Professor James McLaughlin

Associate Head of School

School: Engineering, Physics and Mathematics

I graduated from Durham University in 2002 with a MSci (joint honours) Mathematics and Physics degree. I then moved to the University of St Andrews for my PhD studies in Applied Mathematics and Solar Physics. After successfully defending my thesis entitled “Magnetohydrodynamic wave propagation in the neighbourhood of magnetic null points", I accepted a research scientist position at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, USA. Later, I returned to the University of St Andrews as a Research Fellow funded by the Leverhulme Trust. In 2010, I was appointed Senior Lecturer at Northumbria University and became a Reader in February 2014.

I am a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (FRAS) and a Member of the Institute of Physics (MInstP).

Email James

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Constraining Turbulent Solar Flare Acceleration Regions by Connecting Kinetic Modeling and X-Ray Observations, Stores, M., Jeffrey, N., Dickson, E., McLaughlin, J., Kontar, E. 9 Apr 2026, In: Astrophysical Journal
Fast Magnetoacoustic Wave Behavior within Gravitationally Stratified, Magnetically Inhomogeneous Media, Smith, R., McLaughlin, J., Botha, G. 1 Feb 2026, In: The Astrophysical Journal
Wave Generation via Oscillatory Reconnection at a Three-dimensional Magnetic Null Point, Schiavo, L., Botha, G., McLaughlin, J. 1 Mar 2026, In: The Astrophysical Journal
Estimating the Poynting flux of Alfvenic waves in polar coronal holes across Solar Cycle 24, Morton, R., Weberg, M., Balodhi, N., McLaughlin, J. 20 May 2025, In: Astrophysical Journal
The Periodicity of Three-dimensional Oscillatory Reconnection, Schiavo, L., Botha, G., McLaughlin, J. 10 Nov 2025, In: The Astrophysical Journal
Time-dependent Turbulent Electron Acceleration and Transport in Solar Flares, Schiavo, L., Jeffrey, N., Botha, G., McLaughlin, J. 1 Dec 2025, In: The Astrophysical Journal
Modeling the Effects of a Light Bridge on Properties of Magnetohydrodynamic Waves in Solar Pores, Schiavo, L., Gordovskyy, M., Browning, P., de Souza e Almeida Silva, S., Verth, G., Ballai, I., Shelyag, S., Ruzheinikov, S., McLaughlin, J., Fedun, V. 1 Nov 2024, In: The Astrophysical Journal
Self-similar Solutions of Oscillatory Reconnection: Parameter Study of Magnetic Field Strength and Background Temperature, Schiavo, L., Botha, G., McLaughlin, J. 1 Nov 2024, In: The Astrophysical Journal
The Effect of Resistivity on the Periodicity of Oscillatory Reconnection, Talbot, J., McLaughlin, J., Botha, G., Hancock, M. 15 Apr 2024, In: The Astrophysical Journal
Oscillatory Reconnection as a Plasma Diagnostic in the Solar Corona, Karampelas, K., McLaughlin, J., Botha, G., Régnier, S. 1 Feb 2023, In: The Astrophysical Journal

Current and Recent Projects

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
STFC Consolidated Grant for the Solar and Space Physics Group at Northumbria University, McLaughlin, J. (Principal Investigator), Science and Technologies Facilities Council, 01/04/23 - 31/03/26, £1,289,803.00

PGR Supervision

Jordan Talbot A Numerical Investigation into the Dynamics of Oscillatory Reconnection Start Date: 01/06/2021 End Date: 29/11/2025
Jordan Talbot A Numerical Investigation into the Dynamics of Oscillatory Reconnection Start Date: 01/06/2021 End Date: 17/10/2025
Ryan Smith Oscillatory Reconnection: the physics of time-dependent, wave-generating reconnection Start Date: 01/10/2023
Ryan Smith Oscillatory Reconnection: the physics of time-dependent, wave-generating reconnection Start Date: 01/10/2023 End Date: 17/10/2025