impact the partnership he leads between ISIS and the University of Oxford is having. There are only three facilities in the world where elemental analysis with muons is possible, let alone being directed towards archaeological research questions. This means that George’s work is incubating a globally unique and truly cutting-edge research area between ISIS and Oxford.
Muons can tell us the composition of artefacts deep beneath the surface, totally non-destructively. It is perfectly suited to his specialist area: understanding the movement and manufacture of gold in ancient Africa, Asia and Europe. George’s research has investigated the crisis of Rome’s AD 68/69 Civil Wars; the recycling of Dacian (Romanian) gold in ancient Afghanistan; and the composition of Aksumite gold in ancient Ethiopia. The partnership builds on this work, providing new training and teaching opportunities to students across archaeological science, classics, archaeology, history, and engineering; as well as new DPhil studentships and research opportunities working on the Ashmolean’s collection.
George's work has been selected for an exhibition at the Vice Chancellor's Awards Showcase on the 2nd of June, held at the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities. He will be joined by colleagues from ISIS, and visitors will have the chance to see components from the particle accelerator up close.
Find out more about the Vice Chancellor awards here
