Humboldt Research Fellowship for Jonathan Mannouch

Jonathan Mannouch, a postdoc in the Theory Department, has been awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship. He joined the MPSD in October 2022 and has been developing new approaches for simulating nonadiabatic dynamics in chemical systems, for example those induced by exciting molecules with light.

In his Humboldt proposal, Jonathan wants to use these approaches to simulate the same effects in solids and materials. In particular, he will focus on the explanation of photoinduced phase transitions, such as the ultrafast change in a material’s electrical conductivity when it is exposed to laser light. Effectively, the light pulses act as optical switches – a highly promising approach for the design of ultrafast devices.

“This is interesting and useful, as it offers the realistic possibility of achieving ultrafast control over the physical properties of materials and the ability to develop a whole host of next generation electrical devices,” Jonathan explains. “I am really excited to be given the opportunity by the Humboldt fellowship to extend my area of research expertise, by applying my previous work in chemistry into a new and exciting context in condensed matter physics. I am already enjoying learning lots from the breadth of knowledge in Angel's group and hearing about new and interesting research topics.”

Jonathan gained his MChem in Chemistry, MSc in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry and DPhil in Theoretical Chemistry (2019) at Oxford University. From 2019 until 2022 he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich.

The Humboldt Research Fellowship is awarded to young scientists intending to carry out research projects of between six and 24 months’ duration at a host institution in Germany.