In 1906 he took a First Class B Sc Honours degree in Physics, and stayed at Manchester doing research in spectroscopy, especially on the constitution of the electric spark.
From 1909 to 1911, as an 1851 Exhibition Scholar, he worked under Professor Paschen in Tübingen, Germany on spectroscopic research mainly in the infra-red, and later under Professor Rubens in Berlin on "infra-red restrahlen." .