Physics PhD Students
Eduardo Alejandro
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-6588
Office location: Mudd 1173
EduardoAlejandro2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Geraci Group
Research Statement: Using cold atoms to sympathetically cool a single nanosphere down to it's vibrational ground-state
Abdulwahab Al Luhaibi
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F213
AbdulwahabAlLuhaibi2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Ketterson Group
Research Statement: Studying the response of vortices in artificial pinning site of type-II superconductors, and its potential applications
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
Saptarshi Biswas
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 24
SaptarshiBiswas2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Goswami Group
Nia Burrell
PhD Student
Office location: Mudd 1185
niaburrell2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Geraci Group
Research Statement: Precision measurements and investigation of non-Newtonian short-range gravity using optically levitating nanoparticles.
Gabriel Casabona
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 22
GabrielCasabona2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Larson Group
Research Statement: Studying binary compact object mergers, specifically looking at neutron stars and white dwarfs to better understand the gravitational wave emissions while incorporating the structure of both of these objects
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
PhD Student
Koch Group
Office location: Tech F225
DanyangChen2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Koch Group
Research Statement: Developing superconducting circuits for fault-tolerant quantum information processing, especially looking at the error correction in the bosonic systems
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
Yanpei Deng
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 22
YanpeiDeng2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Chandrasekhar Group
Ken DeRose
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 5
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
Collin Diver
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 22
CollinDiver2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Gabrielse Group
Travis Douglas
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-491-3477
Office location: Tech F265
tdouglas@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Dutta Group
Research Statement: Studying the distribution of ions near a charged interface in highly concentrated electrolyte systems using x-ray scattering
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
Joshua Fuhrman
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-6852
Office location: Tech F140
joshuafuhrman2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Figueroa-Feliciano Group
Research Statement: Supernova remnant study and dark matter search with Micro-X, a NASA Sounding Rocket program flying Transition-Edge Sensors and their SQUID readout system
Chetan Galla
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-6588
Office location: Mudd 1173
chetangalla2021@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Geraci Group
Research Statement: Study of gravity and micron scale using optical levitation of nanoparticles
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
S. Carin Gavin
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-3976
Office location: Mudd 1177
sarahgavin2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Stern Group
Research Statement: Optical and spin properties of mixed-dimensional heterostructures
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
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
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-491-5468
Office location: Tech F213
scottgrudichak2021@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Ketterson Group
Research Statement: Fabrication and characterization of thin film type 2 superconductors, patterned with anti-dot arrays
Bingjie Hao
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F335
bingjiehao2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kovács Group
Research Statement: Complex networks
Jason Junguang He
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F231
junguanghe2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Sauls Group
Research Statement: Emergent properties of chiral superconductors and superfluids under different geometric confinements
Andra Ionescu
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-9117
Office location: Mudd 1195
Andra-MariaIonescu2022@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Gabrielse Group
Research Statement: A search for ultralight dark matter via differential strain measurement of two optical cavities
Jeremy (Kefeng) Jiang
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 24
KefengJiang2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kovachy Group
Giancarlo Jusino
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F418
GiancarloJusino2015@u.northwestern.edu
Group: de Gouvea Group
Research Statement: Searching for signs of a sterile neutrino in long-baseline experiments
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.
