Dr. Nicholas W. Makau is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Science, Department of Physics. He joined the University in 1993 when it was still part of Moi University as a Graduate Assistant, then became a Tutorial Fellow and later on a Lecturer. Since then, he has taught many courses in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. He has also supervised over 5 PhD students, and over 15 Masters students and examined many theses locally and internationally.

He was a Regular Associate of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) from 2013 to 2017, and he remains in active collaboration with the Centre. This has allowed him to advance his research skills in his area of specialization, which is the computational modelling of materials using state-of-the-art computer servers, supercomputers and related software.

He has published widely with over 30 publications in peer-reviewed journals and many conference presentations and workshops. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics (First Class Honours) from Moi University, a Master of Philosophy degree (Physics) from Moi University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Part of his PhD studies involved working with nuclear accelerators and ionising radiations to probe different materials properties and the other was on computational modelling of materials.

He is a regular reviewer for various international journals, and he also participates in PhD proposal interviews for DAAD and the National Research Fund (NRF) for the award of scholarships.

He has held many administrative roles within the University as well as in the advancement of Physics in the Country and Africa. In 2012, he co-hosted the National Physics Forum at the then-Chepkoilel University College, which led to the rebranding of the Kenya Physical Society (KPS) to the current Physics Society of Kenya (PSK). His contribution to Science in Africa and globally is equally significant, having co-hosted the 2nd African School on Electronic Structure, Methods and Applications (ASESMA) in 2012 at the then-Chepkoilel University College, which brought together world-renowned Researchers and students from across the world for a two-week workshop.

He is an external examiner for various universities. Professionally, he is a Member of the Physics Society of Kenya (PSK), and a member of the Kenya National Academy of Sciences (KNAS).