Prof. Helen H. Fielding
Principal Investigator
Helen carried out her PhD under the guidance of Professor Tim Softley FRS (Cambridge and Oxford) and postdoctoral research as an 1851 Fellow under the guidance of Professors Ben van Linden van den Heuvell and Wim van der Zande (Amsterdam). She began independent research at King’s College London (Lecturer 1994-1997, Reader 1997-2002, Professor 2002-2003) and moved to UCL in 2003. She was Head of Physical Chemistry 2013-2018 and Chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee 2014-18, 2019-20, a Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellow 2018-20. She is currently one of the Chemistry and Light Research Theme leads and the PI of the UCL Ultrafast Laser Facility.
Outside work, she enjoys spending time with her three children.
Contact: h.h.fielding@ucl.ac.uk
Dr. David Bacon
Ultrafast Laser Facility Manager
David received his M.Eng degree and PhD in electronic and electrical engineering from the Pollard Institute at the University of Leeds, UK, in 2013 and 2017 respectively. Throughout this time, his research focused on the development of optical-pumped Terahertz sources under the supervision of Dr. Paul Dean and Prof. Edmund Linfield. This research continued until 2019 after being awarded a 2-year-long EPSRC fellowship prize. Following this, he completed a 4-year-long postdoc in the Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, Japan. There he employed HHG (high-harmonic generation) and ARPES (angular-resolved photoemission spectroscopy) to the study exciton dynamics in 2D semiconductors. He started at UCL in September 2023. He came to UCL in September 2023 as the ultrafast laser lab manager. In addition to keeping the laser systems and transient absorption spectroscopy facility running, he is setting up a new capability for UV-pump-EUV-probe photoelectron spectroscopy in molecular beams and liquid microjets.
Outside of work, David likes travelling and cooking food with his wife.
Contact: david.bacon@ucl.ac.uk
Dr. Graham Cooper
Postdoctoral Researcher
Graham obtained his MChem from Oxford in 2012. For his final year project, he worked with Professor Stuart Mackenzie. He then remained at Oxford to carry out a DPhil, also under the guidance of Professor of Stuart Mackenzie, before undertaking postdoctoral research under the guidance of Professor Nick Walker (Newcastle, 2016-17), Professor Mike Ashfold FRS (Bristol, 2017-19), Professor Arthur Suits (Missouri, USA, 2019-22) and Professor Jan Verlet (Durham, 2022-23). He came to UCL in June 2023, and is using molecular beam and liquid-microjet photoelectron spectroscopy to unravel ultrafast photochemical dynamics in complex systems.
Outside work, Graham spends most of his time with his wife and baby daughter, with the limited remaining free time spent reading, playing board or video games, and hanging out with friends and family.
Contact: graham.cooper@ucl.ac.uk
Dr. Johanna Rademacher
Postdoctoral Researcher
Johanna received her MSc in Chemistry from Leipzig University, Germany. She carried out her thesis work in Prof. Eleanor Campbell’s group, University of Edinburgh, on Rydberg Fingerprint Spectroscopy of Endohedral Fullerenes. She stayed in Edinburgh for her doctoral studies in Laboratory Astrochemistry in the Group of Dr Ewen Campbell. She came to UCL in July 2023 and is using anion and liquid-microjet photoelectron spectroscopy to study biologically relevant molecular anions, and the effects of interactions between these molecular anions and their surroundings.
Outside work, she likes running and spending time in museums.
Contact: j.rademacher@ucl.ac.uk
Nicholas Lau
3rd Year PhD Student
Nick obtained his MChem from the University of York in 2021, where he worked with Professor Caroline Dessent studying the gaseous geometries of charged phycocyanobilin and the scale mapping of their potential energy surfaces using computational chemistry. His PhD is co-funded by Photon Lines and is focussed on molecular beam photoelectron imaging and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy studies of atmospherically relevant molecules.
Outside work, he likes to bake, tinker with computers, and play badminton.
