Dr Michael L. Baker MRSC FHEA – Senior Lecturer and Diamond-Manchester Research Fellow (He / Him)
Mike Baker completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Exeter (Physics BSc Hons). He obtained a PhD in neutron spectroscopy via an Institut Laue Langevin fellowship. He was a JSPS postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Material Research, Tohoku University, within the group of Prof. Hiroyuki Nojiri. He spent a short stint in the groups of Prof. Myriam Sarachik (CCNY, Dept. Physics) and Prof. Andy Kent (NYU, Dept. Physics). He then obtained a Cross-Disciplinary Fellowship from the Human Frontiers Science Program to work for Prof. Edward I. Solomon at Stanford, Dept. Chemistry. In 2018 Mike was appointed as Diamond Light Source – Manchester Research Fellow at the University of Manchester at Harwell and Department of Chemistry. In 2020, he was awarded a Comunity for Analytical Measurement Fellowship. In 2021, he obtained a New Investigator Award from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. In 2024, he was promoted to Senior Lecturer.
Dr Myron S. Huzan – PDRA (He / Him)
Myron graduated with an MSci in Physics from Nottingham Trent University in 2018, during which he experienced several experimental research opportunities at large-scale research facilities including CERN, ESRF, ISIS and CLF. He obtained a PhD in Chemistry in 2022 from the University of Manchester under the supervision of Dr Michael L. Baker, researching the utilisation of experimental and theoretical X-ray spectroscopic techniques to study the magnetic and electronic structure of single ion dopants within crystalline matter. He continues a role within the Baker lab as a postdoctoral research associate in f-block X-ray spectroscopy, specialising in applying experimental and theoretical techniques to probe actinide electronic structures.
Nathan Alcock – PhD Student (He / Him)
Nathan obtained an MChem(Hons) degree from the University of Manchester (2017-2021), during which time he completed research projects with Dr Louise Natrajan (2019) and Prof. Nik Kaltsoyannis (2020-2021) in both experimental and computational radiochemistry. He joins the group to carry out PhD research using RIXS measurements and computational quantum chemical methods to probe the electronic structure of actinides
Alban B. Riley – PhD Student (He / Him)
Alban Bloor Riley graduated from The University of Manchester with an MMath and is now a PhD student working on an interdisciplinary project with Mike Baker and Marcus Webb (from the Mathematics Department). His research focuses on developing new algorithms for solving the inverse eigenvalue problem associated with inelastic neutron spectroscopy experiments.
ZhiBo (Alan) Qi – PhD Student (He / Him)
Alan is studying f-block electronic structure and magnetism. He has a Diamond Light Source studentship and is co-supervised by Dr Shu Hayama (I20-scanning) and Dr Peter Bencok (I10-BLADE). Alan conducted his MChem studies in the Baker group working on the inelastic neutron scattering of lanthanide molecular magnets.
Charlotte Waters – PhD Student (She / Her)
Charlie (Charlotte) completed her MChem at The University of Manchester (2018-2022). During the time, she undertook materials based research projects. She is now doing an interdisciplinary PhD based within the department for Earth and Environmental Science with Prof. Sam Shaw and Prof. Kath Morris and Dr Tom Neill, whilst being co-supervised by Dr Mike Baker. Her work focuses on developing U L3 and M4,5 -edge EXAFS, HERFD-XANES and RIXS capabilities for environmentally relevant uranium complexes, for decommissioning purposes. Charlie is part of a joint studentship funded by UoM and Diamond Light Source, where she is co-supervised by Prof Fred Mosselmans and Dr Konstantin Ignatyev.
Charlie Moir – PhD Student (He/Him)
Charlie is utilising various X-ray spectroscopy techniques to develop novel insights into the rare-earth metals. Charlie acquired research experience during his placement year at Unilever and throughout his MChem project in the Barran lab.
Charlotte Dixon – MPhys Student (She/Her)
Dixon joins the Baker group to explore how corrections to the consideration of relativistic effects will affect trends seen in actinide complexes. Previously, she wrote her dissertation on the feasibility of a fast neutron reactor within the nuclear field with Dr. Stuart Christie. Dixon has also been very committed to supporting the student experience of both LGBTQ+ and Neurodiverse students, having completed a summer internship in this field with Dr. Jo Cartwright.
James Keller – MPhys Student (He/Him)
James joins the Baker research group in the final year of his Physics with Theoretical Physics degree. As a part of the practical component of this MPhys degree, he will be using computational techniques to research the electronic structure of the actinide series (RIXS).
Hoi NG – MChem Student (She/Her)
Hoi joins the group after having completed a placement year in the printed electronics industry. Within this role, she worked on applications within the automotive, semiconductor and solar cell sectors.
Previous Group Members
Dr Timothy G. Burrow – Beamline Scientist, MARS, Synchrotron SOLEIL, France
Tim obtained his PhD in Baker Group. His research identified sensitivities of M45-edge RIXS to actinide-ligand covalency. Tim went on to a post-doctoral position at the MARS beamline at Synchrotron Soleil where he works on the development of their M45-edge RIXS capabilities. [Linkedin]
Dr Rasmus Tang Christiansen – PDRA at Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Rasmus obtained his PhD within the Baker Group, funded by an Institut Laue Langevin PhD studentship studying valence delocalised spin excitations in molecular magnets. Rasmus has now joined Henry La Pierre and Martin Mourigal at Georgia Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral researcher associate looking into both molecular and extended quantum systems, with a particular focus on f-elements and vibronic coupling. He is funded by the US Department of Energy on a Quantum Information Science grant.
Sayantan Sarkar – MSc Student. Sayantan went on to study for a PhD in the research group of Tatiana Marchenko at Sorbonne Université.
Matei Pascariu – MChem Student Matei went on to study for a PhD at the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science.
Chad Keeling – MChem Student
Ryan Dempsey – MChem Student During his time in the group, Ryan contributed to a published paper (O. Stagg, K. Morris et al., Environ. Sci. Technol., 2022, 56, 24, 17643–17652). He then went on to do a PhD with Prof. Nikolas Kaltsoyannis.
Joy Chiappella – MChem Student During her time in the group, Joy contributed to a published paper (P. Sadhukhan, S. Wu et al., Nat. Commun., 2023, 14, 3394)
JiaFu Xian – MSc Student
Sut Kei Chong – MChem Student
Sut Kei Sut Kei went on to do a PhD at UCL. During her time in the group, Sut Kei contributed to a published paper (M. S. Huzan et al. Chem. Sci., 2024, 15, 2433)
Jin An – MSc Student