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Quantum-coherent energy transfer: implications for biology and new energy technologies

27 - 28 April 2011 09:00 - 18:00

 

Organised by Dr Alexandra Olaya-Castro, Dr Ahsan Nazir and Professor Graham Fleming FRS

Evidence that photosynthetic systems are capable of supporting quantum-coherent energy transport at high temperatures has generated controversy over the implications of such phenomena for biology and applications. This meeting will bring together leading scientists from photosynthesis, quantum information, and organic-polymer based research to discuss far-reaching consequences of these quantum effects in the design of novel, robust and efficient energy technologies.

Download the programme here

Biographies and audio recordings are available below.

Organisers

  • Professor Alexandra Olaya-Castro, University College London (UCL), UK

     Alexandra Olaya-Castro earned a DPhil in Physics from the University of Oxford in 2006 and subsequently obtained a Junior Research Fellowship at Trinity College, University of Oxford. In 2008 she moved to University College London with an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship. She became a Lecturer in 2011, was promoted to Reader in 2015 and became a Professor of Physics in 2018. Her research interests are focused on theoretical approaches to bridge quantum science and biophysics. She is a leading expert in the area of quantum effects in biomolecules and her theoretical contributions to this field made her the recipient of the 2016 Maxwell Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics in London.

  • Dr Ahsan Nazir, Imperial College London, UK

    Ahsan Nazir is an Imperial College Junior Research Fellow in the Quantum Information Theory Group at Imperial College London. His primary research interests are based around understanding the delicate interplay of quantum coherence and noise in open quantum systems. In particular, he has developed and applied open system models in a number of areas, including both solid-state quantum information processing and quantum biology. He received his D.Phil in 2004 from the University of Oxford, for theoretical work on schemes for quantum information processing in semiconductor nanostructures. He then held Research Fellowships at Griffith University, Brisbane, and University College London, before joining Imperial College in January 2011. 

  • Professor Graham Fleming FRS, University of California Berkeley, USA

    Graham Fleming is Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a leading expert in Ultrafast Spectroscopy and its application to chemical, biological and material systems. He has had an extensive career in administrative positions including Vice Chancellor for Research (UC Berkeley) and Deputy Laboratory Director (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory). He has published more than 525 papers, is a member of the National Academy of Science, the American Philosophical Society, a fellow of the Royal Society, the American Academy of Arts and Science and a Foreign fellow of the Indian National Science Academy.