Contact: nicholas.lau.21@ucl.ac.uk
Kate Robertson
3rd Year PhD Student
Kate obtained her MPhys in Chemical Physics from Heriot-Watt University in 2021. For her final year project, she worked with Professor Dave Townsend investigating the photostability of different pigments found within paints. Her PhD is co-funded by Coherent and is focussed on femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and liquid-microjet photoelectron spectroscopy studies of biomolecules and their building blocks.
Outside work, she likes to run, go rock climbing, and play as a part of a brass band.
Contact: kate.robertson.21@ucl.ac.uk
Edoardo Simonetti
2nd Year PhD Student
Edoardo obtained his MSci in Chemistry from UCL in 2022. He completed his final year research project in the Fielding group using liquid-microjet photoelectron spectroscopy to study the electronic structure of a protein chromophore in aqueous solution. His PhD is focussed on using photoelectron spectroscopy in liquid-microjets.
Outside work he enjoys embroidery and dancing.
Contact: edoardo.simonetti.18@ucl.ac.uk
Sufiyan Khan
2nd Year PhD Student
Sufiyan obtained his MSci in Physical Chemistry from Mumbai University in 2019. He completed his final year research project at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) with Dr Sukhendu Nath and Dr Arun where he examined the bonding interactions and affinity of a DNA-fluorescent dye towards protein aggregates, using time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. His PhD is focussed on using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy of biomolecules.
Outside work, he enjoys cooking, gardening and spending time at the beach.
Contact: sufiyan.khan.22@ucl.ac.uk
Alumni
| Will Fortune | PhD 10/18–09/23 Ultraviolet liquid-microjet and gaseous anionic photoelectron spectroscopy of phenolate | Writing PhD thesis |
| Rhea Kumar | PDRA 02/22–03/23 Using transient absorption spectroscopy to unravel the photochemical dynamics of tryptophan | PDRA with Margherita Maiuri and Giulio Nicola Cerullo, Department of Physics, Politecnico di Milano. |
| Michael Scholz | PDRA 09/20–03/23 A bottom-up approach to the rational design of new bioluminescence emitters | Automation Scientist and Software Developer at Bactobio |
| Julia Davies | Ultrafast Laser Facility Manager 01/21–11/22 | Laser Support Technician NAAMA Studios Laser Tattoo Removal |
| Omri Tau | PhD 10/18–9/22 Ultraviolet liquid-microjet photoelectron spectroscopy of aqueous solutions | Consultant |
| Joey Broughton | PhD 10/18–9/22 Photoelectron spectroscopy studies of sulphur-containing organic molecules | PDRA with Dr Mary Matthews and Professor John Tisch, Department of Physics, Imperial College London |
| Fengyuan (Simon) Shan | PhD 10/18–9/22 The electronic structure and femtosecond time-resolved dynamics of gold nanostructures | Writing PhD thesis |
| Alice Henley | PhD 10/16–09/20 Electronic structure and dynamics of photoactive yellow protein chromophores in vacuo and in solution | Digital Learning Coordinator, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Nottingham |
| Alex Tanner (2nd supervisor) | PhD 10/17–9/20 Photoemission studies of polaronic defect states in TiO2 (collaboration with Geoff Thornton, UCL) | |
| Anand Patel | PhD 10/16–10/19 Synthesis and anion photoelectron spectroscopy studies of oxyluciferin and its analogues (collaboration with Jim Anderson, UCL) | Associate Business Manager, UCL Business Ltd. (UCLB) |
| River Riley | PhD 10/15–10/18 Liquid-jet photoelectron spectroscopy of phenol and the GFP chromophore (collaboration with Georg Held, Diamond) | Lecturer (teaching), UCL Chemistry |
| Joanne Woodhouse | PhD 10/14–08/18 Spectroscopy and dynamics of fluorescent protein chromophores and their molecular motifs | Postdoctoral Research Associate, Southampton |
| Bingxing Wang | PDRA 02/14–09/17 Photoelectron spectroscopy in a liquid microjet: unravelling the excited state dynamics of photoactive proteins | Lecturer, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Institute of Science and Technology |
