Theoretical and Computational Nanoscience
Meet the Group
We are a team of people from many countries, backgrounds, and identities doing science together!
Senior Research Scietist
Helen Rachel Eisenberg
B.A. Natural Sciences 1996, University of Cambridge (UK)
M.Sc. Theoretical Physics 1997, University of Cambridge (UK)
Ph.D. 2004, Depart of Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science
Post-doctoral scholar, 2005, University of California, Santa Barbara
Post-doctoral researcher, 2012, Fritz Haber Institute, Hebrew University
Interests: electronic structure calculations, plane-wave Density Functional Theory development and calculations, (catalytic reaction of) molecules on solid surfaces, nanomaterials.
Helen likes running, reformer pilates, hiking, and spending time with her children.
Email: helen.Eisenberg(at)mail.huji.ac.il
Postdoctoral Scientist
Itay Azizi
B.Sc. Physics, 2014, The Hebrew University
M.Sc. Physics, 2017, Bar-Ilan University
Ph.D. Physics, 2022, Bar-Ilan University
Postdoc, 2023, Donostia International Physics Center
Postdoc, 2025, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Interests: Microscopic interaction, phase behavior, pattern formation, batteries
Itay enjoys spending time with his family, writing Hebrew essays, promoting inclusion and diversity, and exploring nature.
Email: itay.azizi(at)gmail.com
5th year Chemistry Ph.D. candidate, NSF GRFP
Daniel Chabeda
B.S. Chemistry, 2022, Yale University
NSF GRFP, UC Berkeley Chancellor's Fellow
Interests: electronic structure, chirality in nanomaterials, exciton dynamics
Daniel enjoys skateboarding, the daily NYT word puzzles, and playing viola.
Email: daniel_chabeda(at)berkeley.edu
5th year Chemistry Ph.D. Candidate
Kaiyue Peng
B.S. Chemical Physics, 2022, University of Science and Technology of China
Interests: nanomaterials, strong light-matter coupling, polariton dynamics
Kaiyue likes hiking, traveling, and looking at the sky!
Email: kaiyue_peng(at)berkeley.edu
4rd year Chemistry Ph.D. student, NSF GRFP
Jiayang Zhou
B.S. Chemistry, 2023, University of California, San Diego
Interests: quantum dynamics, quantum thermodynamics, strongly correlated systems, strong system-bath coupling
Jiayang likes doing karate and sleeping zzz...
Email: jiayang-z(at)berkeley.edu
4th Year Undergraduate Student
Itamar Nesher
Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, HUJI (anticipated 2027)
Interests: minimization of existing electronic structures, improving energy transfer solutions
Itamar likes bouldering, cooking, and listening to music.
Email: itamar.nesher(at)mail.huji.ac.il
Former members.
Dr. Avi Ben-Simon, Ph.D. student
Current position: Chemistry Teacher at Hemda - Science Education Center Tel Aviv
Email: ben_simon_avi(at)hotmail.com
Dr. Xuezhi Bian, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Princeton University.
Email: xzbian(at)sas.upenn.edu
Ms. Caroline Chen, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Intern, Merck
Email: fengyixuan.chen(at)berkeley.edu
Prof. Ming Chen, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position: Assistant Professor, Purdue University
Email: mingchenaabb(at)gmail.com
Prof. Guy Cohen, Ph.D. student
Current position: Associate Professor, School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University
Email: guy.cohen(at)gmail.com
Prof. Matthew Coley-O'Rourke, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position: Assistant Professor, Brown University
Email: mattorourke41(at)gmail.com
Prof. Wenjie Dou, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position: Assistant Professor, Westlake University, China
Email: wenjie022(at)gmail.com
Mr. Sean Dunbar, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Data Scientist at Omnium
Email: seanvd9(at)berkeley.edu
Dr. Sagi Eppel, Ph.D. student
Current position: Algorithm Developer, Innoviz Technologies
Email: sagieppel(at)gmail.com
Dr. Hagai Eshet, Senior Scientist
Current position: Chief Executive OfficerChief Executive Officer Agat Engineering Environmental Systems Ltd
Email: hagai.eshet(at)gmail.com
Mr. Stephen Gee, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Graduate student, Materials Science, UCSB
Email: rth81243(at)berkeley.edu
Mr. Rithwik Ghanta, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: PhD Candidate at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Email: rth81243(at)berkeley.edu
Mr. Yotam Hakim, M.Sc. student
Current position: Software Engineer at Second Nature
Email: leptonium(at)gmail.com
Mr. Yongyan Han, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Graduate student, Harvard University
Email: atp20141004(at)gmail.com
Prof. Oded Hod, Ph.D. student
Current position: Professor, School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University
Email: odedhod(at)tau.ac.il
Dr. Bokang Hou, Ph.D. student
Current position: Postdoctoral Scholar, California Institute of Technology
Email: bkhou(at)berkeley.edu
Dr. Weifeng Hu, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position: Visiting Scientist, Texas A&M
Email: hulakui(at)gmail.com
Mr. Bizi Huang, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Graduate student, Harvard University
