Skip to main content

PhD Students

Jump to Last Name:

Dany Atallah

Dany Atallah

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8025
danyatallah@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Rasio Group
Research Statement: The dynamical capacity and stability of black hole hierarchies formed in globular clusters beyond triples

Olivia Meredith Bitter

Olivia Meredith Bitter

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F418
oliviabitter2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: de Gouvea Group
Research Statement: My research interests span the field of neutrino phenomenology. Currently my projects include exploring time invariance violation effects in matter with applications to the future DUNE experiment, as well as looking into pseudo-Dirac neutrinos through sterile neutrino extensions.

Daniel Buser

Daniel Buser

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F321
danielbuser2028@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Motter Group
Research Statement: The study of links between synchronization and entanglement in coupled spin networks.

Ran Chen

Ran Chen

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F140
ranchen@northwestern.edu
Group: Figueroa-Feliciano Group
Research Statement: Developing a sensitive detector to measure the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS)

Danyang Chen

Danyang Chen

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F225
DanyangChen2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Koch Group
Research Statement: Characterizing quantum error correction schemes and developing high fidelity qubit operations on superconducting circuits

Sai Pavan Chitta

Sai Pavan Chitta

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F229
SaiChitta2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Koch Group
Research Statement: Simulation and design of protected superconducting qubits

Ken DeRose

Ken DeRose

PhD Student

KennethDerose2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kovachy Group
Research Statement: Testing Einstein's equivalence principle, the gravitational inverse square law, and searching for forces beyond the Standard Model using atom interferometry

Vic (Yuxin) Dong

Vic (Yuxin) Dong

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8037D
yuxin.dong@northwestern.edu
Group: Fong Group
Research Statement: Multiwavelength follow-up observations of Fast Radio Bursts to uncover the origin of their progenitor system(s)

William Eom

William Eom

PhD Student

Phone number: 847-467-6588
Office location: Mudd 1173
williameom2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Geraci Group
Research Statement: Preparing ground-state cooled, optically levitated nanospheres for precision force sensing of Casimir forces and Yukawa-type corrections to gravity

Ethan Garvey

Ethan Garvey

PhD Student

Office location: Mudd 1177
EthanGarvey2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Stern Group
Research Statement: Optical experiments for understanding the properties of novel low dimensional magnetic materials and devices

Jonah Glick

Jonah Glick

PhD Student

Office location: Mudd 1164
JonahGlick2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kovachy Group
Research Statement: Development of atom interferometry techniques for precision gravitational measurements, tests of quantum mechanics, and searches for dark matter

Elena González Prieto

Elena González Prieto

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8038C
elena.prieto@northwestern.edu
Group: Rasio Group
Research Statement: Dynamical evolution of dense stellar environments and the formation of compact objects

Alexa Gordon

Alexa Gordon

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8032B
AlexaGordon2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Fong Group
Research Statement: Spectral energy distribution modeling of fast radio burst (FRB) host galaxies to constrain FRB progenitor models

Jorin Graham

Jorin Graham

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F324
JorinGraham@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Motter Group
Research Statement: Spreading processes on complex networks; network science and machine learning for cell biology

Scott Grudichak

Scott Grudichak

PhD Student

Phone number: 847-491-5468
Office location: Tech F213
scottgrudichak2021@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Geraci Group
Research Statement: Fabrication and characterization of thin film type 2 superconductors, patterned with anti-dot arrays

Saarah Hall

Saarah Hall

PhD Student
GEM Associate Fellow 2022-2023

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8073
saarahhall2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Miller Group
Research Statement: I study time-domain astronomy with wide-field surveys like the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). I'm interested in utilizing ZTF data to evaluate the volumetric rate of rare transients.

Beryl Hovis-Afflerbach

Beryl Hovis-Afflerbach

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8033
beryl@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Strom Group
Research Statement: Massive star evolution and populations in galaxies across cosmic time.

