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David O'Donnell

David O'Donnell

Dr

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4710-3803

Accepting PhD Students

20072026

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Overview

Dr O'Donnell is a lecturer in the Nuclear Physics Group having joined in March 2016.

Dr O'Donnell's primary research interests lie in the field of nuclear physics. In particular, he is interested in probing the structure of extremely exotic nuclei via the spectroscopy of gamma rays and charged particles.

Dr O'Donnell is involved with a project at the West of Scotland PET Centre in which a high-purity germanium detector is being used to better understand and quantify the radioactivity being produced as a result of the production of fluorine-18 used in PET scans.

Area of academic expertise - outline

Dr O'Donnell's research predominantly involves the spectroscopy of gamma-rays and charged particles to probe the limits of existence of atomic nuclei. In addition, he uses these techniques to gain an understanding of how the internal structure of nuclei evolves towards the limits imposed on us by the fundamental interactions found in nature.

His current research interests involve in the study of octupole correlations in actinide nuclei. The properties of these pear-shaped nuclei can be studied using Coulomb excitation reactions and using lifetime measurements.

Having played an instrumental role in the design and constrution of the STFC-funded Light Ion Spectrometer Array, based at University of Jyvaskyla Accelerator Laboratory, Dr O'Donnell has significant experience and expertise in the building of hardware for nuclear physics experiments.

Dr O'Donnell is actively involved in both the planning and management of the Scottish Centre for the Application of Plasma-based Accelerators (SCAPA) at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. This role sees Dr O'Donnell providing nuclear physics expertise as part of a large multi-disciplinary team.

Current research activities

In addition to his investigations of fundamental nuclear physics, Dr O'Donnell is also involved in a number of projects involving the use of novel scintillation-based materials and silicon photomultipliers as inexpensive radiation detectors. In particular, one of these projects is investigating the feasability of a medical device based on this technology for the detection of tumour margins post surgical excision. Another project is invstigating the use of such technology to improve the detection of space-based gamma-ray bursts which can be generated by the the most energetic events in the galaxy.

Other areas of expertise available for knowledge exchange

Dr O'Donnell has expertise in the Monte-Carlo simulation of radiation interactions with matter. He would be available for collaboration with companies or individuals looking to design radiation detectors or shielding.

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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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  • Lifetime measurements in 165W and the spin evolution of E2 transition strength

    Milanović, T., Cederwall, B., Doncel, M., Zanon, I., Li, H., Jakobsson, U., Auranen, K., Bönig, S., Drummond, M. C., Grahn, T., Greenlees, P. T., Herzáň, A., Joss, D. T., Julin, R., Juutinen, S., Konki, J., Kröll, T., Leino, M., McPeake, C. & O'Donnell, D. & 15 others, Page, R. D., Pakarinen, J., Partanen, J., Peura, P., Rahkila, P., Ruotsalainen, P., Sandzelius, M., Sarén, J., Saygi, B., Scholey, C., Sorri, J., Stolze, S., Taylor, M. J., Thornthwaite, A. & Uusitalo, J., 5 Feb 2026, In: Physical Review C. 113, 2, 7 p., 024307.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    File

  • Production and decay properties of the lightest osmium isotopes

    Briscoe, A. D., Page, R. D., McCarter, A., Uusitalo, J., Antalic, S., Joss, D. T., Auranen, K., AlAqeel, M. A. M., Alayed, B., Andel, B., Ayatollahzadeh, H., Badran, H., Barber, L., Beeton, G., Birova, M., Bogdanoff, V., Cubiss, J. G., Cullen, D. M., Deary, J. & Forsberg, U. & 42 others, Grahn, T., Greenlees, P. T., Hilton, J. B., Illana, A., Joukainen, H., Judson, D. S., Julin, R., Jutila, H., Keatings, J. M., Labiche, M., Leino, M., Lewis, M. C., Louko, J., Luoma, M., Martel, I., McKee, P. P., Mosat, P., Nathaniel, S. N., Neuvonen, O., O'Donnell, D., Ojala, J., Page, C. A. A., Pakarinen, J., Papadakis, P., Parr, E., Partanen, J., Plaza, A. M., Rahkila, P., Rey-herme, E., Ruotsalainen, P., Sarén, J., Smallcombe, J., Smith, J. F., Sorri, J., Sullivan, C. M., Szwec, S., Tann, H., Tolosa-Delgado, A., Uusikylä, E., Venhart, M., Waring, L. & Zimba, G. L., 22 Apr 2026, In: Physical Review C. 113, 10 p., 044317.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    File
    4 Downloads (Pure)

  • Spectroscopy of 209Ac and 207Ac

    Kokkonen, H., Auranen, K., Aden, P.-A., Ahokas, A., Alwadie, N., Bogdanoff, V., Briscoe, A. D., Chadderton, J., Grahn, T., Greenlees, P. T., Hogg, B. J. M., Herzáň, A., Joukainen, H., Julin, R., Jutila, H., Khuyagbaatar, J., Landsman, W. N., Lazzaretto, D., Leino, M. & Louko, J. & 11 others, McCarter, A., O'Donnell, D., Ojala, J., Page, R. D., Pakarinen, J., Rahkila, P., Ruotsalainen, P., Sarén, J., Uusikylä, E., Uusitalo, J. & White, D., 13 Apr 2026, In: Physical Review C. 113, 9 p., 044309.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    File
    4 Downloads (Pure)

  • Fine structure in the α decay of 179Hg and 177Au

    Špaček, A., Herzáň, A., Sedlák, M., Venhart, M., Ali, F. A., Andreyev, A. N., Auranen, K., Bánovská, S., Balogh, M., Carroll, R. J., Cox, D. M., Cubiss, J. G., Davis, T., Drummond, M. C., Easton, J. L., Grahn, T., Gredley, A., Greenlees, P. T., Henderson, J. & Jakobsson, U. & 33 others, Joss, D. T., Julin, R., Juutinen, S., Kantay, G., Kliman, J., Konki, J., Lawrie, E. A., Leino, M., Matoušek, V., Mistry, A. K., McPeake, C. G., O'Donnell, D., Page, R. D., Pakarinen, J., Papadakis, P., Partanen, J., Peura, P., Rahkila, P., Repko, A., Ruotsalainen, P., Sandzelius, M., Sarén, J., Saygı, B., Seweryniak, D., Scholey, C., Sorri, J., Stolze, S., Thornthwaite, A., Timchenko, I. S., Uusitalo, J., Veselský, M., Vielhauer, S. & Wearing, F. P., 7 Mar 2025, In: The European Physical Journal A. 61, 9 p., 43.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    File
    8 Downloads (Pure)

  • Photo-response of the N = Z nucleus 28Si below 13.0 MeV

    Scheck, M., Schwengner, R., Agar, O., Beyer, R., Chapman, R., Gladnishki, K., Herzberg, R.-D., Hoffmann, H., Junghans, A. R., Kocheva, D., Müller, S. E., O’Donnell, D., Rainovski, G., Römer, K., Savran, D., Schmidt, K., Thirolf, P. G., Wagner, A., Wieland, O. & Yadav, A. & 1 others, Zhu, F., 12 Aug 2025, In: The European Physical Journal A. 61, 15 p., 186.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

    Open Access
    File
    12 Downloads (Pure)
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