Department of Chemistry at Columbia University, New York
Principal Investigator
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MILAN DELOR
Postdoctoral scholar, 2016-2019
Ginsberg group, University of California, Berkeley
Development of ultrafast interferometric microscopy for 3D tracking of energy flow; biomimetic light harvesting.
Doctoral Prize Fellow, 2015 and PhD Physical Chemistry, 2010-2014
Weinstein group, University of Sheffield
Quantum control of electron transfer in molecules ; ultrafast 2D infrared spectroscopy; artificial photosynthesis.
Milan was born in Nice, France, but grew up on Reunion island in the Indian Ocean, where his primary concerns were scuba-diving, bodyboarding, sailing and trekking. He completed his higher education in the UK, where after a masters in theoretical astrophysics he switched to experimental physical chemistry to study artificial photosynthetic systems using ultrafast infrared spectroscopy. In his PhD, performing experiments in Sheffield and at the Central Laser Facility (Rutherford Appleton Labs), he developed a new approach for predictive quantum control of intramolecular electron transfer in the condensed phase using vibrational excitation. In his postdoctoral years at UC Berkeley, he developed a generalizable interferometric ultrafast microscope capable of tracking energy carriers diffusing through any semiconductor in 3D with few-nm precision and picosecond resolution. He was appointed as Assistant Professor at Columbia University in 2019.
Postdoctoral Scholars
2021 - present
PhD Physical Chemistry, 2017-2021
van Thor group, Imperial College London
MPhys Chemical Physics, 2013-2017
University of Sheffield
When he wasn’t playing (field) hockey, climbing or hiking, James did his undergraduate degree in Chemical Physics at the University of Sheffield. During his PhD (at Imperial College London) he briefly became a crystallographer, using X-ray free electron laser crystallography to resolve and control ultrafast protein dynamics. He also spent a lot of time working with ultrafast lasers performing multipulse spectroscopy measurements. Deciding that proteins were ultimately too complicated James thought it would be much more interesting to study (and control) dynamics in strongly correlated materials and so joined the Delor group in 2021. He is curious how New York will compare to his hometown of London. He expects the food will be worse but the weather might (hopefully) be better!
2022 - present
Postdoc, 2021-2022
Dongho Kim group, Yonsei University
PhD Physical Chemistry, 2015-2021
Dongho Kim group, Yonsei University
BA Chemistry, 2010-2015
Yonsei University
Yongseok was born and raised in South Korea. He completed his B.A. and Ph.D. in the department of chemistry at Yonsei university. During his Ph.D., he studied the structure-property relationship of organic systems using time-resolved spectroscopy. Through controlling the intermolecular interaction of molecules and developing instruments, he revealed the mechanism for various excited-state relaxation pathways of perylene diimide (PDI) aggregates. He joined the Delor group in the winter of 2022 and aims to investigate ultrafast nonequilibrium dynamics in strongly correlated materials using ultrafast microscopy. Outside of work, he enjoys visiting art museums and listening to classical music.
Graduate Students
2019 - present
BSc Chemistry, 2015-2019
National Taiwan University
Born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, Cheng is still adapting to the weather in NYC. In his undergraduate years, he obtained research experience in Professor Chun-hsien Chen’s group working on molecular electronics using mainly customized scanning tunneling microscopy, where he developed a strong interest in studying electron transport behavior in materials. He is looking forward to gaining insight on controlling electron flow in the Delor group. When not in the lab, he may be delocalized in NYC trying something new.
2019 - present
BA Chemistry and Global Health, 2015-2019
Washington University in St. Louis
Vicky grew up in Shenzhen, China with interests in music, oil-painting and fencing. She received her B.A. in Chemistry and Global Health from Washington University in St. Louis. Previously, she worked in Professor Sophia Hayes’ lab on solid-state NMR crystallography of CO2 mineralization products. In the Delor group, she works on ultrafast microscopy of semiconductor heterostructures and plasmonic superlattices.
2019 - present
BSc Chemistry, 2014-2019
Wuhan University
Visiting researcher, North Carolina State University
Ding is from Zhejiang, a coastal province in eastern China. Raised in a handicraftsman family, he is good at woodwork, weaving, painting, and cooking. During senior high school, he became interested in chemistry, which answered his questions about the mechanics of daily phenomena, such as rice-made paste, swelling of fishnets, fermentation and so on. In college, he began to study the doping of two-dimensional materials (Fu group). He successfully synthesized a series of lanthanide-doped TMDs and studied how lanthanide modifies the optoelectronic and catalytic properties of TMDs. In 2018, he worked in the Dickey group as a visiting student, where he developed a method to prepare ultrathin metal oxide films at ambient environment. He is now a graduate student in the Chemistry Department of Columbia University.
