Michael Charlton obtained his BSc and PhD degrees from University College London. In 1983 he was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, held at UCL. From 1991 to 1999 he was a Reader in Physics at UCL and was appointed to the Chair in Experimental Physics at University of Wales Swansea in 1999. Professor Charlton has published over one hundred research articles and written several reviews, notably for Reports on Progress in Physics and Physics Reports.