Daniel Cottle MSci, MSc, PGCE, MInstP

• MSci (Hons) in Physics, University of Birmingham, 2001
• PGCE in Secondary Science Education, Sheffield Hallam University, 2003
• MSc in Teacher Education, University of Oxford, 2021
• Chartered Physicist
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Dan is a qualified secondary school physics teacher and before joining the University of Birmingham gained 15 years of experience in state schools in the West Midlands as a teacher, leader of physics and Head of Science. Dan works on improving the teaching and learning of physics and widening access to physics to people from a diverse range of backgrounds. He does this through his teaching, physics teacher education, in-service teacher professional development, physics outreach and engagement activity and physics education research.

Dan regularly partners with the Institute of Physics, the Ogden Trust, Physics Partners and others in the physics education community and engages with national policy debates around the physics curriculum and the recruitment and retention of secondary physics teachers. He is particularly interested in supporting and encouraging aspiring teachers of physics.

Dan has previously led the secondary teacher education programme and currently leads on widening participation in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences including pioneering an innovative fully funded foundation year for students from less advantaged backgrounds to help them access degrees in engineering and physical science at the University of Birmingham (EPS Futures). He is also national academic lead for the Levelling Up: Physics outreach project and organises a regular programme of public engagement physics lectures hosted in the School of Physics and Astronomy.

Dan is currently undertaking doctoral research at the University of Oxford which is focused on a phenomenological analysis of the experiences of undergraduate physics students who choose to become secondary physics teachers.

Dan was the recipient of the 2024 Institute of Physics Daphne Jackson Medal and Prize for exceptional contributions to physics education by linking physics teacher training with widening participation in university physics, and pioneering a whole life-cycle approach to addressing issues of inclusion.

• PGCE (QTS) – Science: Physics (Programme lead)
• PGCE (QTS) – Science: Engineers Teach Physics (Programme lead)
• MA Teaching Studies supervision
• BSc / MSci Physics – Y3 Teaching Physics in Schools (Module lead)
• Careers Tutor in the School of Physics and Astronomy
• EPS Futures Foundation Year – Programme Lead
• EPS Foundation Year – Personal and Professional Skills (Module lead)

The relationship between physics education and climate anxiety in young people.

Issues relating to the recruitment and retention of physics teachers.

Exploring the experiences of international teacher education students.

Effective use of technology in teacher education – particularly simulation and 360-video.

Physics pedagogy.