Members elected by and from the Professors

Roger Horn joined Deakin in July 2009 as Director of the Institute of Research Training. He brought to that role previous experience as Chair of the Research Training Committee at the University of South Australia a decade ago (a position that later morphed into their Dean of Graduate Studies). Since coming to Deakin he has been an active member of Academic Board and the committee Research and Research Training Committee, and Chairs the Thesis Examination Subcommittee of RRTC.

As Director of Research Training, Roger works with Faculties, Schools and Institutes to provide a series of skills development workshops for higher degree by research (HDR) candidates, and training workshops for HDR supervisors. He is also involved in development of policy and procedures concerning HDRs, and in academic decision-making on behalf of RRTC concerning candidature issues, supervision, and thesis examinations.

Roger Horn is holds a BSc (Hons) degree in physics from Monash University and a PhD from Cambridge. He has spent his career in public sector research organisations including the Université de Paris-Sud, the Australian National University, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the University of South Australia where he was Deputy Director of the Ian Wark Research Institute. Roger’s research interests centre on the physics and chemistry of thin liquid films and interfaces, particularly interfaces between liquids and other materials. The properties of interfaces play a major role in how materials interact with each other through physical forces, and these interactions determine important phenomena including adhesion, lubrication, friction, colloidal stability, nanoparticle stability, static electrical charging, bioadhesion and wetting. He is respected internationally for his pioneering work in measuring forces between surfaces. Roger currently holds two ARC Discovery grants to investigate the (surprisingly complex!) physicochemical interactions between bubbles.