Email: portico-services@ucl.ac.uk
Help Desk: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ras/portico/helpdesk
- Professor of Physics
- Dept of Physics & Astronomy
- Faculty of Maths & Physical Sciences
I was born and grew up in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. I did my undergraduate in Physics Education at Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas and then spent several years working for ICFES, developing physics tests for large-scale assessment of education in Colombia. I combined my work in education assessment with my master studies at Universidad de Los Andes, where I did MSc thesis with Prof. Luis Quiroga. During this time, I also worked with Prof. Carlos Tejedor at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) and Prof. Pawel Hawrylak at the Institute for Microstructural Sciences in Ottawa, Canada. I then moved to the University of Oxford (Somerville College) in October 2002 to do my D Phil (Ph D) with Prof. Neil Johnson, funded by a Clarendon Fund Scholarship, an Overseas Research Student award, and a Somerville Senior Scholarship. During my doctoral studies I spent a few months working in Prof. Hideo Mabuchi's group at California Institute of Technology. I finished my doctorate in 2005 and right after this obtained a Junior Research Fellowship at Trinity College, Oxford University. In November 2008 I was awarded an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship that allowed me to start my independent research career at University College London. I was appointed as a permanent Lecturer in September 2011 and was promoted to reader in September 2015. Throughout my career I have made scientific contributions to the understanding of signatures and implications of quantum coherence in a variety of quantum systems that include exciton condensates in quantum wells, multi-qubit systems embedded in optical cavities. My current focus is to develop theory on the signatures and influence of quantum coherence in photo-activated biomolecular systems.
My research falls broadly
in the emergent field of Quantum Biology. This is an interdisciplinary area of
research that aims to understand and exploit quantum phenomena taking place at
the biomolecular, nanometre scale, under conditions of physiological relevance. Specifically, my research aims to elucidate fundamental quantum
principles underlying energy dynamics and conversion at the biomolecular level. I develop theoretical approaches that bring together in a complementary
fashion concepts from modern quantum science, physical chemistry and
biophysics. Our current focus is on the theoretical prediction of signatures
and consequences of non-trivial quantum behaviour in the electronic and
vibrational dynamics of photo-activated biomolecules. For more information please visit my website
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucapaol/
I teach Advanced Quantum Theory, an intercollegiate course for 4th year students that is attended by students from UCL, Kings College London, Queen Mary University of London and Royal Holloway.
2005 | Doctor of Philosophy | University of Oxford | |
2002 | Master of Natural Science | Universidad de los Andes | |
1997 | Bachelor of Science | Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas, Bogota |