Highly competitive funding brings three young top researchers to Jyväskylä
Insight into light-matter interactions
Postdoctoral Researcher, PhD Shivani Verma received a 242,00 euro grant for her project in physical chemistry. Verma, who has been working at the University of Jyväskylä since May 2025 will be supervised by Professor Gerrit Groenhof.
Verma’s project investigates how strong coupling between light and molecular vibrations can modify chemical reaction pathways. Although experiments suggest the effect is real, the underlying mechanisms are not yet understood. Verma will develop a new atomistic simulation method to predict these effects and implement it in the widely used GROMACS software. The method will be validated against experiments and advanced quantum simulations. The project will produce an open simulation framework and deeper insight into how light–matter interactions can control chemical reactivity.
Accurate simulations for particle accelerator experiments
Postdoctoral Researcher, PhD Hendrik Roch received a 226,000 euro grant for his project in particle physics. Roch, who has been working at the University of Jyväskylä since January 2026, will be supervised by Associate Professor Heikki Mäntysaari.
Roch’s project integrates data from multiple particle-physics experiments, such as electron-proton and heavy-ion collisions, into a unified Bayesian framework. Its goal is to connect the internal structure of nucleons with the properties of the quark–gluon plasma. Using modern statistical methods, the project develops an open-source computational tool for reproducible simulations relevant to current LHC data and future Electron–Ion Collider experiments. Ultimately, it provides a novel, data-driven perspective linking gluon dynamics in protons and nuclei to the behavior of hot QCD matter.
Testing the limits of the Standard Model
Research Associate Franziska Maier received a 226,000 euro grant for her project in nuclear physics. Maier is currently working at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) in the United States. In Jyväskylä, she will be supervised by Academy Professor Anu Kankainen and Professor Iain Moore.
Maier’s project aims to achieve unprecedented precision in measuring the masses of short-lived radioactive isotopes produced at the IGISOL facility in the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä. Such measurements are crucial for testing the limits of the Standard Model, including CKM matrix unitarity and searches for new forces. By using advanced cooling techniques to produce ultracold ions, the project can improve mass precision by more than an order of magnitude. The first goal is a high-precision Q-value measurement for the superallowed beta decay of aluminium-26. The approach will establish a new precision regime in mass spectrometry, opening a new avenue for not only for nuclear physics experiments but also for neutrino physics and tests of the Standard Model.
