Who we are: Current group Members
Prof. Katelin Schutz
Until 2021, I was a Pappalardo Fellow and NASA Einstein Fellow in the MIT Department of Physics. I received my PhD in physics from UC Berkeley in 2019 with the support of fellowships from the Hertz Foundation and the National Science Foundation. My dissertation, "Searching for the invisible: how dark forces shape our Universe" was supervised by Hitoshi Murayama and won the American Physical Society Sakurai Dissertation Award. I received my Bachelors from MIT in 2014 with a thesis jointly supervised by David Kaiser and Tracy Slatyer. In my spare time, I love making and eating all kinds of food, savoury and sweet, from a range of cuisines.
Dr. Saniya Heeba
Before becoming a McGill Space Institute Fellow, I was a PhD student working with Felix Kahlhoefer at the RWTH Aachen University in Germany. I defended my dissertation with the titled “Doors to Darkness” on the phenomenology of dark matter portal interactions in September of 2021. I am interested in the intersection between particle physics and cosmology in the context of modelling and probing dark matter. I want to understand how theory and experiment can be used in tandem to navigate and transform the expansive terrain of dark matter physics. When I’m not pondering the mysteries of the universe (and sometimes even when I am), I like to tell stories, fictional and otherwise, and create art of dubious quality.
Nirmalya Brahma
Before starting my PhD studies at McGill in 2021, I did my Bachelors and Masters from the Indian Institute of Science. Broadly, my research interest is theoretical physics with a focus on astrophysics and cosmology. I am particularly interested in using theoretical models in conjunction with observational data from cosmology to study mysterious things of the universe like dark matter.
Christian Capanelli
I joined the group as a PhD student in 2022 and am jointly supervised by Prof. Evan McDonough, Prof. Robert Brandenberger, and Prof. Katelin Schutz. I am interested in the intersection of particle physics and cosmology theory. Lately, I have been thinking about potentially distinguishing features of ultra-light dark matter models. Before coming to McGill, I completed my Master's at Brown University. Before that, I was an undergrad at the University of Michigan. When not doing science, I enjoy dabbling in visual arts, playing video games, and watching B-movies.
Rohan Kulkarni
Originally from outskirts of Mumbai, I did my B.Sc. Physics at Leipzig University and am currently in the second year of my M.Sc. Physics at the Heidelberg University. I joined the group as a graduate research trainee in 2021 working towards parts of my Masters thesis. My interest in dark matter arises from my interest in Early Universe Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. I love teaching, both physics and math, and coming up with different visual/intuitive techniques for challenging concepts. Apart from that, I enjoy playing/watching Football, cooking/eating good food and occasional gaming!
Hugo Schérer
I joined McGill as a graduate student in 2022 doing my M.Sc. in physics under the supervision of Prof. Katelin Schutz and Prof. Oscar Hernandez. I have lived in Montréal my whole life, and French is my first language. After a brief career as a hospital pharmacist, I completed a B.Sc. in physics and computer science at Université de Montréal in 2022. During my B.Sc., I have done research on exactly solvable models with Prof. Luc Vinet. My broad research interests are theoretical physics and cosmology.
Kelvin Chan
I am interested in astrophysics, cosmology and particle physics, particularly the search for dark matter. Before joining the group in 2022 as an MSc student, I was an undergraduate at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I worked on several theoretical and data analysis projects related to the indirect detection of dark matter. Outside physics, I enjoy football, hiking and water sports, as well as classical and indie music. More recently, I grew my interest in food and wine tasting.
Harper Sewalls
I am a McGill physics undergrad from Kentucky, USA. I am interested in
theoretical/computational astrophysics. Outside of school I like board games, yoga, and mountain biking.
Varun Muralidharan
I am an undergraduate student at the Indian Institute Technology Kanpur majoring in Physics. I joined the group for summer 2022 as a MITACS Globalink Research Intern. My primary research interests include astrophysics and cosmology and their intersection with particle physics including but not limited to the search for dark matter, dark energy and physics beyond the Standard Model. When not engaged in research, I like to spend my time watching and playing different sports or playing my guitar.
Junior collaborators and friends of the group
Wenzer Qin
I am a graduate student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the MIT Department of Physics. I study cosmology and particle astrophysics with Tracy Slatyer’s group at the Center for Theoretical Physics, with a special interest in the nature of dark matter and its effects on the early universe. When I’m not thinking about physics, I dabble in classical music and digital painting.
Yitian Sun
Before starting my PhD at MIT, I obtained my Bachelors degree at the University of Chicago, where I explored a range of projects from collider experiment to particle phenomenology and theory. Now I am most interested in hunting the dark matter through novel astrophysical signatures and its imprints on the cosmological evolution history of the universe. I’m also interested in using Machine Learning to accelerate data analysis and simulation in my research. When I’m not doing physics, I enjoy putting on music and catching up with the local hip-hop dance scene.
Calvin Leung
Calvin Leung is an NDSEG Fellow at MIT pursuing a PhD in physics. He enjoys thinking about unconventional probes of new physics and cosmology. His PhD thesis focuses on using CHIME/FRB Outriggers to localize the world's largest sample of fast radio bursts, in order to measure their redshifts and unlock their potential as cosmological probes. Within the CHIME/FRB collaboration he is also leading the search for gravitationally-lensed FRBs using CHIME/FRB. In his spare time he enjoys playing the cello and cooking large quantities of food.
Anjali Nambrath
I’m a graduate student at UC Berkeley working on heavy-ion physics in Barbara Jacak’s group. Currently, I’m working on jet substructure studies with the ALICE experiment. I completed my undergrad at MIT in 2021, and was involved in a variety of projects there studying neutrino-nucleus interactions, axion dark matter, and nuclear structure. I’m a fan of particle physics, good food, and literature in translation.