Materials Science, Ceramics and Glass Technology, notably Silicon Nitride based ceramics and Oxynitride Glasses. Professor Stuart Hampshire generated and sustained active research programmes with personal funding of ~€10 million from European Union and National research programmes. His research concerns: Relationships between composition, sintering, microstructural development, structure and properties of silicon nitride based ceramics and nanocomposites, other ceramics for energy, electronic and flitration applications, oxynitride glasses and glass-ceramics and derivatives (including those containing F and P), oxynitride and phosphate based bioactive glasses.He is a recognised expert in Silicon Nitride Ceramics: he has investigated the relationships between chemistry, fabrication, structure and properties of silicon nitride and oxynitride ceramics and related materials which, because of their special properties, can be used in applications requiring high temperature resistance and wear resistance such as engine bearings and cutting tools. He is also a recognised expert in Oxynitride Glasses. In view of this, he has given more than 80 invited lectures around the World. He received the Stuijts Award of the European Ceramic Society in Berlin, 2007 http://ecers.org/en/about-us/recognition/awards.html; the International Bridge Building Award of the American Ceramic Society (Engineering Ceramics Division), 2008. He was conferred with Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Limoges, France, 2009. He was further honoured by the American Ceramic Society with a Symposium in his Honor (8th Intl. Symp. Adv. Processing and Manufacturing Technologies) as part of the 38th Intl. Conf. on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (ICACC), Daytona Beach, Florida (2014). He was conferred with the W. David Kingery Award (2022) for distinguished lifelong achievements involving multidisciplinary and global contributions to ceramic technology, science, education and art.

Stuart Hampshire is Professor Emeritus of Materials Science at the University of Limerick after serving as Chair of Materials Science for 17 years (1996-2012). He was Course Director and developed a new B.Sc. in Materials Science (1983-93) on which he taught modules in Materials Science, Crystallography, Ceramics and Glass Technology, Advanced Analytical Techniques. He also taught on Masters programmes in Materials Science and Engineering.

Professor Stuart Hampshire is Emeritus Professor of Materials Science at the University of Limerick (UL). He was a founding member of the Materials and Surface Science Institute (MSSI) at the University and, as Associate Vice-president for Research, was coordinator of successful applications for funding totalling ~16 million euro from the Irish government and philanthropic institutions to establish the first phase of the MSSI, now the Bernal Institute, the leading research institute at UL. Professor Hampshire helped build its reputation as a major University for materials research on the international scene. In his research, he has investigated the relationships between chemistry, fabrication, structure and properties of silicon nitride and oxynitride ceramics and related materials which, because of their special properties, can be used in applications requiring high temperature resistance and wear resistance such as engine bearings and cutting tools. He has published 170 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and is now recognized as a leading authority worldwide on oxynitride glasses, their properties and crystallization and is invited on a regular basis to give keynote lectures at international conferences. In 1989, Professor Hampshire was a Visiting Scientist for 3 months at the Government Industrial Research Institute, Nagoya, Japan where he was involved in collaborative research on Oxynitride Glasses. He was later involved in the Synergy Ceramics project, NEDO, Japan / Fine Ceramics Research Association, Tokyo. Professor Hampshire was elected Fellow of the American Ceramic Society in 2007 and received the International Bridge-building Award of the Engineering Ceramics Division of the Society in 2008. He was further honoured by the American Ceramic Society with a Symposium in his Honor (8th Intl. Symp. Adv. Processing and Manufacturing Technologies) as part of the 38th Intl. Conf. on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (ICACC), Daytona Beach, Florida (2014). In 2022, Professor Hampshire was conferred with the W. David Kingery Award for hisandnbsp;distinguished lifelong achievements involving multidisciplinary and global contributions to ceramic technology, science, education and art. Professor Hampshire received the prestigious Stuijts Award of the European Ceramic Society (ECerS) in 2007 which is presented each two years to a ceramist noted for outstanding contributions in the field of ceramic science and the transfer to European industry . He was elected a Fellow of ECerS in 2013 and also serves as one of the two Irish members of the Council of ECerS. He also serves on the membership nomination committee of the World Academy of Ceramics. In 2009 Professor Hampshire was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Limoges, France. He has been a regular visitor to Limoges and has been involved in various collaborative projects over the years. Professor Hampshire has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Rennes, France (1996, 1997), and at the University of Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambresisandnbsp;(now Université Polytechnique des Hauts-de-France), France (2010-2015, where he was involved in supervision and mentoring of researchers involved in special glasses for biomedical applications