Prof Richard Curry obtained his BSc in Theoretical Physics (1st class Hons) from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) in 1996. He went on to complete a PhD, also at QMUL in 1999, in which he pioneered the first near infrared emitting organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Extending these studies and his interest in lanthanide emitters he moved to the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton in 2001 as a postdoctoral researcher. Here he also developed research interests studying planar chalcogenide materials for optoelectronic applications. In 2004 he moved to the University of Surrey becoming Professor of Photonics in 2015 and holder of a Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship 2015/16. In December 2016 he moved to the University of Manchester as Professor of Advanced Electronic Materials in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and undertakes his research within the Photon Science Institute. His research interests are based around the study and development of new photonic materials and devices and doped solid-state materials for quantum technologies. Recent advances from his group include the first demonstration of p- to n-type carrier reversal using non-equilibrium doping in amorphous chalcogenides (doi: 10.1038/ncomms6346) and the development of ultrahigh performance broadband hybrid photodetectors (see doi: 10.1038/nphoton.2015.280 for a review). He is the principle investigator of a portfolio of several research grants and maintains a strong set of national and international collaborations.