Material World was a weekly science magazine programme broadcast on Thursday afternoons on BBC Radio 4.
Its regular presenter was Quentin Cooper, with contributions from scientists who were researching areas discussed in each programme.
Phillips was a chemistry graduate of Imperial College, and also one of the few regular black broadcasters on Radio 4.
For a short time, when programmes on 5 Live began webstreaming with video, Material World was also webcast.
[3] Material World was one of the BBC's main conduits for up-to-date scientific news, along with Frontiers, Science in Action, and Bang Goes the Theory.