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Professor Regan joined NPL in 2013 as the UK’s first Professor of Nuclear Metrology, a joint appointment with the University of Surrey. He has now been celebrated in a newly published international database of isomer discoveries, ranking 10th on a global list of more than 1,000 researchers. His placing is a result of his participation in the ground-breaking discovery and characterisation of nuclear isomers.
Nuclear isomers occur when protons and neutrons inside an atomic nucleus rearrange into higher-energy configurations that live far longer than typical excited nuclear states, which usually last much less than a microsecond. Some isomers survive for microseconds, years, or in extreme cases, longer than the age of the universe. Isomers can contribute to astrophysics, medicine, material studies and medical manufacture.
The rankings come from a new international database compiled by Professor Michael Thoennessen of Michigan State University and published in Nuclear Physics News International. The findings will be presented at the NUSTAR Annual Meeting in Germany.
Patrick Regan, NPL Fellow, said: “Research into nuclear isomers helps us address some of the most fundamental questions in science – including where we come from and how the atoms that make up our bodies were formed in stellar explosions”
06 Mar 2026