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Professor Emilia Morosan - Principal Investigator

Emilia Morosan is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry and Materials Science and Nanoengineering at Rice University in Houston TX. She joined Rice in 2007, following doctoral work in Physics at Iowa State University and Ames Lab, and a postdoctoral position in Chemistry at Princeton University. She received several early career awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientist and Engineers (PECASE) and the NSF CAREER, and was recently selected as a EPiQS Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. When not "cooking" in the lab, Emilia enjoys baking, gardening, kayaking, rock climbing, and most mornings you can join her for a bike ride or a run. 

BRK  252 - p: 713-348-2529 - e: emorosan@rice.edu

Dr. Sanu Mishra - Research Scientist

Sanu Mishra is a Research Scientist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University. Sanu joined the Morosan group at Rice in Aug 2024 following a postdoctoral position at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He performed his doctoral thesis work at the Grenoble High Magnetic Field laboratory and was awarded a PhD in Physics from the University of Grenoble Alpes, France. He is interested in unconventional superconductors and strongly correlated electron systems where the interplay between competing energy scales give rise to novel states of matter. In his spare time, Sanu enjoys road trips, visiting national and state parks, cooking, cricket, and spending time with family.

BRK 264 - p: 505-230-8146 - e: sm335@rice.edu

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Dr. Arushi Yadav - Postdoctoral Associate

Arushi is from Haryana, India and obtained her PhD in Physics from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal in 2022. She joined Morosan lab at Rice in 2025, following her first post-doc position in the department of Physics of Quantum Materials at Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden from 2022-2024. Her previous works are on superconductors and strongly correlated 4f electron systems. She is working in the synthesis and characterization of Weyl-Kondo semimetals. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, running, playing badminton and bike riding.

BRK 266 - p: 832-309-6914 - e: al270@rice.edu

Dr. Hari Bhandari - Postdoctoral Associate

Hari is from Nepal and graduated from George Mason University in 2024 with a Ph.D.  in Physics. He joined Morosan lab as a postdoctoral associate in Jan 2025, where he is exploring new correlated topological materials and investigating Weyl-Kondo (WK) semimetals.  In his spare time, he enjoys visiting new places and spending time with family and friends.

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BRK 266 - p: 804-714-8029 - e: hb68@rice.edu

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Dr. Sajilesh K.P. - Postdoctoral Associate

Sajilesh K. P. completed his Ph.D. at IISER Bhopal, India, where he studied the unconventional properties of noncentrosymmetric materials. His research focused on detailed superconducting properties using transport, magnetization, and muon spectroscopy studies. During his first postdoctoral fellowship at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, he synthesized and investigated incommensurate heterostructure materials using ARPES and muon spin spectroscopy. At the Morosan Group, he is working on synthesizing robust superconductors with flat electronic band structures. Outside the lab, he enjoys weightlifting, running, and swimming.

BRK 266 - p: 617-821-7472 - e: sk305@rice.edu

Dr. Steven Gomez Alvarado - Postdoctoral Associate

Steven (he/him), is from Los Angeles, CA and obtained his Ph.D. in Materials in 2025 from the University of California, Santa Barbara under Prof. Stephen Wilson. Prior to arriving at UCSB, he completed his B.S. in Chemical Engineering at UCLA, where he concurrently interned in the Advanced Thermoelectric Materials Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He is interested in using X-ray and neutron scattering techniques to interrogate novel electronic and magnetic phase behaviors in quantum materials, as well as developing cutting edge synthesis tools for generating high quality single crystals.

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BRK 224 e: sg301@rice.edu

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Yuxiang Gao - Graduate student

Yuxiang is from Beijing, China and graduated from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology from Physics department. He came to Rice and joined the Morosan lab in the fall of 2019. He is interested in the characterization and synthesis of frustrated magnets with 3d transition metal elements and/or rare earth elements. On his spare time, he enjoys playing video games, following soccer and spending time with family and friends.

BRK 263 - p: 713-348-2877 - e: yg61@rice.edu 

Kevin Allen - Graduate student

Kevin is from Arizona, United States and graduated from University of Costa Rica in 2020 with a degree in Physics. He came to Rice and joined the Morosan lab in the fall of 2020. He is interested in the interplay between structural, magnetic and electronic properties that give rise to emergent phenomena, like unconventional superconductivity and non-colinear magnetic structures. On his spare time, he enjoys playing video games, travelling and spending time with family and friends.

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BRK 265 - p: 713-348-2877 - e: kja3@rice.edu 

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Karthik Rao - Graduate student

Karthik is from Mumbai, India and graduated from Texas A&M University in 2021 with degrees in Physics and Computer Science. He came to Rice and joined the Morosan lab in the fall of 2021. He is interested in the characterization and synthesis of quantum spin liquids with rare earth elements. In his spare time, he enjoys playing video games, visiting new places, hiking and spending time with friends and his cat.

BRK 265 - p: 713-348-2877 - e: ksr5@rice.edu 

Aparna Jayakumar - Graduate Student

Aparna is from Portland, Oregon and graduated from UT Austin in 2022 with a degree in Physics and a minor in Materials Science and Engineering. They work jointly with the EQUAL group, headed by Dr. Hanyu Zhu. Aparna's research focuses on the synthesis, characterization, and cavity control of van Der Waals materials as part of the NSF NRT program. Outside of research, they enjoy playing violin, making art, and spending time out in nature.