| Reece Beekmeyer | PhD 10/13–10/16 Theoretical study of the electronic structure and dynamics of molecular motors (collaboration with Andy Kerridge, Lancaster) | Senior Technical Expert at FlexTrade |
| Daniel Payne (2nd supervisor) | PhD 10/12–02/17 Two-photon photoelectron spectroscopy of TiO2 surfaces (collaboration with Geoff Thornton, UCL) | Associate Editor at Communications Physics |
| Oliver Kirkby | PhD 10/10–10/14 The role of ps* states in the ultrafast dynamics of pyrrole, aniline and phenol | Strategic Future Team Lead at Connected Places Catapult |
| Ciarán Mooney | PhD 10/09–09/14 Photoelectron detachment spectroscopy and ultrafast dynamics of biological chromophore anions | Customer Support Engineer at Domino UK Limited |
| Roman Spesyvtsev | PhD 10/09–01/13 Femtosecond dynamics and quantum control of organic molecules in the gas-phase | Senior Researcher, Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd. |
| Douglas Lazenby | MPhil 10/08–05/11 The spectroscopy of autoionising and predissociating Rydberg states of NO | Nazarbayev University |
| Jadranka Butorac | PhD 10/07–12/11 Femtosecond laser studies of CO + NO on Pd(111) (collaboration with Wendy Brown) | Senior Education Administrator (Postgraduate Research), UCL Chemistry |
| Russell Minns | PhD 10/01–04/05 Coherent control of Rydberg wavepackets in NO PDRA 09/09–06/11 Ultrafast molecular dynamics and coherent control | Professor in Physical Chemistry, Southampton |
| Abigail Nunn | PhD 10/05–03/10 Experimental and theoretical investigations of the photochemistry of aromatic alkenes and characterisation of shaped femtosecond ultraviolet laser pulses | Centre for Life Nano Sciences, Sapienza, Rome, Italy |
| Emma Wilson | PDRA 10/06–10/09 Observation and control of ultrafast surface photochemistry (collaboration with Wendy Brown) | |
| Dorian Parker | PhD 02/05–05/09 An experimental investigation of benzene S1 photochemistry and the design of a new femtosecond UV pulse shaper | Senior Innovation Consultant, PNO Consultants Ltd. |
| Adam Kirrander | PDRA 12/05–03/09 Laser controlled physics and chemistry: from theory to experiment | Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford |
| Nicholas Jones | PhD 10/04–12/08 The spectroscopy of bound and predissociating Rydberg states of NO in external electric fields | iOS Mobile Developer at TouchSoft Limited |
| Adam McKay | PDRA 10/06–10/08 Ultrafast chemical biology in the gas phase (collaboration with Stephen Caddick) | Head of Prudential Regulation, Group Risk at Legal & General |
| Rakhee Patel | PhD 01/03–12/07 Spectroscopy and dynamics of Rydberg states of NO in static and ramped electric field | |
| Eva Heesel | PDRA 09/04–04/07 Electron dynamics on an attosecond timescale | |
| Robert Carley | PhD 01/01–10/05 Development of a new apparatus for coherent control of sodium atoms and molecules PDRA 01/05–02/07 Systematic laser-controlled photochemistry | Scientist, Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy |
| Elizabeth Boléat | PhD 02/01–03/05 Coherent control of vibrational and electronic wave packets using phase-locked optical pulses | Full-time mother |
| Jan Verlet | PhD 10/99–02/03 Controlling electronic and molecular dynamics using optical pulse sequences | Professor of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Durham |
| Robert Smith | PhD 10/99–05/03 Rydberg electron wavepacket dynamics in NO | Partner Solicitor, EIP London |
| Jie Lei | PDRA 05/97–05/98 Electron wavepacket dynamics using a novel tunable VUV picosecond laser source | |
| Vasilios Stavros | PhD 10/95–03/99 Rydberg electron wavepacket dynamics in atoms and molecules PDRA 08/99–08/02 Dissociation dynamics of Rydberg molecules and coherent control | Professor of Physical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham |
| James Ramswell | PhD 10/95–06/99 The dynamics of autoionising Rydberg wavepackets | Business Development Manager, Technology Exploitation at QinetiQ |
| Qiang Hong | PDRA 03/95–03/97 Electron wavepacket dynamics using a novel tunable VUV picosecond laser source |