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Holger Baumgardt received his PhD thesis from the University of Heidelberg in 1997. After receiving his PhD, he held postdoctoral positions at the universities of Heidelberg, Edinbugh, Tokyo and Bonn. From 2010 to 2014 he was an ARC funded Future Fellow and since 2014 he has been Associate Professor at the University of Queensland.

More information about Holger's research can be found in the article Heart of Darkness

Dr. Karl Bertling has made significant contributions to pioneering imaging and sensing via laser feedback interferometry, spanning diverse laser technologies including sensors based on visible lasers, infrared surface-emitting lasers, mid-infrared inter-band cascade lasers, and terahertz quantum cascade lasers. His current research focus includes leveraging terahertz quantum cascade laser feedback interferometry for early melanoma detection and agri-photonics, as well as near-field terahertz and mid-infrared imaging of nanomaterials and nanostructures.

Professor Bowen is Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Quantum Biotechnology, and leads the Quantum Optics Laboratory at UQ. He is recognised both nationally and internationally for research at the interface of quantum science and nanotechnology; including bioimaging, biotechnology, nanophotonics, nanomechanics, quantum optomechanics and photonic/quantum sensing. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics.

Professor Bowen's research spans from the very fundamental, e.g. how does quantum physics transition into our everyday world at large scales?, to applied, e.g. developing next generation sensors for medical diagnostics and navigation. To pursue this research, his lab works in close partnership with industry and uses state-of-the-art facilities for nanofabrication, nanoanalysis, precision optical measurement and deep cryogenic refrigeration available in-house or on campus at UQ.

Professor Bowen has supervised more than thirty postgraduate students, who have been recognised with prizes such as Fulbright Scholarships, an Australian Youth Science Ambassadorship, a Springer PhD theses prize, the Queensland nomination for the Australian Institute of Physics Bragg Medal, the Australian Optical Society Postgraduate Student Prize and UQ Graduate of the Year. He regularly has projects available, both for postgraduate students and for postdoctoral researchers. Please check his website, above, or contact him directly for details (w.bowen@uq.edu.au).

Dr Joel Corney’s research interests are in the fields of quantum physics, ultracold gases, and optics.

He completed his PhD at The University of Queensland in 2000.

His chief research projects are in the areas of: Bose-Einstein Condensation, Quantum Phase-Space Simulation Techniques, Quantum Effects in Optical Fibres, and Nonlinear Optics

Scott manages the radiation oncology medical physics research portfolio at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, including the supervision of higher degree research students. He joined the Cancer Care Services team in 2015, following a post-doctoral research fellowship and is registered as a qualified medical physics specialist with the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine. He is the clinical lead of the Cancer Care Services program at the Herston Biofabrication Institute. His research interests include applications of 3D printing in oncology, the quantitative assessment of radiotherapy treatment quality and complexity, and radiation dosimetry.

Professor Matthew Davis is a theoretical and computational physicist. His main research area is non-equilibrium quantum many-body systems, and he particularly focuses on the platform of ultracold quantum gases. He particularly enjoys connecting theory with experiment, and has published several high impact papers with several international experimental groups.

His specific research areas include:

• Non-equilibrium dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates and other quantum gases;
• Superfluidity, vortices, and quantum turbulence;
• Dynamics of phase transitions and formation of topological defects;
• Relaxation of isolated quantum systems and quantum thermodynamics;
• Computational methods for quantum systems.

He did his undergraduate studies in physics at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, before completing his PhD at the University of Oxford in 2001 under the supervision of Sir Professor Keith Burnett. He started at the University of Queensland in 2002, became a teaching and research academic in 2004, and was promoted to Professor in 2013. He was recently a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (2018-25), and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (2017-24).

His personal webpage can be found here: https://people.smp.uq.edu.au/MatthewDavis/

Professor Tamara Davis is an astrophysicist who studies the elusive “dark energy” that’s accelerating the universe. She completed her PhD in 2004 at the University of New South Wales on theoretical cosmology and black holes, then worked on supernova cosmology in two postdoctoral fellowships, the first at the Australian National University (collaborating with Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) and the second at the University of Copenhagen. In 2008 she moved to Queensland to join the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey team working on mapping the galaxies in the Universe. She led the Dark Theme within the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics, is now leading the OzDES survey -- working with the international Dark Energy Survey, and working with working with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument project. As of 2024 she is Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery.

Her accolades include the Astronomical Society of Australia's Louise Webster Medal for early career research impact, the L'Oréal Women in Science Fellowship for Australia, the Australian Institute of Physics Women in Physics Lectureship, the Australian Academy of Science’s Nancy Millis Medal for outstanding female leadership in science, an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship, the Astronomical Society of Australia's Ellery Lectureship, and a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

Roland De Marco is an internationally recognized leader in the field of electrochemical sensors. His major strength is in the field of electrochemical surface and interface analysis, and he has a strong track record of using state-of-the-art electrochemical and surface analytical techniques in the micro- and nano-characterization of electrochemical devices. He has been recognized for his national and international leadership in neutron and synchrotron science through his past appointments on the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Ltd. Board as well as member of the Australian Synchrotron Stakeholders Committee.

