John Pethica FRS is Science Foundation Ireland (S.F.I.) professor of material science at Trinity College Dublin, and a visiting professor at Oxford University. In 2001, Pethica was one of the first ten people awarded the prestigious S.F.I. principal investigator award. Following the award, he transferred his activities from Oxford to Dublin. The Royal Society of London is claimed to be the oldest learned society still in existence and was founded in 1660. ... The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin or more commonly Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, Irelands oldest university. ... The University of Oxford, situated in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... Dublins Hapenny Bridge. ...

The 2001 recipient of the Hughes Medal of the Royal Society of London, Pethica is most noted for his work on the development of atom resolution atomic force microscopy. The Hughes Medal, named for microphone inventor David Edward Hughes, is one of several medals awarded by the Royal Society, Englands reigning academy of science. ... The Royal Society of London is claimed to be the oldest learned society still in existence. ... The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a very powerful microscope invented by Binnig, Quate and Gerber in 1986. ...

As of February 2005, it has been announced that Pethica will be the director of 'Naughton Institute' a new purpose built nanotechnology centre in Dublin.

External links

• Homepage of John Pethica at Oxford (http://www.materials.ox.ac.uk/peoplepages/pethica.html)
• Science Foundation Ireland's Website (http://www.sfi.ie)
• Homepage of John Pethica at Trinity College Dublin (http://www.tcd.ie/physics/people/pethica)