Category Archives: Seminars

Seminar «Light-Matter Interaction in Solid States»

Prof. Nikolay Gippius
October 10, 2013
13.00 – 14.30
Beijing – 1 Auditorium
Skolkovo School of Management

The talk is devoted to different aspects of physics of light-matter coupling in solid state. Various physical effects involving the excitons, the bound states of electrons and holes in semiconductors, are discussed.

The exciton binding energy in a semiconductor nanostructures can grow due to the increase of the attraction between electrons and holes in case the nanostructure is embedded into the dielectric with small permittivity. Several examples are discussed:  near surface quantum wells and nano-platelets

The ‘indirect excitons’, formed by spatially separated electrons and holes has smaller binding energies but their potential relief and the lifetime can be well controlled by external applied voltage.  The basic concepts of the smart traps for the indirect excitons are presented.

The strong spatial redistribution of the electromagnetic field is also responsible for the polarization, spectral and angular dependencies of the photoluminescence in modulated structures, such as planar microcavities with distributed Bragg mirrors, photonic crystal slabs and nano-wiskers. Linear and nonlinear optical problems in these systems are discussed.

Nikolay A. Gippius was born in Moscow, Russia (formerly U.S.S.R.) in 1961. He received the M.S. degree in physics in 1984 from the Physical Department, Moscow State University, Moscow, and the Ph.D. degree in solid state physics and mathematics in 1987 from General Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences, U.S.S.R. He received the D.S. degree in solid-state physics from General Physics Institute (GPI), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, in 2005. Since 1984, he has been with GPI where he holds now position of Leading Researcher. He has been a Visiting Researcher at Exciton Engineering Laboratory, Frontier Research System, RIKEN,Wako, Japan, in University of California, San Diego, and Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Stuttgart, Germany.

Further Information:

If you would like to participate and for further information or questions, please e-mail Liliya Abaimova: abaimova@skolkovotech.ru

Seminar by Dr. Alexej Abyzov

Detecting Genomic Variations in Human Cells and Determining Their Impact

Guest Speaker: Dr. Alexej Abyzov

When: 13:00 – 14:30, Sept. 19

Where: Pekin Auditorium, Skolkovo School of Management

Dr. Alexej Abyzov visits Skoltech to present on analyzing genome structural variations using sequence data, outlining their advantages and limitations. This should demonstrate how identifying a comprehensive set of personal variants can lead to the generation of a biological hypothesis about cell processes, allow for understanding of the stability of iPSC genomes, and enable evaluation of the extent of somatic variants in individual cells (lecture in English).

Attendance is limited to 20. If you would like to participate, please e-mail by September 18. We will be unable to accept more applicants later than 17:00 on September 18, so please be sure to inform her as early as possible.

Seminar Description:

Genome variations, particularly structural genome variations, is a complex not completely understood phenomenon. In humans, genome variations have been linked to cancer as well as to inherited and Mendelian diseases. The wealth of recent genomic sequencing data enables the studying of genome variations on an unprecedented scale (from the analysis of large populations to understanding somatic variations within a single individual) and with unprecedented accuracy (often with single base pair resolution).

In his seminar, Dr. Alexej Abyzov will first describe several methodologies that he has developed to analyze genome structural variations using sequence data, outlining their advantages and limitations. He will then demonstrate how identifying a comprehensive set of personal variants is crucial for the discovery of de novo variants, serves as a basis for unbiased functional analyses, leads to the generation of a biological hypothesis about cell processes, allows for understanding of the stability of iPSC genomes, and enables evaluation of the extent of somatic variants in individual cells.

Guest Spearker:

Dr. Alexej Abyzov is a computational biologist with focus research areas in genomics and proteomics. His goal is to contribute to the fundamental understanding of how variations in genome(s) lead to phenotypic variations, cause diseases and/or promote cancer. As part of this goal, he wants to apply new knowledge to find ways to prevent and treat various diseases and cancer.

Dr. Alexej Abyzov received his BS and MS degrees in physics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) in 2000 and 2002, respectively, and a Ph.D. in Biology from Northeastern University in Boston in 2008. Since, 2008 he has been working in the laboratory of Mark Gerstein in Yale University. As of the end of last year he holds a position of Associated Research Scientist. He has authored over thirty peer-reviewed publications, including such prestigious journals as Science and Nature, and the reviewer in a number of scientific journals.

Seminar by Dr. Konstantin Lukyanov

Unusual Fluorescent Proteins: Design and Applications

Guest Speaker: Dr. Konstantin Lukyanov
When: 13:00-14:30; August 15
Where: Vladivostok Auditorium, Skolkovo School of Management

Dr. Konstantin Lukyanov visits Skoltech to present on the use of fluorescent proteins with ‘unusual’ properties in analyzing live cells (lecture in English). Attendance is limited to 20. If you would like to participate, please by August 14. We will be unable to accept more applicants later than 17:00 on August 14, so please be sure to inform her as early as possible.