ResearcherID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/F-7213-2011; ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1357-3727; Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI); Member of the American Chemical Society (MACS); Fellow of the Queensland Academy and Arts and Science (FQAAS); Member of the European Academy of Sciences (MEUAS).

Pete is currently a Lecturer in Philosophy specialising in the philosophy of science, particularly the philosophy of physics. His research interests include time and causation in modern physics, especially quantum foundations, and the epistemology and methodology of science, especially analogue experimentation. He is currently Lead CI on an ARC Discovery Project, "The View From Somewhere: embodied agents and the quantum perspective", exploring the role that agency plays both in the physics of embodied learning as well as quantum theory. In 2023 he was a collaborator in the FQxI project "Information as fuel" based in the School of Mathematics and Physics. He completed in 2021 an ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award project, "A philosophical exploration of simulating and controlling the quantum world", which examines how a novel laboratory technique, analogue quantum simulation, illuminates the epistemology of analogue experimentation. Pete's philosophical research is informed by the latest experimental and theoretical results from the physical sciences.

Arkady Fedorov was born in Russia and completed his undergraduate studies at the Physics Department of the St. Petersburg State University. He graduated with PhD from the Clarkson University, US in 2005. His research work was primarily on theoretical aspects of quantum information science and decoherence in solid state systems. He was then appointed a postdoctoral fellow KIT, Gemany working on a theory of superconducting quantum circuits in application to quantum computing and quantum optics phenomena. In 2007-2010 he worked in TU Delft, The Netherlands conducting experiments with superconducting flux qubits. Later on he became a research scientist in ETH Zurich to continue research in the area of superconducting quantum devices. Starting January 2013 he is a group leader at The University of Queensland. His group studies quantum phenonomena in systems consisting of superconducting artificial atoms, microwave resonators and mechanical oscillators.

Dr Mile Gao is a physicist specialising in condensed matter physics, with a focus on charge carrier dynamics in organic semiconductor devices. His research advances the development of novel measurement techniques to improve the understanding of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic photovoltaics (OPVs). He has pioneered several charge carrier mobility measurement methods, including Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor CELIV (MIS-CELIV), photo-MIS-CELIV, injection-CELIV, and photo-injection-CELIV. These techniques enable precise characterisation of charge transport and generation processes in diode-like structures, addressing key challenges in organic optoelectronics.

Dr. Mile's work has led to significant insights into charge injection, extraction, and mobility in organic semiconductors, with implications for improving device efficiency and stability. His research is highly interdisciplinary, combining physics, materials science, and device engineering.

He has published extensively in high-impact journals and holds a patent for his contributions to the field. As an ARC DECRA Fellow at The University of Queensland, he also teaches and supervises students in advanced experimental techniques for semiconductor characterisation.

Expertise:

• Charge transport in organic semiconductors
• Carrier generation efficiency in OPVs
• Advanced electrical characterisation techniques
• Organic optoelectronic device physics

Jacinda Ginges is a theoretical physicist in the School of Mathematics and Physics at UQ. Her research is directed towards atomic tests of fundamental physics, involving development and application of high-precision many-body methods for heavy atoms. Her areas of expertise include high-precision studies of fundamental symmetries violations (parity, time) and probes of nuclear structure. Atomic parity violation studies provide some of the tightest constraints on possible new physics beyond the standard model of particle physics, complementing searches for new physics at the LHC and dark matter searches. Studies of parity- and time-reversal-violating atomic electric dipole moments tightly constrain possible new sources of CP-violation appearing in theories beyond the standard model.

Positions:

• 2024- Associate Professor, The University of Queensland, Australia
• 2018- Senior Lecturer, The University of Queensland, Australia
• 2018-2022 ARC Future Fellow, The University of Queensland, Australia
• 2017 Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems, The University of Sydney, Australia
• 2014-2016 Senior Research Associate, UNSW Sydney, Australia
• 2004-2008 ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer, UNSW Sydney, Australia
• 2004 Avadh Bhatia Postdoctoral Fellowship for Women, University of Alberta, Canada

Dr Xiao Guo is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Queensland. He received his PhD from UQ in 2022. His research focuses on scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and light–matter interactions in nanomaterials and nanostructures across the mid-infrared to terahertz spectrum. Since 2022, he has completed 70+ independent peer reviews for internationally recognised journals, including Nature Communications, Light: Science & Applications, and ACS Photonics. He lectures ELEC3100: Fundamentals of Electromagnetic Fields and Waves at UQ. He has delivered invited talks at NFO-17 and a 50-minute invited seminar at IRMMW-THz 2024.

