Rate My Professor Peter Robinson

Professor Peter Robinson holds the position of Professor in the School of Physics within the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney, where he has been based since returning in 1997 and was promoted to a chair in 2000 or 2002. He leads the Complex Systems Group and conducts research in theoretical physics, with specializations in nonlinear dynamics, neurodynamics, space physics, plasma theory, and wave dynamics. Robinson obtained his PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Sydney in 1987. He then pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Colorado at Boulder until 1990 or 1991, returned to the University of Sydney joining the permanent staff in 1994, and served at Cornell University from 1994 to 1997 before rejoining Sydney. His work develops quantitative models of brain activity, including corticothalamic eigenmodes explaining EEG power spectra, sleep-wake transitions, attention, evoked responses, and pathological states such as epilepsy. In space physics, he contributes to models of wave propagation and instabilities relevant to solar radio emissions.