Dr Asaph Widmer-Cooper
PhD Sydney
ARC Future Fellow
Member of The University of Sydney Nano Institute
F11 - Chemistry Building
The University of Sydney
| Telephone | 61 2 9114 1141 |
| Fax | 61 2 9351 3329 |
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Biographical details
Asaph is a Future Fellow in the School of Chemistry. Prior to this he held appointments as an APD Fellow at the University of Sydney, a Visiting Scientist at the ETH Zurich, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he was part of the Helios Solar Energy Research Center.
Research interests
Research in my group is focused on understanding the behaviour of soft matter – i.e. substances held together by relatively weak non-covalent interactions, such as liquids, gels and colloids – from a molecular and nanoscale perspective. The properties of these materials typically depend on the formation of beautiful structures that change with time. To study them we develop and apply analytical and computational methods based on statistical mechanics. We like to tackle questions that improve our fundamental understanding of matter while at the same time enabling the development of new advanced materials, with applications in areas including health and renewable energy. To inspire this work and to stimulate research on real physical systems we often work closely with experimentalists.
Questions that we are currently fascinated by include:
How do colloidal nanoparticles interact with one another and with interfaces, and how can these interactions be manipulated to enable the bottom-up assembly of new materials with applications in filtration, sensing and solar energy capture?
How does the shape of a molecule or colloid influence the symmetry of the crystals they form and the rate at which these crystals will grow?
What is the relationship between the subtle nanoscale order in gels and glass-forming liquids and their unusual viscoelastic properties?
Current research students
| Project title | Research student |
|---|---|
| Ligand-mediated interactions between colloidal nanorods: Establishing design rules for creating new materials for solar energy capture | Debora MONEGO |
| The Crystallisation and Glass Formation of Molecular Liquids | Malcolm RAMSAY |
| Studying dissolution and crystallization of organometallic halide perovskites using molecular dynamics | Madhuranga RATHNAYAKE |
| Examining the nucleation pathways of Nanorod assemblies through simulation | Jared WOOD |
Current projects
We are actively looking for talented postdocs, Phd and Honours students to work on a range of projects as part of the new ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science.
These projects will involve collaboration with national and international research groups working on problems including: (i) controlling the distribution and orientation of light-harvesting molecules and nanoparticles within polymer films, (ii) biasing the nucleation and growth of crystals in solution-processed photovoltaics, and (iii) characterising the alignment of light-harvesting molecules and other ligands on the surface of nanoparticles.
This is an opportunity to be involved in innovative research that could revolutionise our ability to harness and use energy in a renewable and sustainable way.
Positions currently advertised:
Postdoctoral Research Fellows in Computational Nanoscience (2 positions)
To discuss PhD and Honours projects please contact Dr Asaph Widmer-Cooper.
Associations
Awards and honours
- ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010)
- International Short Visit Fellowship, Swiss National Science Foundation (2012)
- ARC Future Fellowship (2014)
Selected grants
2017
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science; Mulvaney P, Lakhwani G, McCamey D, Widmer-Cooper A; NSW Department of Industry/Research Attraction and Acceleration Program.
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science; Mulvaney P, Ghiggino K, Smith T, Sader J, Wong W, Russo S, Cole J, Jasieniak J, Funston A, Bach U, Cheng Y, Lakhwani G, Widmer-Cooper A, McCamey D, Schmidt T; Australian Research Council (ARC)/ARC Centres of Excellence.
2015
- Circumventing the second year slump: Active learning and enhanced student engagement across Second Year Chemistry and Physics; Schmid S, O'Byrne J, Hudson T, Rendina L, Rutledge P, Widmer-Cooper A; DVC Education/Large Educational Innovation Grant.
2014
- Interactions, phase behavior and self-assembly of colloidal nanorods: Establishing design rules for creating new nano-structured materials.; Widmer-Cooper A; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Future Fellowships (FT).
2013
- Structure and dynamics of soft condensed materials, with applications to colloidal assembly, crystallisation, glass-formation, and defect diffusion in quasicrystals.; Widmer-Cooper A; DVC Research/Bridging Support Fellowship.
2012
- International short visit; Widmer-Cooper A, Del Gado E; Swiss National Science Foundation/Research Support.
2010
- Soft modes in glasses: chemical control of relaxation and mechanical response; Widmer-Cooper A; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP).
Selected publications
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