Our PhD Scholars » Sydney Quantum Academy

Discover the depth of talent within the Sydney Quantum Academy community by exploring the profiles of current scholars and alumni.

November 17 2020

Student stories

Get to know some of the talented scholars who have been awarded our prestigious PhD scholarships. Explore how they are pushing the boundaries of quantum research across diverse fields. Dive in to learn about their personal and professional growth, and see how their stories might inspire your own path in quantum research.

Bringing Molecules to Life on a Quantum Computer
Vanessa Olaya Agudelo, an SQA PhD Scholar at the University of Sydney, is using quantum computers to simulate ultrafast chemical reactions — slowing processes down by a billion times to reveal insights impossible on classical computers. Discover how her work could transform chemistry, materials science, and solar energy research.
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When a twist of fate sparks a quantum career
Explore SQA alum Mengke Feng's journey from UNSW PhD scholar to Diraq. Find out about quantum PhD scholarships now open for applications.
Read more of the post When a twist of fate sparks a quantum career
SQA alumna Holly Stemp wins the 2025 Malcolm Chaikin Prize
This prize of $10,000 is awarded each year for the best PhD thesis in UNSW Engineering.
Read more of the post SQA alumna Holly Stemp wins the 2025 Malcolm Chaikin Prize
Uncovering Nature’s Mysteries with Quantum
How can a single seminar kickstart a career uncovering nature’s mysteries?
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Exploring the Limits of Quantum Fields
What happens when you put a “zoom limit” on the quantum world? SQA PhD scholar Simon Vedl shares his experiences of pursuing a career in quantum and what it's really like to move across the world to study!
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SQA Scholar recognised in "Cosmos Quantum Quest"
SQA scholar at UNSW, Nathan K. Long, brings quantum physics to life for kids with his "Quantum Bee" analogy. Read about his winning Cosmos Quantum Quest entry!
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Pursuing your passion – and making friends
From theory to hands-on experiments, an SQA Scholarship opens an exhilarating window into the world of quantum – just ask Mingyu Sun and Riddhi Ghosh.
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Quantum supremacy based on rigorous maths
His refusal to be pigeonholed has taken Chilean physicist Mauro Morales on an academic journey from a fascination with Plato to the physics of material science and now to quantum algorithms.
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Be inspired by Riddhi Ghosh, SQA PhD Scholar at Macquarie University
From childhood curiosity about the natural world to exploring quantum thermodynamics and Hamiltonian learning, be inspired by Riddhi Ghosh's journey.
Read more of the post Be inspired by Riddhi Ghosh, SQA PhD Scholar at Macquarie University
Leaping into the business of quantum
Quantum start-ups and established businesses need talented researchers. And they fund scholarships to boot, as Ven Chenniappan and Paulo da Silva Armi discovered.
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Working at the intersection of light and matter
Trace Raji's journey as she redirected her expertise in optoelectronics toward the emerging field of quantum technology.
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Building the Quantum Internet
Tim Newman calls himself ‘an engineer in a physics lab.’ While his PhD certainly has a physics flavour, it also involves engineering work – developing quantum hardware in the solid state.
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Better than rocket science
Amanda Seedhouse began with dreams of being an astrophysicist; now she is working on the moonshot of quantum computing.
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Cracking the code of reality
The mind-bending nature of quantum mechanics only makes sense with deep mathematics – along with the type of high-end simulations Dan George is helping to build.
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Venturing into the quantum world
Despite facing stumbling blocks, Ritika Bazzad has retained the resolve she needed to build a career at the forefront of the quantum technology.
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A universe of possibilities
How Irene Fernández de Fuentes found the freedom to explore her passion for quantum physics – and make lasting friendships – on the other side of the world.
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Where physics and start-up culture mix
Arjun David Rao wanted to join a start-up that would bring quantum computing to the world – a path that led him to the Sydney Quantum Academy.
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What excites our students about the Sydney quantum scene?

