PhD in Computational Chemistry and Chemical Physics

University of Leeds

At its most fundamental, chemistry is the 'art' of transforming one molecule into another. This research group builds on the foundations laid by physicists and chemists in the 20th century, by striving to understand and control atomic and molecular motion in chemical reactivity. Modern experimental probes – such as velocity map imaging and femtosecond spectroscopy – have been developed to allow exquisitely detailed probing of chemical reactions involving a small number of atoms with quantum state resolution and temporal resolution on the natural timescale of bond breaking. Novel computational and analytical methods for quantum dynamics are an equally important part of our work, complementing and often driving the experimental programme. Our long-term research goals are to apply this knowledge to the study of much more complicated reactions and processes, building links with biology and quantum physics, as well as atmospheric and astrophysical chemistry.