SURVEY OF PAST/CURRENT VOLUNTEER GRADUATE STUDENTS

This page is not updated since our list of graduate students has grown to be too large. This just gives an idea of what sort of physicists are/have been available. The current list as of Fall 2023 is different than what is shown on this page.

JACQUELYN HO

My name is Jacqie and I am a second year physics PhD student. My research is in AMO experiment, specifically on cavity QED. I'd like to work with anyone interested in getting to know AMO as a field, from atomic physics theory to recent experimental progress.

SHANTANU KADAM

Hi, I'm a first year biophysics graduate student amped about single-molecule biophysics! While my research is specific to optical tweezing, I would love to explore how stat mech / thermodynamics describe biological processes with you!

THOMAS ERSEVIM

Hello! I am a third year graduate student in Irfan Siddiqi's group where I study how to build intrinsically noise protected qubits. My interests in physics focuses on experimental quantum computation platforms, error correction, and quantum measurement. However, my interests are broad and can extend into other areas of physics and even chemistry too! If you have an idea for an interesting topic to investigate together, I would be excited to hear about it!

LEANDER HELD

Hi! I am a third year grad student working in the Long group (college of chemistry). My current research revolves around molecular magnetism, both from a computational and experimental direction. I specialize in electronic structure calculations (as well as subsequent spectroscopic analyses) and the synthesis of lanthanide/actinide single molecule magnets.

TAMAR ERVIN

I am a third year Physics PhD student working at the Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) studying the origin and heating mechanisms of the solar wind through observations and theoretical modeling. I also work on the FOXSI-4 Sounding Rocket which will study energy release in

solar corona. Happy to chat about anything Sun or astrophysics related in general :)

CHENGXI YANG

Hello, I am a third year PhD student in Experimental Particle Physics (hep-ex). I am working on ATLAS experiment with Prof. Haichen Wang. Specifically, I measure the total width of the Higgs boson with Higgs to WW decay mode.

ELLA BANYAS

I'm a fourth-year graduate student in condensed matter theory. I like thinking about materials design challenges and fundamental limits on material performance. Condensed matter physics is an incredibly broad field, and there's still so much of it that I haven't explored -- so I would love to dive into something new and learn alongside a mentee if they're interested!

EMIL ALBRYCHIEWICZ

Hi! I’m Emil, a first year grad student in high energy theory. I am interested in quantum field theory, string theory, condensed matter theory. On more applicable side I study how Physics helps to fight fires. I am open to explore new topics too!

JOSEPH SLIVKA

I am Joseph, a third-year PhD student in physics with expansive interests at the intersection of computational and experimental biophysics. I am currently trying to apply out-of-equilibrium lattice models to biologically relevant systems, but I have done research in chemical self-assembly, theoretical astrophysics and applied PDEs. I work on interdisciplinary science and am comfortable with approaching unusual questions from many different directions. I would be happy to work and learn with you over the semester.

BETHANY SUTER

Hi! My name is Bethany and I’m a fifth year grad student in particle phenomenology (HEP). I'm currently doing research about dark matter, both direct detection and model building. I've also done some more theoretical work relating to supersymmetry. I would love to work and learn with you over the course of the next term!

MATTHEW TAO

I'm a second year physics PhD student interested mainly in plasma and AMO physics research. I also have interests in fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer phenomena, and nonlinear dynamics (usually fun reading!). I'm happy to explore any reading topic though!

MATTHEW SELF

I am a second year PhD student in high energy theory, with interests and background in cosmology (both observation and theory), mathematical relativity, and quantum gravity. I'm excited to work with and learn alongside you this upcoming semester!

JONATHON KRUPPE

I am a fourth year graduate student working in quantum condensed matter. In my research, I combine materials synthesis, ultrafast optical experiments, and theory to probe quantum nonequilibrium dynamics, phase transitions, and disorder driven phenomena in materials. Together, we can read background theory on any subject across many-body physics, and use that theory to understand a contemporary problem in the literature!

ANDRÉS FRANCO VALIENTE

I'm a third year physics PhD student in high energy theory. I have several interests in mathematical physics, theoretical physics and physics education. My research is in non-equilibrium quantum field theory and superstring theory.

BEN CONCEPCION

My name is Ben and I'm a PhD student in physics. I am currently working in the intersection of gravity and quantum information science. I'm also interested broadly in many topics such as particle physics, CFTs, mathematical physics, and cosmology. I would love the opportunity to work alongside you!

ALEX SMITH

I'm Alex, and I study condensed matter physics. My work is computational and my group uses density functional theory and other computational methods to study the electronic structure of solids (and sometimes molecules). I primarily work on studying the properties of metal-organic frameworks that are used for carbon capture, but I also look at other systems that are used for oxygen capture and mercury separation in water. Outside of small molecule adsorption, I also look at metal-organic frameworks with interesting electronic and magnetic properties. I look forward to working with students interested in solid state physics and/or computational methods in condensed matter physics!

BEN FOSTER

I'm a fourth-year PhD student in the physics department. I'm interested in dynamical systems theory with a focus on problems of pattern formation, particularly those arising from fluid dynamics and elasticity theory.

