Kamal Hossain International Secondment Scheme

4 minute read

Month 1: Introductions and Preparation 

I’m Sam Flynn, a Higher Scientist in the Radiotherapy and Radiation Dosimetry Group at NPL. I was awarded the inaugural Kamal Hossain International Secondment Scheme award, and this blog is to share some of the activities I’m getting up to. I’ll be updating this blog once a month throughout my secondment—I’m doing two three-month placements, one in the spring and another in the autumn. 

Dr Mohammed Kamal Hossain was a hugely influential figure in metrology, representing NPL and the UK internationally for 50 years. He left behind a legacy of pioneering research and collaboration, earning an OBE in 2009. After he passed in 2022, NPL set up the Kamal Hossain International Secondment Scheme to honour his memory by supporting scientists in building international connections and continuing his mission. I never had the chance to work with Dr Hossain directly, but from everything I’ve heard, he was an incredible person. The sheer number of people saddened by his passing speaks volumes about his impact. 

I love being part of the Radiotherapy and Radiation Dosimetry Group at NPL. The team is great, but it’s the mission that really matters. We work to ensure that cancer patients in the UK get the most accurate radiotherapy dose possible. It’s a sobering statistic that 50% of people in the UK will develop cancer at some point in their lives, and radiotherapy plays a role in around 40% of all curative treatments. That’s where metrology comes in—our work helps improve outcomes for millions of people. It’s a brilliant mix of medical physics, particle physics, and engineering. 

For my secondment application, I proposed a knowledge exchange with the Canadian National Metrology Institute—the National Research Council Canada (NRCC, or Conseil national de recherches Canada, CNRC). Their approach to measuring absorbed dose (the key quantity in radiotherapy dosimetry) is quite different from NPL’s. At NPL, we use graphite calorimetry, measuring incredibly small temperature changes (less than 3 millikelvin at room temperature) in graphite when it interacts with ionising radiation. NRCC, on the other hand, does this in water—closer to how things work in a clinical setting. But measuring an even smaller temperature change (less than 1 millikelvin) in water brings a whole new set of challenges. It sounds like a small difference, but it has a big impact. By spending time working together, we can learn from each other and, in the long run, reduce uncertainty in radiotherapy dose measurements. 

To prepare for the secondment, I’ve been taking French lessons through Kingston University’s Kingston Language Scheme (merci beaucoup à professeur Magali Berger Churchill pour ta patience)!  Ottawa and NRCC are bilingual, and while I studied French at school up to GCSE, I haven’t really used it in practice (beyond a few holidays) in over a decade. It’s been great to get back into it, and I’m looking forward to working with the team at NRCC and putting it to good use. 

Ottawa gave me a snowy welcome last night, but thankfully, it’s not too cold. I’m also really looking forward to catching an ice hockey match while I’m here—it feels like a must-do when in Canada!  

I’ll be sharing more about my secondment over the coming months, so watch this space 😊

Image caption: Me, next to the National Research Council Canada’s “The Sphere” – 03/04/’25