Kyle Kennard
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 22
KyleKennard2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Figueroa-Feliciano Group
Taeyoon Kim
PhD Student
Group: Romanenko group
Office location: Fermilab TD ICB
taeyoonkim2018@u.northwestern.edu
Research Statement: Experimental research of quantum information processing with superconducting qubits and high-Q 3D cavities
Savannah King
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 21
SavannahKing2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Velasco Group
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
Patrick Krantz
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-3848
Office location: Tech F220
patrickkrantz2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Chandrasekhar Group
Research Statement: Probing novel quantum systems at cryogenic temperatures through electrical transport and noise spectroscopy
Boran Kuzhan
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 21
BoranKuzhan2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Gabrielse Group
Aakash Lakshmanan
PhD Student
Group: Garg Group
Office location: Dearborn 5
AakashLakshmanan2026@u.northwestern.edu
Research Statement: Development of theoretical tools to understand topological phases
Weihua Lei
PhD Student
Group: Amaral group
Phone number: 847-467-1703
Office location: Tech EG80
weihualei2017@u.northwestern.edu
Research Statement: Data-driven modeling of complex socio-technical systems
Jinyang Li
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-7852
Office location: Tech M316
jinyangli2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Shahriar Group
Research Statement: Quantum sensing with atom interferometry
Yanlin Li
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F265
yanlinli2022@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Dutta Group
Research Statement: Specific ion effect on surfactant molecules at aqueous interface
Zhi-zhong Li
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F416
zhi-zhongli2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Low Group
Research Statement: Spontaneously broken spacetime symmetries
Wei-Ting Lin
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-491-3788
Office location: Tech F231
WeiTingLin2014@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Sauls Group
Research Statement: Theoretical study of zero sound in liquid He-3 near the superfluid phase transition
Yihan Liu
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-4886
Office location: Dearborn 5
yihanliu2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Hahn Group
Research Statement: Search for Dark Matter mediators at CMS; Upgrade of CMS detector for High Luminosity LHC
Siyuan Liu
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-9117
Office location: Mudd 1195
siyuanliu2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Gabrielse Group
Research Statement: Search for electron Electric Dipole Moment through the ACME experiment
Qiaofeng Liu
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 9D
QiaofengLiu2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Low Group
Chloe Lohmeyer
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-6588
Office location: Mudd 1173
ChloeLohmeyer2021@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Geraci Group
Research Statement: An experimental search for the QCD axion, a hypothetical particle that could explain dark matter, using nuclear magnetic resonance techniques
Beverly Lowell
PhD Student
Office location: 1800 Sherman, 8030-8038
beverlylowell2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Tchekovskoy Group
Research Statement: Dynamically important magnetic fields and black hole spin-down
Michael MacKenzie
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F122
michaelmackenzie2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Velasco Group
Research Statement: Experimental particle physics research on charged-lepton flavor-violating processes at Mu2e and CMS
Austin Marga
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 5
austinmarga2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Chandrasekhar Group
Daniel Martinez Zambrano
PhD Student
Office location: Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
danielmartinezzambrano2020@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Gabrielse Group
Joseph McCourt
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-491-7677
Office location: Cook 1155
josephmccourt2018@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Bedzyk Group
Research Statement: Investigation of amphiphilic assemblies using X-ray scattering experiments and molecular dynamics simulations
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
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F127
MichaelMcginnis2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Hahn Group
Research Statement: Data acquisition system for the MuonE experiment
Thomas McKenzie-Smith
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 9D
thomasmckenzie-smith2027@u.northwestern.edu
Jacob McLaughlin
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-3752
Office location: Tech F140
A1P8Q8@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Dahl Group
Research Statement: Characterization of novel backgrounds in large scale xenon-based dark matter detectors and improving their sensitivity to low mass WIMP signals
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
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 5
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
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
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
Man Nguyen
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F226
ManNguyen2019@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Halperin Group
Research Statement: Ultrasound acoustics to study properties of superfluid He-3 at ultra low temperatures
Daehan Park
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 9D
DaehanPark2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Halperin Group
Nicolas Pavao
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F416
pavao@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Carrasco Group
Research Statement: Calculations in quantum field theory aimed at discovering novel algebraic structures that underly particle physics and gravity
