Katya Zossimova

About me

I graduated from the University of Exeter in July 2018 with a first-class Masters in Physics with Honours in Physics degree. I received a college commendation in my second year for my research contributions to Prof Geoff Nash's research group as a nanophotonics and nanoscale engineering research intern (May 2015 - June 2016). During my third year, I studied abroad at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where I was awarded a summer research scholarship to study the dynamics of ferrofluid drops on a magnetized surface. In my final year, I undertook a theoretical masters project which explored the dynamics of a nanoelectromechanical resonator in a novel quantum regime. I find it exciting to be at the forefront of scientific research and to be pushing the boundaries of knowledge. Outside of my academic interests, I enjoy competitive swimming and represented the University of Exeter in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) National Swimming Championships in the years 2014 to 2019. I currently hold the University of Exeter records for the Women's Long Course 200m Freestyle and 200m Backstroke.

My Research

I am pursuing a PhD in Prof Frank Vollmer's research group on Advanced computational electromagnetism for nanophotonics and biosensing. My research involves developing advanced cutting-edge computational techniques in molecular dynamics and density functional theory to analyse single-molecule sensor data and visualise the structural dynamics of single proteins. This project includes a 2-year research attachment programme at A*STAR in Singapore, where I will use the High Performance Computing facilities to achieve these goals.