Dr Martin Galpin
College Lecturer in Chemistry
Director of Studies and Associate Head of Department (Teaching)
Education
MChem DPhil (Oxford)
Dr Martin Galpin is Director of Studies and Associate Head of Department (Teaching) for the Department of Chemistry. Martin studied for his MChem in the Department of Chemistry at Oxford, before moving to Balliol College in 2001 to undertake his DPhil with Professor David Logan. He continued in the Logan group as a postdoctoral research associate and held a Junior Research Fellowship at Worcester College from 2006 to 2010. In 2011, Martin took up the position of Departmental Lecturer in Mathematics for Chemistry and was appointed to a Supernumerary Fellowship at University College. He became Deputy Director of Studies in 2017, and Director of Studies and Associate Head of Department (Teaching) in 2023.
I have a longstanding interest in teaching maths to scientists. I have a particular interest in developing modern teaching methods to complement more traditional approaches in lectures and tutorials, often through the use of computer software and visualisations to help students explore the subject in new ways. In the University’s Department of Chemistry, I am the Deputy Director of Studies. I chair the Graduate Studies Committee and have responsibility for the Chemistry Department’s central programme of graduate training, and I support the Director of Studies in the running and development of the undergraduate Chemistry course and the undergraduate admissions exercise. My Departmental teaching roles include lecturing parts of the Mathematics for Chemistry course and the MSc in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry.
My longstanding research interests have been in the general area of condensed matter theory, the aim of which is to understand the physical properties of solids, liquids and related phases of matter. Of particular interest to me are so-called ‘correlated electron systems’. The electrons within these materials interact so strongly with each other that they move collectively rather than independently, resulting in the emergence of interesting and complex physical properties. My current research is focused on electron correlations in magnetic materials, and involves both analytical (‘pen-and-paper’) and computer-based calculations using Quantum Monte Carlo techniques. More recently, I have collaborated with other members of the Chemistry Department on a range of problems, including on aspects of biophysical chemistry, the kinetics of complex organic and inorganic chemical reactions, and the statistical modelling of breath acetone measurements for the detection of type 1 diabetes.