Lester Buxton
Academic and research departments
Leverhulme Quantum Biology Doctoral Training Centre (QB-DTC), Department of Physics, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.My research project
The role of noise on quantum decoherence in cellular systems
I am working under the supervision of Dr Andrea Rocco and Prof. Jim Al-Khalili on my PhD project in the Leverhulme Quantum Biology Doctoral Training Centre. I am focusing on the noise effects on quantum decoherence in biological systems, starting my research from the Caldeira-Leggett model of open quantum systems.
Supervisors
Research
Research interests
I did my undergraduate masters in physics (MPhys) at the University of Bath from 2014-2018, where I studied the breadth of physics from General Relativity to Advanced Quantum Theory. During this time I completed a research project which aimed to build a smartphone spectrometer for a Young’s double slit experiment. The project involved both experimental and theoretical components with the mornings spent in the lab aligning lasers and the afternoons sitting in an office calculating Fourier Transforms.
In searching for a job for after graduation I came across a studentship for Quantum Biology at the University of Surrey which interested me after enjoying quantum mechanics at undergraduate level. Quantum mechanics working in biology was a unique aspect of this PhD and led me to inquire more into the subject. After a successful application I now work in the Quantum Biology Doctoral Training Centre with 7 other PhD students as the first of 3 cohorts the centre currently has funding for.