[6] He was educated at Leeds Modern School and Churchill College, Cambridge, where he studied natural sciences and later gained a PhD in radio astronomy in 1977 for research investigating supernova remnants.

[6][7] Following his PhD, Bell worked on radar signal processing with Marconi Electronic Systems before moving to the Central Laser Facility as a laser-plasma theorist.

[2] He initiated the theory of non-local transport for heat flow in inertial confinement fusion, explained the collimation of laser-produced energetic electrons by resistively generated magnetic field, and with John G. Kirk demonstrated the possibility of electron-positron pair production in ultra-high intensity laser-plasma interactions.

[2] Bell was awarded the 2014 Fred Hoyle Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics "for elucidating the origin and impact of cosmic rays and for his seminal contributions to electron energy transport in laboratory plasmas".

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