Dr Charles Clifford is a principal scientist in the Surface Technology Group at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s national metrology laboratory. Since January 2025 he has been chair of ISO TC229 (nanotechnologies) leading the international efforts in nanotechnologies standardisation. He has extensive experience in surface analysis, nanoscience measurement and characterization and international standardisation.  He has led the development of over 10 ISO and CEN standards in terminology and measurement and characterisation in nanotechnologies and surface chemical analysis. He leads and participates in collaborative projects with a focus on nanomaterials and analysis at the nanoscale. These include projects on graphene standardization through to measurement of nanoparticles in tissues. He has a background in scanning probe microscopy (SPM) with a focus on developing SPM to give quantitative information at the nanoscale beyond 'pretty pictures'.