Research - PhD in Biophysics

PhD in Biophysics (2018–2023)

Thesis: Excitation Energy Transfer and Trapping in Cyanobacterial Photosynthesis
Graduated: summa cum laude
Institutions: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam & Biological Research Centre, Szeged

Research focused on picosecond-scale excitation energy transfer in cyanobacteria (Anabaena, Synechocystis). As a Marie Curie Early-stage Researcher in the Se2B Horizon 2020 program, used time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy (TCSPC, streak camera) on isolated complexes and intact cells to track energy movement under varying conditions.

Developed kinetic compartment models to simulate pigment-specific energy transfer (PBS → PSI/PSII) at room temperature and 77 K. Built custom modeling pipelines in MATLAB and Python with global fitting approaches.

Studied PSII-deficient mutants to uncover direct PBS → PSI pathways, revealing alternative light-harvesting strategies.

Output: 10+ peer-reviewed publications
Thesis: Read here
Publications: Google Scholar

Technical skills: Time-resolved spectroscopy, fluorescence kinetics, kinetic modeling, MATLAB, Python, TCSPC, streak camera, scientific computing