Andrew Poverman
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 22
AndrewPoverman2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Geraci Group
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
Teresita Ramirez Aguilar
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 5
TeresitaRamirezAguilar2028@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Tchekovskoy Group
Grace Reesman
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 22
GraceReesman2021@u.northwestern.edu
Group: de Gouvea Group
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
Jennifer Sanchez
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 5
JenniferSanchez2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kalogera Group
Sharika Saraf
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 21
SharikaSaraf2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kovachy Group
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
Huei Sears
PhD Student
Group: Chornock group
Office location: 1800 Sherman
HueiSears2024@u.northwestern.edu
Research Statement: Multimessenger observations of long gamma-ray burst host galaxies in the high-redshift universe
Aslan Seifi
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F416
aslanseifi2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Carrasco Group
Research Statement: Scattering Amplitudes, Color-Kinematics duality
Brian Seper
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F263
L4W8B2@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Driscoll Group
Research Statement: Experimental studies of motile structures formed by magnetically driven colloidal suspensions
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
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F140
zhihengsheng2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Dahl Group
Research Statement: Data acquisition in scintillating LAr bubble chamber (SBC) for direct dark matter detection
Kagan Simsek
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F420
KaganSimsek2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Petriello Group
Research Statement: Precision QCD in the Standard Model effective field theory
Zehao Song
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 15
zehao_song@northwestern.edu
Group: de la Cruz Group
Research Statement: Coarse-grained modeling of the dynamics of driven polyelectrolyte solutions with charge confinement
Kierstin Sorensen
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 21
KierstinSorensen2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Larson Group
Research Statement: Studying the gravitational waves of white dwarf binaries in simulated galaxies to compare to future results from LISA
Jacob Sprague
PhD Student
Group: Larson group
Office location: Dearborn 5
JacobSprague2021@u.northwestern.edu
Research Statement: Novel GW sources in conjunction with the levitated-sensor GW detector
Benedict Sukra
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-9116
Office location: Mudd 1195
benedict.sukra@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Gabrielse Group
Research Statement: Improved measurements of the electron and positron magnetic moments
Imran Sultan
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn
ImranSultan2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Faucher-Giguere Group
Research Statement: Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of massive galaxy formation
Samvardhan Vishnoi
PhD Student
Group: Amaral group
Office location: Dearborn
SamvardhanVishnoi2026@u.northwestern.edu
Research Statement: Link prediction methods in complex networks
Yuxin Wang
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F224
yuxinwang2023@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Goswami Group
Research Statement: Topological phases of matters in condensed matter physics
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
Jinglu Wang
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 5
JingluWang2026@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Schmitt Group
Maya Watts
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn 5
MayaWatts2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Gabrielse Group
Jean Weill
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-467-4886
Office location: Tech F418
jeanweill@u.northwestern.edu
Group: de Gouvea Group
Research Statement: Understanding how helicity impacts neutrino decay, and how it leads to an apparent increase in events at low energies for experiments like JUNO or DUNE
Max Wisne
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F220
maxwellwisne2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Chandrasekhar Group
Research Statement: Measuring nonlocal transport in superconducting mesoscopic devices
Grace (Ruiting) Xie
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F335
ruitingxie2020@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Kovács Group
Sangjun Yoo
PhD Student
Phone number: 847-491-3477
Office location: Tech F265
sangjunyoo2015@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Dutta Group
Research Statement: Distribution of Lanthanide ions near the Langmuir film at the air-water interface using synchrotron X-ray source
Suna Zekioglu
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F418
sunazekioglu2024@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Carrasco Group
Research Statement: Investigations of hidden structure connecting scattering amplitudes in gauge theory and gravity
Hongfei Zeng
PhD Student
Office location: Mudd 1175
hongfeizeng2022@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Stern Group
Research Statement: Integration of two-dimensional materials on silicon nitride photonics. Light matter interaction in optical microcavities
Gan Zhai
PhD Student
Office location: Dearborn
GanZhai2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Halperin Group
Research Statement: NMR research on novel superconducting compounds
Yi Zhao
PhD Student
Office location: Tech F318
YiZhao2025@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Motter Group
Research Statement: Genetic network dynamics and complex systems modeling
Angela (Chunxi) Zhou
PhD Student
Office location: Mudd Library
ChunxiZhou2027@u.northwestern.edu
Group: Stern Group