Integrated Calendar

In this talk, I'll present the principles of the interferometric scattering (iScat) technique, which allows performing microscopy and spectroscopy of various nanoscopic systems in the diffraction limited regime. I'll discuss applications of this technique in different situations: for detection of particles down to 5 nm, for studying single molecule absorption of light, for tracing the diffusion of a virus on a lipidic membrane, for 3D tracking of gold nanoparticles and for investigating the photophysics of blinking/bleaching in single semiconductor quantum dots.

Atomistic simulation and excited state electronic structure methods are used to parameterize realistic models of chromophore-environment interactions that can be treated with new, highly reliable semi-classical quantum dynamics methods capable of describing dissipation and relaxation in complex open quantum systems. We will use this new simulation capability to understand the role of quantum coherent dynamics at shorter times and relaxation to thermal equilibrium on longer timescales in photosynthetic light harvesting systems. In these systems, networks of electronically coupled chromophores channel excitation energy into reaction centers where charge separation is initiated. Our simulations of the individual steps and this entire process reveal nanoscale design principles that enable and enhance the function these light harvesting systems.

Academic achievements such as math and reading are key predictors for future success at school, university, and later in life. Additionally, failure in these critical capacities negatively impacts the welfare of society as a whole. Current understanding of the link between high-level cognition, such as math and reading, and the brain has been primarily restricted to understanding the relationship between brain structure or function. At the same time a substantial body of animal and clinical research showing that cortical inhibition and excitation at the molecular or cellular levels play a critical role in efficient information transfer in the brain. It has further been suggested that cortical inhibition and excitation affects cognition in humans. I will present several studies that show how cortical inhibition and excitation are linked to high-level cognitive abilities in the child and adult human brain, and specifically how we can exogenously modulate cortical inhibition and excitation to optimise brain functions and improve cognition in typical and atypical populations. Such a multidisciplinary approach has the potential to bridge the separated strands of current research in psychology and education, system and molecular neuroscience, as well as animal models.