His community service includes interim session chair (THz) at ISUPTW 2024 (IEEE Photonics Society), Technical Program Committee member for the 4th and 5th International Conference on Advanced Optics & Photonics Research in Engineering, Youth Editorial Board member of PhotoniX Life, and external grant reviewer for a European funder. His invited review on terahertz near-field optical microscopy in Applied Physics Reviews was recognised as an ESI Highly Cited Paper (top 1%) in 2024 and 2025. He is a member of the Institute of Physics (IOP), the American Chemical Society (ACS), and the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP).

Personal website: xiaoguo1995.github.io/

MBChB FRCA FANZCA FFICM PhD

I am a Senior Lecturer in Cosmology in the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland, and recipient of the 2026 Pawsey Medal from the Australian Academy of Science. My research focuses on mapping the positions and motions of millions of galaxies to understand how our Universe has evolved since the Big Bang — and to shed light on the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that make up 95% of everything in it.

I work on some of the largest galaxy surveys ever undertaken including

• DESI (the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) — a project mapping tens of millions of galaxies across the Universe.
• 4HS (the 4MOST Hemisphere Survey) — a new southern-sky survey that began observations in 2026, in which I lead the cosmology team

To analyse the enormous datasets these surveys produce, my team develops cutting-edge computing and statistical tools — techniques for making sense of extraordinarily large and complex data that are increasingly finding uses beyond astronomy.

Academic Background

• Undergraduate: MPhys 1st Class Honours - University of Sussex, 2008-2012
• Postgraduate: PhD - University of Portmouth, 2012-2016
• Research Associate - University of Western Australia, 2015-2019
• Research Fellow in Cosmology - University of Queensland, 2019-

Chris James' research is in the fields of experimental hypersonics, hypersonic aerothermodynamics, and planetary entry. His research combines two important and intertwined parts of these fields: the development and understanding of hypersonic test facilities and the performing and analysing of experiments in them. Chris' 28 journal papers, 2 technical notes, and 59 conference publications cover the design, improvement, and simulation of high enthalpy hypersonic facilities such as expansion tubes and shock tunnels, the application and improvement of physical, optical, and radio-based techniques performed on these facilities, non-equilibrium radiation measurements for entry into many planets in the solar system, re-entry observation measurements, and impulse facility ablation testing.

Chris graduated from Mechanical Engineering at UQ in 2012. Following this, he completed his PhD in the Centre for Hypersonics at the University of Queensland (UQ).

During his PhD he developed very high speed Uranus and Saturn entry conditions which were used to perform the fastest experiments which have ever been performed in an expansion tube, as well as developing expansion tube simulation and analysis codes which are now widely used in the Centre for Hypersonics and around the world. He also enrolled in a cotutelle program with École Centrale Paris in Paris, France, and after being awarded an Eiffel Excellence Scholarship by the French government, he passed a year on exchange in Paris, France. In France, Chris was working on developing the capability to perform radiating simulations to support his experimental work at UQ.

Post PhD he was employed in the Centre for Hypersonics helping to develop the X3R reflected shock tunnel, while also supervising and conducting expansion tube research on the X2 expansion tube at UQ.

In 2020, Chris took on a lecturing position for the year and was awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA early career fellowship to study Mars return conditions with heated test models at UQ from 2021 to 2023. He was the 2020 recipient of the UQ EAIT Faculty Early Career Researcher Award and in 2021 a paper he presented was awarded the 2021 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Ground Test Best Paper Award at the 2021 AIAA SciTech Forum.

in 2020 he participated in the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) led re-entry observation mission of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa2 re-entry over Woomera, South Australia and in 2022 he led the UQ contingent on the once again UniSQ led re-entry observation mission of the NASA OSIRIS-REx re-entry in the US.

He is now employed at UQ as a UQ Amplify Senior Lecturer where he continues to perform research in giant planet entry through an ARC Discovery Project which he received with his colleague Professor Richard Morgan and continues to develop and improve UQ's X2 expansion tube.

Chris lectures in the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering at UQ. He lectures both hypersonics and space engineering, covering varied topics such as high temperature gas dynamics, hypersonic test facilities, rarefied gas dynamics, orbital mechanics, rocket trajectories, spacecraft design, spacecraft thermal and power management, and planetary entry.

He has written six popular science article for The Conversation with a more than 200,000 combined reads, and has been interviewed for Youtube and radio many times. He has given invited talks at the University of Oxford and the Engineers Australia Continuing Professional Development seminar series.

Professor Kheruntsyan graduated from the Yerevan State University (Armenia, former Soviet Union) in 1988, and received PhD degree in Physics from the Institute for Physical Research of the Armenian Academy of Science in 1993. In 1996, he moved to the University of Queensland to work as a postdoctoral research associate and was subsequently awarded a UQ Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Following this, he held positions of Lecturer, ARC Senior Research Fellow, Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Atom Optics (2003-2010), ARC Future Fellow (2010-2014), Associate Professor (2015-2017), and is currently Professor in theoretical physics in the School of Mathematics and Physics (SMP).