 

Seminar Description:
GFP and other fluorescent proteins have become routine instruments for analyzing live cells and organisms and are used in thousands of laboratories every day. However, in addition to such robust applications, there is a demand for advanced sophisticated models where fluorescent proteins with “unusual” spectral or biochemical properties.

The known natural diversity of GFP-like protein family provides a rich source of new fluorescent proteins from marine animals. Besides, directed molecular evolution is successfully used for creating variants of fluorescent proteins never encountered in nature. For example, we developed KillerRed – phototoxic fluorescent proteins capable of light-induced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Importantly, KillerRed allows light-induced ROS production to be strictly localized to different compartments and subcompartments within a cell. It was shown that KillerRed-mediated oxidative stress at different locations results in clearly different molecular events and cell responses.

Recently, we designed CFP variant with an anionic tryptophan-based chromophore. In contrast to green and red fluorescent proteins usually containing anionic tyrosine-based chromophores, no charged states of the CFP chromophore have been described before. We believe that switching between protonated and deprotonated tryptophan in chromophores of fluorescent proteins represents a new unexplored strategy to control their spectral properties.

Unexpected ability of regular GFPs to act as light-induced electron donors in photochemical reactions with biological electron acceptors has been discovered recently. These reactions have important consequences for practical applications of fluorescent proteins as well as for our understanding of evolution and biology of this amazing protein family.

Guest Speaker:
Konstantin Lukyanov is Head of the Laboratory of Biophotonics at Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia. He graduated from Moscow State University in 1991 and received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at the Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry in 1998. Since 1999, he has worked on characterizing diversity and biochemistry of GFP-like proteins and developing methods of their applications for cell and molecular biology. He is the author of more than 70 papers in international journals.

Directions
Skoltech and the Skolkovo School of Management where Skoltech is currently located are easily reachable from Metro Slavyansky Boulevard by taking shuttle buses #523 or #818 to Nemchinovo. Simply ask the drive to stop at the Moskovskaya Shkola Upravleniya (Moscow School of Management) bus stop.

By car:
Before arrival, please review the following map. Parking on the territory is free for the first hour.

Address:
Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology
ul. Novaya, d.100, Karakorum Building, 4th floor
Skolkovo 143025 Russian Federation

Seminar by Dr. Sergei Kucheyev

Nanomaterials for Fusion Energy

Guest Speaker: Dr. Sergei Kucheyev
When: 13:00-14:00; August 22
Where: Sao-Paulo Auditorium, Skolkovo School of Management

Dr. Sergei Kucheyev visits Skoltech to present on the development of fusion energy sources (lecture in English). Attendance is limited to 20. If you would like to participate, please by August 20. We will be unable to accept more applicants later than 17:00 on August 20, so please be sure to inform her as early as possible.

Seminar Description:
Development of fusion energy sources has a number of unique materials challenges. In this seminar, I will give an overview of my current research on novel materials for fusion energy applications. Emphasis will be on:

  • the development of ultra low-density nanofoams and
  • understanding dynamic and nanoscale aspects of radiation damage phenomena needed for successful ion-beam-induced modification and characterization of nanomaterials.

This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. DOE by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Guest Speaker:
Dr. Sergei Kucheyev is a physicist at Condensed Matter and Materials Division at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), having served at LLNL since 2002 first as a Lawrence Postdoctoral Fellow and subsequently as a staff scientist. He received BS and MS degrees from St. Petersburg State Technical University in Russia in 1997 and 1999, respectively, and a Ph.D. from the Australian National University in 2002.

Directions

Skoltech and the Skolkovo School of Management where Skoltech is currently located are easily reachable from Metro Slavyansky Boulevard by taking shuttle buses #523 or #818 to Nemchinovo. Simply ask the drive to stop at the Moskovskaya Shkola Upravleniya (Moscow School of Management) bus stop.

By car:
Before arrival, please review the following map. Parking on the territory is free for the first hour.

Address:

Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology
ul. Novaya, d.100, Karakorum Building, 7th floor
Skolkovo 143025 Russian Federation

Seminar for Certifying Composite Materials

June 17 at the 50th International Paris Air Show Le Bourget, Skoltech is hosting a seminar on how to certify newly developed composite materials.

Director for Skoltech’s center for composite materials Professor Zafer Gurdal and codirector Andrey Ushakov will give a presentation on the center and Skoltech’s recent efforts to support research in the area.

Skoltech President Edward Crawley will be in attendance along with representatives from the scientific community and international companies, such as Diamond Aircraft, Coriolis, Hexel, Aerocomposit, RSC Energia, and United Aircraft Corporation.