Danat Issa

Danat Issa

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8033
danatissa2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Tchekovskoy Group
Research Statement: Simulations of neutron star mergers and their electromagnetic counterparts

Cole Kampa

Cole Kampa

PhD Student

Phone number: 847-467-2477
Office location: Tech F127
colekampa2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Schmitt Group
Research Statement: Modeling Mu2e experiment's magnetic field. Developing robust statistical analyses for particle physics experiments. Muon capture neutron emission analysis for the AlCap experiment

Emma Kaufman

Emma Kaufman

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8030A
EmmaKaufman2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Lecoanet Group
Research Statement: Simulations of magnetic waves in stellar interiors

Taeyoon Kim

Taeyoon Kim

PhD Student

Office location: Fermilab TD ICB
taeyoonkim2018@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Koch Group
Research Statement: Experimental research of quantum information processing with superconducting qubits and high-Q 3D cavities

Fulya Kiroglu

Fulya Kiroglu

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8031
FulyaKiroglu2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Rasio Group
Research Statement: Dynamics and evolution of black holes through close encounters in dense star clusters.

Shelby Klomp

Shelby Klomp

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F146
ShelbyKlomp2020@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Geraci Group
Research Statement: Detection of high-frequency gravitational waves using optically levitated dielectric particles

Nathalie Korhonen Cuestas

Nathalie Korhonen Cuestas

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8048D
nathaliekorhonencuestas2029@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Strom Group
Research Statement: Characterising the relationships between galactic mass, metallicity, and star formation rate at cosmic noon to better understand the chemical evolution of the universe.

Aakash Lakshmanan

Aakash Lakshmanan

PhD Student

Office location: Dearborn 5
AakashLakshmanan2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kamal Group
Research Statement: Development of theoretical tools to understand topological phases

Camille Liotine

Camille Liotine

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8038F
cliotine@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kalogera Group
Research Statement: The evolution of binary star systems, in particular the populations of stellar binaries that result in double compact object mergers that are detectable with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)

Qiaofeng Liu

Qiaofeng Liu

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F420
QiaofengLiu2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Low Group
Research Statement: Entanglement in quantum field theory; quantum simulation of fundamental physics

Chang Liu

Chang Liu

PhD Student
Miller Group

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8034C
ChangLiu2025@u.northwestern.edu
Research Statement: Probing the progenitor properties of supernovae with multi-band observations

Beverly Lowell

Beverly Lowell

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8029
beverlylowell2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Tchekovskoy Group
Research Statement: Dynamically important magnetic fields and black hole spin-down

Austin Marga

Austin Marga

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F226
austinmarga2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Chandrasekhar Group
Research Statement: Low temperature fabrication and measurement of superconducting electron interference devices

Miguel Martinez

Miguel Martinez

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8036A
miguel.martinez@northwestern.edu
Group: Rasio Group
Research Statement: Dynamics across a wide range of astrophysical regimes, from exoplanets and exomoons to massive star clusters

Nathaniel McDonough

Nathaniel McDonough

PhD Student

Phone number: 847-467-9116
Office location: Mudd 1195
nathanielmcdonough2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Gabrielse Group
Research Statement: Laser cooling and precision spectroscopy of atomic hydrogen

Michael McGinnis

Michael McGinnis

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F127
MichaelMcginnis2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Hahn Group
Research Statement: Constraints on di-Higgs production and EFT interpretation with the CMS experiment; data acquisition systems and online track-fitting for CMS and MUonE.

