Staff profile

Background

Paul completed a BSc in Chemical Physics and an MSc in Relativity, Astrophysics and Cosmology at Newcastle University, before developing some of his Masters dissertation ideas further in the completion of his PhD thesis, in 2012, on Low Energy Quantum Gravity. He investigated 1) gravitational corrections to scalar field theory with an effective field theory approach and 2) the application of the AdS-CFT correspondence to investigate properties of the quark-gluon plasma using black hole thermodynamics. 

Following his doctorate, he trained as a physics teacher and has over 10 years experience in physics, maths and engineering education. 

His particular interests include physics pedagogy, in particular improving efficacy via technological means.

Doctoral Thesis

• Mackay, P. Low Energy Quantum Gravity. (Thesis). Newcastle University. https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1750169

Journal Article

• Yeadon, W., Agra, E., Inyang, O.-O., Mackay, P., & Mizouri, A. (2024). Evaluating AI and human authorship quality in academic writing through physics essays. European Journal of Physics, 45(5), Article 055703. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6404/ad669d
• Mackay, P. (2022). Using H5P to create asynchronous and synchronous learning activities. InForm, 19-21
• Mackay, P. T., & Toms, D. J. (2010). Quantum gravity and scalar fields. Physics Letters B, 684(4-5), 251-255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2009.12.032