meet the cofounders

Dr Eric Johnson "Rick" Heller is the Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Physics at Harvard University. Heller is known for his work on time dependent quantum mechanics, and also for producing digital art based on the results of his numerical calculations.

Anton M. Graf. Anton is a G4 PhD student in Applied Physics at Harvard University. He received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the Technical University of Munich. Afterwards, under the supervision of Prof. Oren Scherman and Prof. Clare Grey, he completed a Master’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, where he worked on organic redox-active materials for application in redox flow batteries and solar cells as well as supramolecular chemistry in electrochemical systems. As a first year PhD student, Anton has started to work on the development of in-situ characterization techniques for redox flow batteries with a focus on fluorescence microscopy. Currently, Anton is pursuing his PhD in theoretical physics in Eric Heller's group.

Dr Alvar Daza Esteban. After receiving my physics degree at Universidad de Valladolid (Spain), I studied biophysics at Universidad Autónoma (Spain) and nonlinear dynamics and complex systems at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain), where I obtained my PhD in 2016. Then, I was as a post-doc for a year and a half in Heller group at Harvard University. Now I’m back at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos as Associate Professor.

My research is mainly devoted to the study of branched flow, both from a nonlinear dynamics point of view and also looking at its physical applications, such as electron-phonon interactions. Also, I am interested in fractal structures and its relation to the unpredictability of physical systems.

Although I love to know new places and travel as much as possible, I am deeply attached to my parent’s small village, San Martín de Rubiales. Sharing a bottle of Ribera with my friends is probably one of the few things that I like more than doing science (although most of the times I will end up talking about science anyways!).

Dr Kobra J. N. Avanaki. As a theoretical Physical Chemist in the field of Quantum Nanophotonics (QNP) and Biophotonics (QBP), I study the dynamical behaviour of systems, with special attention paid to the areas of materials and energy for the application in frontier science and technology. I develop new theoretical foundations and computational methods for nanostructures as innovative quantum chemical and employing the models to leverage cutting edge quantum technology and artificial intelligence. These are aligned in the direction of maximizing the efficiency of energy/information transfer for the applications in spectroscopy, nanophotonic, nanoelectronic devices, high-precision quantum sensors, imaging, photovoltaic devices, Solar energy and quantum transport.

PostDoc:  Harvard

                                                          PostDoc: Northwestern University(IL)

                                                          Phd, Physical Chemistry,(University of Kansas, US)

                                                          M. Sc., B.S. Applied Physics (Iran)

Dr Alhun Aydin. I obtained my BSc in Physics at Koç University and received my PhD from Istanbul Technical University, Energy Institute under the supervision of Altug Sisman. During my PhD, I spent a year as a visiting researcher in Uppsala University and Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the supervision of Jonas Fransson and Ronnie Kosloff respectively. My research has focused on theoretical and computational studies in the thermodynamic and transport properties of quantum scale systems and we predicted the existence of the phenomenon of quantum shape effect. Right after my PhD, I joined to Heller group and I am currently working on the universal resistivity in strange metals. 

My passion for music rivals my passion for physics. I have been composing music in variety of genres since my childhood. My main instrument is guitar, but I sang and played keyboards as well in my music albums. In 2013, I officially released my debut album (available on music streaming services) featuring my original songs in some of my favorite genres like progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal.

As a habitual wonderer, I enjoy discussions about philosophy and nature with friends accompanied by good drinks. I am willing to accept any shooting challenge within the three-point line in basketball.

Dr Ragnar Fleischmann. I studied physics and made my doctorate at the University of Frankfurt (Germany). I work as a staff scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen. In my theoretical research I  have studied mesoscopic transport phenomena and nonlinear dynamics in various systems ranging from the dynamics of Bose-Einstein-Condensates in optical lattices and electrons in semiconductor nanostructures, via the timing of musical rhythms to the propagation of tsunamis in the ocean.

From all the fascinating physics have encountered, the phenomenon of branched flow has captivated me most. An almost ubiquitous transport phenomenon that occurs in so many realms of physics from electronics to astronomy – and still it has only been recognized recently. Since I first started working on it, I see random caustics, which are an integral component of branched flows, everywhere even in everyday live.   That is where my research connects to my favorite hobby, photography. Branched flows create marvelous artistic pictures as you can see on our webpage.