Alexandra Olaya-Castro

Alexandra Olaya-Castro is a Colombian-born theoretical physicist, currently a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London. She is also the Vice-Dean (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) for the Mathematical and Physical science Faculty.[1]

Alexandra Olaya-Castro
Born(1976-03-30)March 30, 1976
Bogota, Colombia
CitizenshipColombian and British
Alma mater
Known forQuantum effects in biomolecular processes
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsQuantum Biology
InstitutionsUniversity College London
ThesisQuantum correlations in multi-qubit-cavity systems (2004)
Doctoral advisorNeil F. Johnson
Websitewww.ucl.ac.uk/~ucapaol/aboutAOC.html

She is known for her work on quantum physics on biomolecular processes, specifically for her research on quantum effects in photosynthesis.[2] She was the recipient of the Maxwell Medal in 2016 "for her contributions to the theory of quantum effects in bio-molecular systems".[3]

Early life and education

Olaya-Castro did an undergraduate in Physics Education at Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas and later obtained a Master of Science in Physics at Universidad de Los Andes in 2002. She then moved to the UK to purse a doctorate in physics in the department of physics at the Somerville College, Oxford, where she obtained her DPhil in Physics with her thesis titled “Quantum correlations in multi-qubit-cavity systems” supervised by Neil F. Johnson.

Research and Career

Following her DPhil in Quantum Science at the University of Oxford, Olaya-Castro was awarded a Junior Research Fellowship by Trinity College as well at Oxford University from 2005 to 2008. There she began her research in quantum effects in photosynthesis.[4]

In 2008, Olaya-Castro was awarded an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship hosted by University College London[5][6] where she started an independent research group investigating problems at the interface of Quantum Science and Biology. She obtained a permanent Lecturer position at UCL in 2011 and was promoted to Reader in 2015.[7] In 2016 she became the recipient of the Maxwell and Medal Prize by the Institute of Physics for her contribution to the theoretical understanding of quantum effects in biomolecules.[8] In 2018, Olaya-Castro was promoted to full Professor at UCL[9] and in 2019 she was also appointed as the first vice-Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences.[10]

Olaya-Castro’s current research interests lie in the theoretical understanding of the quantum to classical transition [i.e.[11]] and in how quantum science can contribute to new theoretical and experimental explorations of dynamics and control of biomolecular processes [i.e.[12]].

Teaching

Olaya-Castro teaches the 4th-year course in Advanced Quantum Theory attended by intercollegiate students from University College London, King's College London, Queen Mary University of London and Royal Holloway.[13]

Public engagement

In 2015, she delivered a public talk at the Royal Institution which is available as a podcast.[14]

Olaya-Castro’s research was showcased at the 2016 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.[15]

In 2016 Olaya-Castro delivered a TEDx talk advocating for breaking socioeconomic and gender stereotypes through exploring what she calls the option B, the talk in spanish is found here: El poder de la opción B para romper estereotipos.

Awards and Honours

In 2003, she was awarded the Arthur H Cooke Memorial Prize for distinguished work by a first year student, Department of Physics, University of Oxford.[16]

In 2005, she won a Junior Research Fellowship at Trinity College, University of Oxford.

In 2008, she was awarded an EPSRC Career acceleration fellowship to pursue independent research.[17][18]

In 2016, she was awarded the Maxwell Medal and Prize.

Selected publications

The most cited publications by Olaya-Castro to the date are:[19]

  • GD Scholes, GR Fleming, A Olaya-Castro, R Van Grondelle. Lessons from nature about solar light harvesting. (2011) Nature chemistry 3 (10), 763-774
  • A Olaya-Castro, CF Lee, FF Olsen, NF Johnson. Efficiency of energy transfer in a light-harvesting system under quantum coherence. (2008) Physical Review B 78 (8), 085115
  • GD Scholes, GR Fleming, LX Chen, A Aspuru-Guzik, A Buchleitner. Using coherence to enhance function in chemical and biophysical systems. (2017) Nature 543 (7647), 647-656
  • A Kolli, EJ O’Reilly, GD Scholes, A Olaya-Castro. The fundamental role of quantized vibrations in coherent light harvesting by cryptophyte algae. (2012) The Journal of chemical physics 137 (17), 174109
  • EJ O’Reilly, A Olaya-Castro. Non-classicality of the molecular vibrations assisting exciton energy transfer at room temperature. (2014) Nature communications 5 (1), 1-10
  • A Olaya-Castro, GD Scholes. Energy transfer from Förster–Dexter theory to quantum coherent light-harvesting. (2011) International Reviews in Physical Chemistry 30 (1), 49-77
  • F Fassioli, A Olaya-Castro. Distribution of entanglement in light-harvesting complexes and their quantum efficiency. (2010) New Journal of Physics 12 (8), 085006
  • F Fassioli, A Nazir, A Olaya-Castro. Quantum state tuning of energy transfer in a correlated environment. (2010)The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 1 (14), 2139-2143

Personal life

Olaya-Castro is the mother of two children.[20]

References
  1. UCL (2018-01-02). "About the Dean and Vice-Deans". UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  2. "Quantum Physics | Biomolecular Processes | Alexandra Olaya-Castro |UCL". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  3. Physics, Institute of. "2016 Maxwell Medal and prize of the Institute of Physics". www.iop.org. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  4. Phys. Rev. B. (2008-08-12). "Efficiency of energy transfer in a light-harvesting system under quantum coherence". Physical Review B. 78 (8): 085115. arXiv:0708.1159. Bibcode:2008PhRvB..78h5115O. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.78.085115. S2CID 5037862.
  5. "Grants on the web". EPSRC. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  6. "Exploiting quantum coherent energy transfer in light-harvesting systems". UK Research and Innovation. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  7. Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences (2015-10-01). "Senior Academic, Research and Teaching Fellow Promotions 2014-15 - Successful List". UCL. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  8. Physics, Institute of. "2016 Maxwell Medal and prize of the Institute of Physics". www.iop.org. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  9. "Academic careers framework and promotions processes. Promotions-2017-18, successful professors". UCL. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  10. UCL (2018-01-02). "About the Dean and Vice-Deans". UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  11. Phys. Rev. Lett. (2019-01-08). "Strong Quantum Darwinism and Strong Independence are Equivalent to Spectrum Broadcast Structure". Physical Review Letters. 122 (1): 010403. arXiv:1803.08936. Bibcode:2019PhRvL.122a0403L. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.010403. PMID 31012639. S2CID 85450016.
  12. Nature Communications (2014-01-09). "Non-classicality of the molecular vibrations assisting exciton energy transfer at room temperature". Nature Publishing Group. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
  13. "Iris View Profile". iris.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  14. "Ri Science Podcast". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  15. "Quantum secrets of photosynthesis | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  16. "Prize winners | University of Oxford Department of Physics". www2.physics.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  17. "Grants on the web". EPSRC. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  18. "Exploiting quantum coherent energy transfer in light-harvesting systems". UK Research and Innovation. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  19. "Alexandra Olaya-Castro - Google Scholar". scholar.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  20. "El par de colombianas que está arrasando con los premios de física". ELESPECTADOR.COM (in Spanish). 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
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