Non-profit scientific publisher Institute of Physics (IOP) Publishing, UK, has announced the appointment of Professor Mervyn Miles as the new Chief Scientific Advisor. Professor Miles succeeds Sir John Enderby, who retired from the position at the end of 2011 after 15 years' service. Sir Enderby continues to work with IOP as a consultant.
IOP is a global scholarly publisher, specialising in the physical sciences and home to the renowned Journal of Physics series, New Journal of Physics and the Physics World magazine. The company is the publishing arm of the Institute of Physics, a leading scientific society with over 45,000 members whose goal is to promote physics and physicists for the benefit of all.
The role of Chief Scientific Advisor is to provide independent advice to the publishing business in relation to subject coverage, processes (such as peer review and copyright) and policies. In addition, the Chief Scientific Advisor also acts as an independent assessor should any of the editorial processes be challenged. As a Non-Executive Director of the publishing company, the Chief Scientific Advisor is also part of the Executive Board that reviews and agrees the strategic direction of the company.
Professor Miles is currently a Professor of Physics, Head of the Nanophysics and Soft Matter Group, and Director of the Centre for Nanoscience & Quantum Information at University of Bristol. His research activity over the last 20 years has been in the development and application of new scanning probe microscopes (SPM) with specific applications in soft matter. He has also published over 200 articles during his career and has given over 200 invited talks.