Yulun Miao

Yulun Miao

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F127
YulunMiao2020@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Schmitt Group
Research Statement: Searching for three massive gauge boson production at CMS

Nicholas Miller

Nicholas Miller

PhD Student

NicholasMiller2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kovachy Group
Research Statement: Searching for ultralight scalar field dark matter through differential strain measurements of cryogenic optical cavities

Thomas Glenn Myers

Thomas Glenn Myers

PhD Student

Phone number: 847-467-9116
Office location: Mudd 1195
ThomasMyers2021@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Gabrielse Group
Research Statement: A measurement of the electron and positron magnetic moments with greatly improved precision

Geev Nahal

Geev Nahal

PhD Student

Phone number: 847-467-9116
Office location: Mudd 1195
geevnahal2021@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Sauls Group
Research Statement: A measurement of the electron and positron magnetic moments

Nick Omahen

Nick Omahen

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8027
NicholasOmahen2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Tchekovskoy Group
Research Statement: I study the assembly and evolution of accretion disks and their outflows in a wide variety of black hole feeding scenarios

Daehan Park

Daehan Park

PhD Student

DaehanPark2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Halperin Group
Research Statement: Order parameter collective modes and acoustic properties of superfluid Helium-3 with disorders such as in ultra-dilute aerogel and confinement

Greg R. M. da Silva

Greg R. M. da Silva

PhD Student

Office location: Tech M316
GregorioRabelo2022@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Shahriar Group
Research Statement: Experimental and computational investigations of squeezed quantum states with large atomic ensembles

Jillian Rastinejad

Jillian Rastinejad

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8027
JillianRastinejad2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Fong Group
Research Statement: Observation of the astronomical explosions created by merging neutron stars, kilonovae, from both the short gamma-ray burst and gravitational wave perspective

Nabeel Rehemtulla

Nabeel Rehemtulla

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8038B
NabeelRehemtulla2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Miller Group
Research Statement: Building machine learning models to learn about and classify sources detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility

Kyle Akira Rocha

Kyle Akira Rocha

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8035
karocha@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kalogera Group
Research Statement: Machine learning and the evolution of binary stars and compact objects

Kevin Ryan

Kevin Ryan

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F220
kevinryan2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Chandrasekhar Group
Research Statement: Fabrication and cryogenic magnetotransport of 2D and thin film devices exploring multiferroics, superconductors and related phenomena

John Scott

John Scott

PhD Student

Phone number: 847-491-8616
Office location: Tech F226
johnscott2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Halperin Group
Research Statement: Nuclear magnetic resonance study of properties and phases of Helium 3 in aerogel at ultra-low temperatures

Aslan Seifi

Aslan Seifi

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F416
aslanseifi2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Carrasco Group
Research Statement: Scattering Amplitudes, Color-Kinematics duality

Charlotte (Yanxuan) Shao

Charlotte (Yanxuan) Shao

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F324
yanxuanshao2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Motter Group
Research Statement: Spontaneous oscillations and more complex dynamics in microfluidic networks

Zhiheng Sheng

Zhiheng Sheng

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F140
zhihengsheng2024@u.northwestern.edu
Research Statement: Data acquisition in scintillating LAr bubble chamber (SBC) for direct dark matter detection

Lillian Soucy

Lillian Soucy

PhD Student

Office location: Mudd 1195
lilliansoucy2030@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Gabrielse Group
Research Statement: Improved precision measurements of the electron and positron magnetic moments

Jacob Sprague

Jacob Sprague

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #8034A
JacobSprague2021@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Larson Group
Research Statement: Novel GW sources in conjunction with the levitated-sensor GW detector

Elizabeth Teng

Elizabeth Teng

PhD Student

Office location: 1800 Sherman #7421
ElizabethTeng2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kalogera Group
Research Statement: Using machine learning to accelerate simulations of binary star and compact object populations

Aaron (Zhiyuan) Wang

Aaron (Zhiyuan) Wang

PhD Student

Office location: Mudd 1156
ZhiyuanWang2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Geraci Group
Research Statement: Detecting high-frequency gravitational waves with optically levitated micro-sensors

Max Wisne

Max Wisne

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F220
maxwellwisne2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Chandrasekhar Group
Research Statement: Studying Josephson junction physics as it pertains to superconducting qubits and correlated Josephson effects

Yi Zhao

Yi Zhao

PhD Student

Office location: Tech F318
YiZhao2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Motter Group
Research Statement: Genetic network dynamics and complex systems modeling