Professor Quentin Pankhurst discusses his appointment as director of the Royal Institution Davy-Faraday Research Laboratory. Professor Pankhurst has more than 20 years’ academic experience in the study of fine particle magnetism and has published more than 150 papers in peer-refereed international journals. He is currently Deputy Director of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and a Professor of Physics at University College London. Born in New Zealand, he came to the UK in 1983 to study solid state physics at the University of Liverpool, where he was until joining UCL in 1994. Prof Pankhurst now runs research programmes in bio- and nanomagnetism dedicated to making practical advances in the use of magnetic nanoparticles in healthcare.