BRK 263 - p: 503-410-6442 - e: aj81@rice.edu 

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Rose Albu Mustaf - Graduate Student

Rose is from Southern California, and graduated from the University of La Verne in 2023 with a degree in Physics and a minor in Biology. She came to Rice and joined the Morosan lab in the fall of 2023. She is interested in the synthesis and study of compounds with itinerant magnetism. In her spare time, she enjoys weightlifting, reading, baking, and listening to podcasts.

BRK 265 - p: 865-386-7653 - e: ra101@rice.edu 

Shoham De - Undergraduate Student

Shoham was born in Wisconsin, USA and grew up attending international schools in India, Hong Kong and Thailand. He matriculated at Rice and joined the Morosan Lab in the fall of 2023. Currently, he is pursuing a B.S. in Computational Physics. His research focuses on synthesis and characterization of altermagnetic candidate materials and antiferromagnetic compounds displaying anomalous Hall effect. In his spare time, Shoham enjoys watching rugby, biking, reading and listening to music.

Raven Shamoo - Undergraduate Student

Raven Shamoo is an undergraduate physics major at Rice University and joined the Morosan lab in August 2023. They are from Houston, Texas and their work currently focuses on rare earth materials with unique topological properties. Outside of research, Raven enjoys costuming of all forms, playing video games, cooking, and spending time with friends.

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Neta Ussishkin - Undergraduate Student

Neta is from Israel and is an undergraduate majoring in Physics with a minor in Mathematics. She joined the lab in the summer of 2024 after completing her freshman year at Rice. In her free time, she enjoys swimming (she is on the Rice Swim & Dive team), cooking and hiking.

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Through the years...

Former Group Members

     Graduate Students

​

  • Vishwa Nellore (MS 2010)

  • Liang Zhao (PhD 2012)

  • Justin Chen (MS 2014)

  • Eteri Svanidze (PhD 2015, group leader Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics)

  • Jiakui Wang (PhD 2015)

  • Chih-Wei Chen (PhD 2016, Module and Integration Device Yield Engineer, Intel Corporation)

  • Jessica Santiago (MS 2016, Physicist II - Quantum Computer Operator, Quantinuum)

  • Binod Rai (PhD 2017, Senior Scientist A, Savannah River National Laboratory)

  • Kyle Bayliff (MA 2018)

  • Macy Stavinoha (PhD 2019, Research Engineer, LyondellBasell)

  • Jesse Choe (PhD 2019)

  • Long Qian (PhD 2022)

  • Jaime Moya (PhD 2022, Postdoctoral Associate Princeton University)

      Postdoctoral Associates

 

  • Dr. Andrea Marcinkova

  • Dr. Alannah Hallas (Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia)

  • Dr. Chien-Lung Huang (Assistant Professor, National Cheng Kung University)

  • Dr. Shiming Lei (Assistant Professor, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

  • Dr. Onur Tosun

      Undergraduate Students

 

  • Michael Mehlman  (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • Alexander S. Lambert  (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • Victor Leyva (MEMS Department, Rice University) 

  • Joshua Yip ( Century Scholar, Rice University)

  • Vlad B. Ghita (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • Stephanie Padley (Chemistry, Rice University)

  • Jamie Stone (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • John Luke Garcia (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • Karl Pierce (Chemistry, Rice University)

  • Alura Vincent (Mechanical Engineering, Rice University)

  • Cam Gutgsell (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • Haihao Liu (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University) 

  • Chris Georgen (Chemical Physics, Rice University)

  • John "Tommy" Stasko (Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, Rice University)

  • Matthew Thibodeau (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • Errol Jordheim (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • Spencer Kawachika (Chemistry, Rice University)

  • Roberto Carcamo (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • Jonathan Dunbar (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • Kexin Shen (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • Emma Codianne (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)

  • LuLu Shih (Physics and Astronomy, Rice University)
     

Visiting Researchers and Interns

 

  • Kazunari Arai   (Graduate student, Kyoto University, Japan)

  • Ellen Kunzeman  (REU undergraduate student, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL) 

  • Stephanie Rosales  (High school student, Harmony Science Academy, Houston, TX)

  • Mark P. Hendricks  (REU  student, Harvey Mudd College)

  • John Alex Eukel (Summer undergraduate student, University of Texas Austin)

  • Dr. Rhett Woo (RET teacher intern) 

  • Alvenia Chambliss (RET teacher intern)  

  • Keisuke Takamizawa (NanoJapan graduate student, Hokkaido University, Japan)

  • Hikaru Iwata (NanoJapan graduate student, Tohoku University, Japan)

  • Douglas Bollinger (NanoJapan undergraduate student, University of Pennsylvania)

  • Jose E. Tusell (REU  student, University of Houston) 

  • Katherine Celestine (RET teacher intern)

  • Sonja Khan (REU student)

  • Phuan Vo (REU student, MIT)

  • Ralph Cox (RET summer researcher)

  • Emily Maxwell (REU student, Denison University)

  • Makiko Ogino (Tomodachi-STEM at Rice University)

  • Helen He (GT Mentorship program, Clements High School)

  • Andrea Revelo (REU student, Lone Star College)

  • Bianca Spiess (Graduate exchange student from Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz)

  • Eria Imada (Tomodachi-STEM at Rice University)

  • Daniel Ramirez (RET summer researcher)

  • Han Wang (USTC, China)

  • Zhiyi Shi (USTC, China)

  • Wakana Asahara (Univ Tokyo)

  • Aeryn Mackenzie 

  • Aerielle Rodriguez (RET summer researcher)

  • Ritu Gandhi (RET summer researcher)

  • Angela Fackler(RET summer researcher)

  • Constantino Andrade (REU student)

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