Email: huangbizi1(at)gmail.com
Prof. Dipti Jasrasaria, Ph.D. student
Current position: Assistant Professor, University of Chicago
Email: dipti.jasrasaria(at)gmail.com
Dr. Joseph Kelly, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Graduate Student, Stanford University, USA
Email: josephk1397(at)berkeley.edu
Mrs. Lyran Kidon, Ph.D. student
Current position: Physics Teacher, Schwartz-Reisman Science Education Center,
Email: lyrankidon(at)gmail.com
Mrs. Orly Kletenik-Edelman, Ph.D. student
Current position: Senior R&D Manager, Aspen Technology
Email: orly.kletenik(at)gmail.com
Dr. Alex Lee, Postdoctoral Scholar
Current position:
Email: ajemyunglee(at)gmail.com
Dr. Amikam Levy, Postdoctoral Scholar
Current position: Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, Bar Ilan University
Email: amikamlevy(at)gmail.com
Dr. Tal Levy, Ph.D. student
Current position: Senior Algorithms Developer at Align Technology
Email: j.l.greystoke(at)gmail.com
Prof. Bin Li, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position: Director of Bioinformatics Center, National Institute of Biological Science, Beijing, China
Email: libinsnet(at)gmail.com
Dr. Kailai (Tommy) Lin, Ph.D. Student
Current position: Research Scientist at ByteDance Seed
Email: tommylinkl6(at)gmail.com
Mr. Michael Lostica, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: GPU Software Test Engineer, Roche
Email: mlostica(at)berkeley.edu
Mr. Mark Ma, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Graduate Student, Materials Science, UC Berkeley
Email: ma_ke_0305(at)berkeley.edu
Prof. Leopoldo Mejia, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position: Assistant Professor of Physics, Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile
Email: leopoldo.udea(at)gmail.com
Ms. Ashley Jayaprada Mahadeo, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Graduate Student, University of Texas, Dallas
Email: ashleyjmahadeo26(at)berkeley.edu
Dr. Lothar Muehlbacher, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position:
Email: lothar.muehlbacher(at)physik.uni-freiburg.de
Dr. Nathan Ng, Ph.D. student
Current position: Postdoctoral scholar, Columbia University
Email: ng.nathanc(at)gmail.com
Dr. John Philbin, Ph.D. student
Current position: Quantitative Strategist at Virtu Financial
Email: jphilbin01(at)gmail.com
Ms. Jeanne Prieuret, M.Sc. student
Current position: Oxford University
Email: j.prieuret(at)gmail.com
Dr. Srinath Ranya, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position: Scientific Researcher, LOHUM
Email: ranya(at)gmail.com
Dr. Shimon Saraf, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position:
Email: shimonsaraf(at)gmail.com
Prof. Auditya Sharma, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position: Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal India
Email: audityasharma(at)gmail.com
Ms. Yao (Alina) Shen, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Graduate Students, UC Berkeley
Email: yao_shen(at)berkeley.edu
Mrs. Nurit Shental, M.Sc. student
Current position:
Email: shimonsaraf(at)gmail.com
Dr. Nan Sheng, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Graduate Students, Applied Math, Stanford
Email: nansheng(at)stanford.edu
Dr. Ben Shpiro, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position: Ab Initio Software
Email: benshpiro(at)gmail.com
Mr. Devan Skubitz, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position:
Email: dskubitz(at)berkeley.edu
Mr. Masaya Sugihara, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: PhD student at Ameloot group, KU Leuven
Email: masaya.sugihara(at)kuleuven.be
Dr. David W.H. Swenson, Postdoctoral scholar
Current position: Open Molecular Software Foundation
Email: dwhs(at)hyperblazer.net
Dr. Claudia G. Sztrum-Vartash, Ph.D. student
Current position: Math teacher
Email: claudia.varash(at)gmail.com
Dr. Tyler Y. Takeshita, Postdoctoral Scholar
Current position: Sr. Quantum Research Scientist, Amazon Web Services
Email: tylertak(at)gmail.com
Ms. Zui Tao, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Graduate Student, UC Berkeley
Email: taozui(at)berkeley.edu
Dr. Eli Wilner, Ph.D. student
Current position: Co-Founder & CTO, Stealth mode startup
Email: eliwilner(at)gmail.com
Dr. Daniel Weinberg, Ph.D. student
Current position: Postdoctoral scholar, LBNL
Email: d_weinberg(at)berkeley.edu
Dr. Paul Wrona, Ph.D. student
Current position: Science Teacher, The College Preparatory School
Email: paul(at)college-prep.org
Mr. Kaiwen (Kevin) Yang, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Graduate Student
Email: zhejiangls.kevin.ustc(at)gmail.com
Mr. Guy Yosef, M.Sc. student
Current position: Process Integration Engineer, Intel Corporation and X-FAB
Email: guyosef(at)gmail.com
Mr. Yukun Zhang, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position: Graduate Student, Princeton
Email: 2000011314(at)stu.pku.edu.cn
Mr. Zhuohan Lao, Undergraduate Researcher
Current position:
Email: lzhustc(at)mail.ustc.edu.cn
Mr. Gal Zohar, M.Sc. student
Current position: Compiler Software Engineer at CEVA-DSP
Email: galzoha(at)gmail.com