Team
Our team brings together a vast range of expertise in theoretical and experimental physics, mathematics, computational chemistry and molecular biology – both at Surrey and at our partner institutions.
Members
Principal investigators
Professor Jim Al-Khalili
University of Surrey
Biography
Jim Al-Khalili CBE FRS is a theoretical physicist at the University of Surrey where he holds a Distinguished Chair in physics as well as a university chair in the public engagement in science. He currently leads the Quantum Foundations and Technologies Research Group in the School of Mathematics and Physics.
He received his PhD in theoretical nuclear physics from Surrey in 1989 and then spent two years as an SERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College London before returning to Surrey in 1991. He was appointed lecturer in 1992 and, in 1994, was awarded an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship for five years during which time he established himself as a world leading authority on nuclear reaction theory of light exotic nuclei, publishing widely. Following this he reverted to a full-time lectureship in the Department at Surrey. He was elected Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2000 and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2001. He was promoted to professor of physics in 2005. He has published over a hundred papers in nuclear physics, quantum mechanics and quantum biology and has supervised 22 PhD students.
Jim is also a prominent author and broadcaster. He has written 14 books on popular science and the history of science, between them translated into twenty-six languages. His book, The World According to Physics, was shortlisted for the Royal Society Book Prize. His latest, published in 2022 is The Joy of Science. He is a regular presenter of TV science documentaries, such as the Bafta nominated Chemistry: a volatile history, and has hosted the long-running weekly BBC Radio 4 programme, The Life Scientific, since 2011.
Despite his profile as a public scientist, Jim has continued to teach undergraduate physics students in an unbroken run of 32 years since 1992. He is still very research active, with five current PhD students working on different aspects of quantum mechanics and open quantum systems and is co-director of the Leverhulme Doctoral Training Centre for Quantum Biology and leads the Quantum Foundations and Technologies Research Group in the School of Mathematics and Physics. He is also Principle Investigator on a research project on the Quantum Arrow of Time.
Jim is a past president of the British Science Association and a recipient of the Royal Society's Michael Faraday medal and the Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal, the Institute of Physics Kelvin Medal and the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication. He received an OBE in 2007 and a CBE in 2022 for ‘services to science’.
Dr Andrea Rocco
University of Surrey
Biography
Andrea Rocco graduated in Physics at the University of Pisa (Italy) in 1994, discussing a thesis in quantum field theory. In 1998 he obtained his PhD in Physics from the University of North Texas (USA), where he focused on the role of stochastic processes in classical and quantum mechanical systems.
Between 1998 and 2007 Andrea held postdoctoral positions at the University of Barcelona (Spain), the University of Rome "La Sapienza" (Italy), CWI (The Netherlands), and the University of Oxford (UK). During this period of time, his research spanned several areas, from the general fields of statistical mechanics and pattern formation to the modelling of biological systems. In 2007 he obtained a Lectureship in Applied Mathematics at the University of Bath (UK), where he taught mathematical biology modules at both MSc and undergraduate levels.
In 2009 Andrea joined the University of Surrey (UK), where he is now Associate Professor (Reader) in Physics and Mathematical Biology, with a shared appointment between the Department of Microbial Sciences and the Department of Physics.
University of Surrey co-investigators
Professor Dorje Brody
School of Mathematics and Physics
Biography
I am a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Surrey. My research interests include foundations of quantum theory, quantum biology, mathematical psychology, and financial modelling.
Dr Catxere Andrade Casacio
Research Fellow in Experimental Quantum Biology
Biography
Catxere Casacio is a quantum bio-physicist of the School of Biosciences and Medicine at the University of Surrey. She currently works as a Research Fellow in Experimental Quantum Biology and is developing the experimental part of the project "Life on the edge: quantum thermodynamics, quantum biology and the arrow of time", funded by the John Templeton Foundation.
She completed her PhD at the University of Queensland, Australia, in 2021. During her PhD, she worked on applying quantum properties of light to enhance microscopes for bio-medical imaging. She was the first to create a quantum-enhanced optical microscope and image biological samples with it.
Prior to this project, Cat completed an optical engineering degree at the Institut d’Optique in France, followed by a Master’s degree at ParisTech. For her main project, at the Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, she designed and built a cavity for single-pass squeezed states of light for femtosecond pulses. This work also led to partnerships and projects performed at universities in both Brazil (University Federal de Pernambuco) and Spain (University of La Laguna), before starting her PhD in Australia.
Cat has always been passionate about light. Her scientific engagements started at the age of 13, when her curiosity also for mathematics and philosophy led to a passion for astronomy. During two consecutive years of high school she won medals for the national astronomy and astronautics contest (OBA), and went on to complete her bachelor's degree in Physics at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.
Her commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace motivates her to actively work in committees for equity, diversity, mentoring and career development, including at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS).
Cat is motivated to use her knowledge in impactful projects to help the community, the environment and to expand the limits of our understanding of the Universe.
Professor Brendan Howlin
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Biography
Dr Brendan J. Howlin joined the University of Surrey in September 1987 to teach on the new computer aided chemistry degree course. He currently teaches IT skills, advanced mathematics, molecular modelling and DNA profiling.
He graduated with BSc and PhD from the University of Essex, having studied the inorganic chemistry of microbial iron transport compounds, using Mossbauer spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. He also carried out postdoctoral pharmaceutical and protein modelling studies at Birkbeck College in the University of London and Pfizer Ltd.
