Oldham 1986: school lad and keyboard player Brian Cox was invited to join local rock band DARE who subsequently recorded 2 albums and toured the world with Jimmy Page, Gary Moore, Europe and others. After a Spinal-Tap style fight in a Berlin bar, DARE split in 1992 and Brian left music to study Physics - or so he thought.

In 1993, Brian was invited to join D:Ream who went on to have many top 10 hits, including the New Labour election anthem 'Things Can Only Get Better', before finally going their separate ways in 1997. By that time, Brian was Dr Brian, having gained a first class honours degree in physics from the University of Manchester, and a PhD in High Energy Particle Physics at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg.

In 2005, Brian was granted a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. He is based in Manchester and at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. He is in charge of an international project to upgrade the giant ATLAS and CMS detectors at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), CERN's new 27km-long machine, with tiny silicon detectors almost half a mile from where the particles in the LHC collide.

Brian has received many awards for his work in publicizing science. In 2002, he was elected an International Fellow of the Explorers Club, an organization chaired by Sir Edmund Hillary and whose members include Neil Armstrong and General Chuck Yeager. In 2006, Brian received the British Association Lord Kelvin award for his work in promoting science to the public. Brian gives talks and lectures around the world and in 2006, he was keynote speaker at the Australian Science Festival. He has received a prestigious invitation to speak at TED 2007.

Brian was recently the Scientific Consultant on the Danny Boyle film SUNSHINE. He also writes on scientific issues, most recent credits include the New Statesman and The Times. His ability to present science in an exciting and interesting way has made him a popular television & radio presenter, broadcaster and writer. His credits include:

• Horizon - "What On Earth Is Wrong With Gravity" - BBC1 (2007)
• Horizon - "The Six Billion Dollar Experiment" - BBC2 (2007)
• Sunshine - (Scientific Consultant) - DNA/Fox Searchlight (2005-07)
• The Bell - Teachers TV (2007)
• Horizon - Einstein - BBC1 (2005)
• The Prime of Marin Mersenne - BBC Radio 4 (2006)
• This Morning - ITV1 (2005 - to date)
• The Heaven & Earth Show - BBC1 (2005 - to date)
• Comet Impact : Stardate - BBC1 & BBC2 (2005)
• In Einstein's Shadow - BBC R4 (2005)
• Horizon 40th Birthday - BBC (2004)
• End Day - BBC3 (2004)
• Einstein's Letters (presenter/writer) - BBC R4 (2005)
• GCSE Bite Size Physics & Mathematics - BBC2 (2003)
• Other credits : Moments of Genius (BBC4), Earth and Space (Now),Click on Line, The Cinema Show, Richard & Judy and Big Breakfast