JACK ROTH

Hi! I’m Jack, a second-year grad student in atomic, molecular, and optical physics. I’m primarily interested in using tabletop experimental methods to explore fundamental physics (in other words, exploring physics using experiments small enough to fit in a single lab!), but I enjoy learning about tangential subjects as well (i.e. precision spectroscopy, methods of quantum control, quantum computing and simulation, etc.)

IVAN BURBANO

Hi! I am a fifth year PhD student in physics interested in mathematical/theoretical physics. You can find a description of my research interests, along with more information about myself, in my website. There you will also be able to find all of the previous PDRP projects I have mentored. This semester I am interested in mentoring a project doing the detailed computations of the perturbative renormalization group flow of scalar field theory!!!!

CHITRAANG MURDIA

I am Chitraang "Chi" Murdia, a fourth-year grad student at BCTP. I work on Quantum Information and Quantum Gravity. Currently, I'm trying to learn more about string theory, but I am broadly interested in anything quantum or gravity (or both).

ADAM FRIM

I am a fourth-year PhD student working in stochastic thermodynamics and nonequilibrium physics with application in mesoscopic physics and (in principle) biological settings. I am happy to mentor (and hopefully learn more!) about any field in classical or quantum statistical physics and thermodynamics.

KAI KLOCKE

I'm a second year physics PhD student interested primarily in condensed matter theory. I mainly study topological phases of matter and how to probe fractionalized excitations (particularly anyons in Kitaev spin liquids). I'm also interested in non-equilibrium dynamics in driven Rydberg gases. I would be happy to explore any of these topics (or something else in condensed matter or AMO) with you!

CHAD HARPER

I'm a third-year graduate student. I am studying applications of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics to machine learning and neuroscience theory.

KYLE RITCHIE

Hello! I am a second-year PhD student in the BCTP. I study physics at the interface of quantum gravity
and quantum information. I am particularly interested in how holographic duality (AdS/CFT) and black
hole physics hint at the emergence of classical spacetime from purely quantum phenomena. I also have
some interest in pure mathematics, particularly Riemannian and Semi-Riemannian geometry. Some
potential topics for us to study might include QFT, GR, black holes, gauge/gravity duality, quantum
information, or anything else fun, and tangentially related to quantum gravity. I look forward to learning
with you!

MALCOLM LAZAROW

Hello! My name is Malcolm Spilka Lazarow (he/him/his), I am a third year physics PhD student. I am a theorist, interested in the intersection between gravitational physics, nuclear physics, and black hole perturbation theory. I have research experience in mathematical physics, lattice quantum chromodynamics, plasma physics, and beam physics. I would be happy to chat with anyone on anything!

BEA NOETHER

I'm a 5th year working with Profs Murayama and Hall. I have a wide range of interests, from nonperturbative methods in strongly coupled QFTs, to model building phenomenology, all the way to the more mathematical.

ELISA TABOR

My name is Elisa Tabor, and I’m a first year PhD student studying high-energy physics, more specifically the use of holographic conjectures in understanding quantum gravity. Would be open to projects related to gauge-gravity duality, quantum information theory in AdS/CFT, conformal field theory, or anything along those lines.

ABEL SHIFERAW

Hi! My name is Abel Shiferaw—I’m a first year physics PhD student interested in quantum field theory, quantum gravity, quantum information and black holes. I look forward to learning with you!

ZACK WEINSTEIN

I'm a fourth year physics PhD student studying condensed matter physics. I have broad personal interests, but I'm particularly interested in many body physics, nonequilibrium dynamics, and quantum information. I would be happy to mentor on a topic I'm already familiar with, or to learn something completely new!

Hi, I am a third year graduate student in Experimental Particle Physics. I am currently a member of the ATLAS experiment, where I work on upgrading the ATLAS detector's inner tracker and studying properties and decays of Higgs Bosons.

KATIE GRAY

Hi, I am a first year graduate student interested in experimental nuclear physics. My research focus is heavy ion collisions and I look forward to working with students interested in nuclear physics, in particular computational methods

HANA MIR

Hi! I'm Hana Mir, a third year graduate student in physics. I'm currently doing research in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, but I have experience in different types of biophysics and particle physics, and I'm also interested in fluid mechanics. I'd love to learn more about these topics with you!

CHARLIE HULTQUIST

I'm a 2nd year grad student, working with Dan Carney and in Dan Stamper-Kurn's group. I'm interested in AMO/table-top experiments for fundamental physics.

LAURA NOSLER

Hi! I'm a third year grad student working on Experimental High Energy Physics with the ATLAS group!

TAI XIANG

Second year grad student in Dan Stamper Kurn's group. Interests in quantum simulation, applications of quantum technologies to computing and optimization, and cavity quantum electrodynamics.

TSAI-CHEN LEE

FATIMA YOUSUF

JACOB ERLIKHMAN

ALBANY BLACKBURN

Hi! I am a second year graduate student working at the Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) and Lawrence Berkeley Lab (LBL). I'm interested in experimental cosmology and radio astronomy.

I'm a 4th year working with Mina Aganagic and David Nadler. I like to think about topological quantum field theories, derived algebraic geometry, and geometric representation theory.

Hi there! I am a 2nd year PhD student working with Bill Boos (EPS department) on climate physics. My current work is focused on orographic precipitation, but I am broadly interested in large-scale atmospheric dynamics.