Dr Oliver Allanson is an Assistant Professor in Space Environment in the Space Environment and Radio Engineering (SERENE) group, in the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham.

He is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Exeter.

He leads a UKRI NERC Independent Research Fellowship to better understand (and improve our modelling of) space science and space weather (2021-26): The Importance of Nonlinear Physics in Radiation Belt Modelling. He was

• the winner of the Royal Astronomical Society Fowler Award (Geophysics) 2023 (citation here) The Fowler Award for Early Achievement in Geophysics is for individuals who have made a particularly noteworthy contribution to this science at an early stage of their research career. (<=10 years dince phd).
• a winner of the Springer Theses prize in 2018 (here and here) The series “Springer Theses” brings together a selection of the very best Ph.D. theses from around the world and across the physical sciences.
• and the runner up for the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications Lighthill-Thwaites Biennial Prize 2017 (and here) (The prize honours young applied mathematicians (of any nationality), and applicants submit papers for review).

Radiation belts

The radiation belts contain the highest energy electrons in the near-Earth space environment. These pose a multitude of space-weather risks. Furthermore there are many fundamental scientific questions regarding why they behave the way that they do.

Oliver’s growing research team therefore has two co-supporting themes: (i) to discover, solve, and describe fundamental science problems; (ii) to build new modelling techniques that incorporate these state-of-the-art approaches. 

His current work considers the fundamental theory, modelling and observations of high-energy charged particle dynamics in the plasma of Earth's radiation belts, within our magnetosphere. This relies upon pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the kinetic plasma physics of resonant interactions between charged particles and electromagnetic waves. This research direction has evolved from a longstanding interest in kinetic plasma physics.

He has worked (and will continue to work) on these problems closely with colleagues and project partners at institutions including but not limited to: University of St Andrews; Northumbria University; British Antarctic Survey; University of California Los Angeles; GFZ Potsdam; US Air Force Research Lab; UCL/Mullard Space Science Laboratory; University of Warwick, University of Helsinki, UT Dallas.

"Allanson" Research Group
(staff, phd students, masters students -- past and present)

(Senior) Research Software Engineers (equivalent grade to pdras or above)
James Tyrrell, University of Birmingham, 2023-present (lead sup.)
Thomas Kappas, University of Birmingham, 2023-present (lead sup.)

PhD Students:
-Samuel Boardman (UoBirmingham, 2023-2027, School of Engineering Studentship Scholarship, 2nd-Supervisors Dr Adnane Osmane & Dr Sean Elvidge)
Understanding wave-particle interactions near zero degrees and ninety degrees pitch angles for space weather modelling (lead-sup.)

-Rachel Black (UoExeter, 2022-26, NERC GW4+ DTP, 2nd-Supervisors Dr Nigel Meredith (BAS) & Prof. Andrew Hillier (Exeter))
Understanding nonlinear wave-particle interactions in Earth’s radiation belts for space weather modelling (lead-sup.)

Masters Students
- Andrew Jobson, MSci, Physics, Birmingham, 2023-present (co-sup.)
- Ethan Cole, MSci, Physics, Birmingham, 2023-present (co-sup.)
-Joseph Spencer (MMath, Mathematics, Exeter, 2021-22, Advection and Diffusion of Electrons Interacting with Electromagnetic Waves -- Mathematics Masters Project Prize) (lead sup.)

Helpful online space plasma resources
(Oliver Allanson and University of Birmingham not responsible for links that take user to external pages!)
https://spacephysics.ucla.edu/

https://solenelejosne.com/bounce/

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/cfsa/research/wpc/

https://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/plasma/Plasma/Plasmahtml.html

https://www-thphys.physics.ox.ac.uk/people/AlexanderSchekochihin/