2020 - present
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
BS Chemistry, BS Physics, 2016-2020
University of California, Los Angeles
Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Jack spent most of his formative years across the United States, from Orlando, to Philadelphia, to glamorous Fresno. While he always enjoyed science, it wasn’t until freshman year at UCLA where he developed a serious interest (unhealthy obsession) in quantum mechanics and materials science when he discovered that it explained how day-to-day electronics functioned. His curiosity led to research in Sarah Tolbert’s lab, where he synthesized multiferroic nanocrystals for applications in memory devices. His interest in being able to "see" the submicron world led to work in the structural characterization of semiconducting polymers and, eventually, research in Naomi Ginsberg’s UC Berkeley lab on the self-assembly of rubrene spherulites. Jack is excited to return to the East Coast and is looking forward to finding a reliable food truck to fuel his neverending desire for cheap comfort food.
2020 - present
BS Chemistry, 2016-2020
University of Texas at Austin
Inki was born in South Korea and hails from Denton, Texas. He became interested in chemistry when he was in high school, and in college he began to enjoy studying physics and math. At UT Austin, he worked with Dr. Sean Roberts to investigate energy transfer from lead sulfide quantum dots to organic molecules using ultrafast spectroscopy. Although a large portion of his research consisted of synthesis and characterization, he particularly enjoyed studying light-matter interactions. Inki likes to watch Netflix in his free time, and he is excited to move to the Big Apple!
2021 - present
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
BS Materials Science, 2017-2021
Northwestern University
Paul was forged in the suburban wastelands of northern New Jersey, where he was always interested in science and engineering (yes, he did, in fact, go to science camp during the summer). He did his undergrad at Northwestern University near Chicago, where he studied materials science with a minor in art history, and worked as an undergraduate researcher under the mentorship of Mark Hersam and Emily Weiss. After first being exposed to spectroscopy in the Weiss lab, Paul thought it was pretty neat, so he came back to the Northeast for Columbia's chemical physics program. Outside of research, Paul loves music, movies, reading, and being beaten by his friends at chess.
2022 - present
BS Chemistry, 2014-2018
MEd Curriculum and Instruction, 2018-2019
University of Maryland, College Park
Andrea has had an affinity for science and art since childhood. She attended the University of Maryland, College Park as a chemistry major. It was there she began her research experience in Dr. John Fourkas’ group, studying the interfacial organization of liquids using vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy under the mentorship of Dr. Amanda Souna. Along with her burgeoning interest in research, Andrea’s passion for teaching led her to become a middle school science teacher for three years, a position which she loved and where she established lasting friendships. She is excited for her time in graduate school at Columbia, and is grateful for the people who have and continue to believe in her. Outside of work, she enjoys outdoor strolls in the park, quality time with friends and family, cooking, knitting, and bookmarking places to eat on Google Maps.
2022 - present
BS Chemistry, 2018-2022
Bard College
Stuck in the suburbs of Pelham, Alabama, Michelle grew up dancing ballet, attending night sessions at a local photography school, and painting stills to pass the time. Moving to NYC on a whim, she received her A.A. at Bard High School in Manhattan and later, her B.A. in Chemistry near the snowy Catskills of upstate New York at Bard College, where she worked in the Anderson lab to characterize the luminescence of Pt/Ni based complexes. In the Delor group, she uses ultrafast microscopy to study energy transport in semiconducting materials.
Undergraduate Students
2023 - present
BA Chemistry, 2022 -
Columbia University
Born in Los Angeles, Kayla is a Californian who grew up in the glorious sunshine of Southern California. In her hometown of Hesperia (where snow and humidity are non-existent), Kayla has always been enthralled with the way science describes everything around us, from the smallest molecules to the realm of quarks. As a Columbia College student ('26), she is majoring in Chemistry with a concentration in Classics. In her free time, you'll find Kayla strumming her guitar, catching up on her favorite movies, or diving into a good book - anything and everything is fair game.
Summer 2023
BS Chemistry, 2020 -
Stony Brook University
Emma was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She spent her daily commutes to school via public transportation scrambling to finish up her homework assignments or study for exams. She discovered her interest for chemistry at Stuyvesant high school, and decided to major in chemistry with a concentration in chemical science at Stony Brook University (’24). During her junior year, she joined Professor Benjamin Hsiao’s group to study the effect that nitro-oxidized nanocellulose fibers have on water retention and soybean plant growth. She is excited to step out of her comfort zone this summer in the Delor group to focus on physical chemistry. Outside of academics, Emma spends most of her time playing ultimate frisbee, singing along to music, binge watching TV shows, or going out with friends to try new food.