He is currently a visiting member of staff at Bristol University
Dr Youngchan Kim
School of Biosciences and Medicine
Biography
Youngchan Kim is Lecturer in Quantum Biology from the Department of Microbial Sciences in the School of Biosciences. He joined the University in 2020. His group uses protein engineering and optical spectroscopy techniques to study biological systems that give rise to quantum phenomena under physiological conditions. His group is also interested in developing optical sensing and imaging techniques to improve our understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment of human diseases. He obtained a BSc in Physics from Chung-Ang University in South Korea in 2006 and gained a PhD in terahertz spectroscopy from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2011. Prior to joining the University of Surrey, he completed three postdoctoral training fellowships at KAIST (2011-2013), Imperial College London (2013-2015), and the US National Institutes of Health (2015-2020).
Professor Justin Read
School of Mathematics and Physics
Biography
Prof. Justin Read is currently Early Career Researcher Lead & Chair of Astrophysics at the University of Surrey. His main area of research is gravitational probes of dark matter, studying everything from the tiniest galaxies in the Universe, where we can measure how dark matter clusters on the smallest scales, to giant clusters of galaxies, where we can produce images of the distribution of dark matter using gravitational lensing.
Prof. Read completed his PhD in theoretical astrophysics at Cambridge University, UK in 2004. After a two-year postdoctoral research position, also in Cambridge, he moved to the University of Zürich to join the computational science group. In 2009, he joined the University of Leicester as a lecturer in theoretical astrophysics, and in October 2010 he was awarded an SNF assistant professorship at the ETH Zürich. In April 2013, he took up a full Chair at the University of Surrey. Prof. Read was awarded the 2013 MERAC Prize by the European Astronomical Society for his high impact research in computational astrophysics and cosmology. He is a fellow of the Institute of Physics and the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund.
A full list of his publications (freely available for download) is available on arXiv.org and through Prof. Read's Google Scholar profile.
Dr Marco Sacchi
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Biography
Dr Marco Sacchi was awarded a PhD in Chemistry at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, in Switzerland. In his PhD work he studied the effect of molecular vibrations and surface structure on the chemisorption of methane. At the end of his PhD he won a Swiss National Science Foundation fellowship and joined the Surface Science Research Group (SSRG) at the University of Cambridge, led by Dr Stephen J. Jenkins and Prof Sir David King. In 2013 he was elected Research Fellow of Hughes Hall. In his research he employs first-principles computational methods and parallel computing to investigate quantum effects in biological molecules (including DNA), dynamics on surfaces and catalysis on 2D materials.
In 2014 he was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and he joined the University of Surrey. His current research interests include: Quantum Biology, Surface Dynamics and 2D nanomaterials.
Dr Cesare Tronci
School of Mathematics and Physics
Biography
I obtained a Laurea in Nuclear Engineering in May 2004 at the Politecnico di Torino (Italy). Then, after spending two years (06/2003 - 05/2005) at CERN (Switzerland) working on microwave electronics under the direction of Ugo Amaldi (also at TU München and TERA Foundation), I moved to the Theoretical Division (in the former Plasma Theory Group) of the Los Alamos National Lab (LANL, USA), where I visited Giovanni Lapenta (now at KU Leuven, Belgium) for several months.
In 10/2005, I entered a PhD programme in Applied Mathematics at Imperial College, under the direction of Darryl Holm. Between 2006 and 2007, I also spent two summers at LANL, working with Bruce Carlsten in the former International, Space & Response Division (High Power Electrodynamics Group). In 09/2008, I joined the Mathematics Section of EPF Lausanne (Switzerland) as a research assistant in Tudor Ratiu's group (Geometric Analysis). In 01/2012, I was appointed as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at Surrey, where I became Reader (Associate Professor) in 08/2018. After spending the year of 2019 at the Max-Planck Institute in Garching (DE) as a Humboldt Fellow, in 06/2020 I was appointed Adjunct Professor at Tulane University (US).
Over the last 8 years, I was an invited participant fellow at several research programs at the Fields Institute (Toronto, CA), the Newton Institute (Cambridge, UK), the Bernoulli Center (Lausanne, CH), and the MSRI (Berkeley, USA).
External co-investigators
Clarice Aiello
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Biography
Clarice is Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She gained her PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is a quantum engineer interested in how quantum physics informs biology at the nanoscale.
Eddy Keming Chen
University of California, San Diego
Biography
Eddy is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego. He gained his philosophy PhD at Rutgers University with his thesis on 'essays on the metaphysics of quantum mechanics.' He specialises in philosophy of physics, philosophy of science and metaphysics.
Professor Paul Davies
Arizona State University
Biography
Paul is Regents’ Professor at Arizona State University and gained his PhD in Physics at University College London. He specialises in theoretical physics, cosmology, astrobiology.
Chiara Marletto
University of Oxford
Biography
Chiara is a Research Fellow in Physics at the University of Oxford. She gained her PhD in Quantum Computing at the University of Oxford with her thesis on 'issues of control and causation in quantum information theory.' She specialises in quantum computing and technologies.
Simon Saunders
University of Oxford
Biography
Simon is Professor of Philosophy of Physics at the University of Oxford. He gained his PhD at Kings College, London with his thesis on 'mathematical and philosophical foundations of quantum field theory.' He specialises in philosophy, physics and mathematics.
Dr Karim Thébault
University of Bristol
Biography
Karim is Associate Professor in Philosophy of Science at the University of Bristol and gained his PhD in Philosophy at the University of Sydney. He specialises in philosophy of physics, general philosophy of science and theoretical physics.
Professor Vlatko Vedral
University of Oxford
Biography
Vlatko is Professor of Quantum Information Science at the University of Oxford. He gained his PhD in Physics at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine with his thesis on 'quantum information theory of entanglement.' He specialises in quantum mechanics, relativity, quantum optics, solid state, mathematics, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, analytical mechanics and electro-magnetism.