Collaborations
I currently have several projects that could benefit from new collaborators:
- Machine-learning approaches to nonadiabatic dynamics under laser fields.
- Near-optimal graph fragmentation strategies for molecular systems.
- Quantum computing methods for time-dependent Schrodinger equation.
I welcome researchers and students at many levels, especially graduate students, undergraduate students, and high school students. Prior specialized knowledge is not required. I believe that most research in my area (or the general area of theoretical and computational chemistry / physics / HPC) are quite approachable.
I am also happy to discuss new ideas that come from prospective collaborators. If you have a question, a project direction, or a rough idea that you would like to develop, please feel free to contact me. I would be more than happy to contribute what I know.
Mentoring Philosophy
Throughout my career, I have had the honor of working with many talented graduate, undergraduate, and even high school students. Education and deep prior training should never be hard limitations on participation in scientific research.
My own path shaped this view. I entered the PhD program in chemical engineering at Johns Hopkins University and spent my first year in an experimental nanomaterials laboratory. At the time, I thought moving into theoretical research would be extremely difficult and would require a formal background with deep prior training in theory. In practice, that barrier turned out to be far less rigid than I had imagined. I am extremely lucky to have been trained by two knowledgeable and approachable advisors, which shapes my view on academic significantly.
Today, AI is reshaping many parts of the research workflow. If AI becomes capable of carrying out coding experiments, generating ideas, performing self-review, and even drafting rebuttals, then what exactly will the role of a student be? This is a question that educators and researchers should take seriously.
Perhaps education will shift away from memorizing technical details and toward cultivating creativity, scientific judgment, ethical reasoning, and the ability to ask meaningful questions. The challenge for the next generation of educators may not simply be teaching students how to use tools, but helping them understand what kinds of questions are worth pursuing in the first place.