Featured (in order of appearance) are Juliette Soule (University of Sydney), Elisabeth Wagner (Macquarie University), Fabio Henriques (University of Technology Sydney) and Wyatt Vine (UNSW Sydney). Their research supervisors and project titles are:

Juliette Soule, University of Sydney. Supervisor Prof Stephen Bartlett. Thesis: Bosonic error correction in topological quantum systems.
Elisabeth Wagner, Macquarie University. Supervisor: Prof Gavin Brennen. Thesis: Quantum Cellular Automata in spin lattices.
Fabio Henriques, University of Technology Sydney. Supervisor: A/Prof Nathan Langford. Thesis: Digital simulation of the quantum Rabi model phase transition in circuit QED.
Wyatt Vine, UNSW Sydney. Supervisor: Prof Andrea Morello. Thesis: Coupling a Flip-Flop Qubit to a Cavity.

See right for a snapshot and scroll down below to view individual videos from each student.

PhD student videos

SQA PhD Scholars

Our scholarships provide PhD candidates with the opportunity to collaborate with leading researchers across our partner universities, fostering growth and innovation in quantum research.

The following list highlights individuals who have been awarded scholarships through the SQA PhD program:


Krishna Krishnapriya	James Zingel	Euan Mendoza
	Chaoyue Wang
	Marco Candido
	Wen Liu


Lukas Delventhal	Harshna Gounder	Jingqi Zhang
Rasheed Ogundare
Savi Apicella
Thanh Nguyen Xuan


Kaur Kristjuhan	Alicia Lieng	Karl Rombauts	Prachi Nagpal
	Cédric Bohémier
	Mahak Chhabra
	Yanan Xu


Abhishek Rawat	Danny Chacko	Chris Howell	Maiyuren Srikumar
Ali Fawaz	Justin Brown	Denis Ilin	Patrick Sinnott
	Sean Hsu	Sheng-Ku Lin	Rebecca Radebold
	Xinhang Dai		Vassili Matsos


Jasleen Kaur	Andreas Nickl	Chuanqi Zhang	Julian Jee
Nikhil Narkhede	Anjali Dhiman	Gabe Waite	Stuart Nicholls
Rakshit Gharat	Krittika Kumar	Jannis Ruh	Yangming Wang
James Bainbridge	Laura O’Neill	Soumik Mahanti	Mohammad Nobakht
	Mark van Blankenstein	Tuyen Nguyen


Abhishek Roy	Ashu Bhudia	Adrien Di Lonardo	Jacky Luo
Arghya Mukherjee	Benjamin Wilhelm	Gang Tang	Joseph Pham
Šimon Vedl	Cameron Jones	Giorge Gemisis	Yuktee Gupta
Varun Srivastava	Gordon Luo	Mingyu Sun
	Mamun Rahman	Nibedita Swain
	Nikhil Maka
	Sina Gholi Zadeh


Lyra Cronin	Michael Lord	Nicholas Fazio	Sreeraj Rajindran Nair
Abhinash Roy	Abhikbrata Sarkar	Gargi Tyagi	Soumya Sarkar
Philipp Schleich	Ian Thorvaldson	Jason Gavriel	Ben Field
	Isaac Vorreiter
	Shubh Barik


Omprakash Chandra	Ajit Dash	Afham	Nouédyn Baspin
Rakesh Saini	Marcus Goffage	Arinta Auza	Adesh Kushwaha
	Ronakraj Gosalia	Afrad Basheer	Maverick Millican
	Nathan Long	Treerat Srivipat	Timothy Newman
	Zachary Milgate	Zhicheng Zhang	Vanessa Olaya
	William Pappas
	Aaquib Shamim
	Gozde Ustun
	Arjen Vaartjes


Dan George	Paul Steinacker	Jingtong Ge	Arjun Rao
Riddhi Ghosh	Samuel Sutherland	Darcy Morgan	Alan Robertson
Zsolt Szabo	Steve Yu	Srikara Shankara
Louis Tessler


Anirban Dey	Miles Collins	Bin Cheng	Arkin Tikku
	Wenbo Shi	Yidong Liao	Guang-Qi Zhao
	Upender Singh
	Hyma Harish Vallabhapurapu
	Rocky Su


Jemy Geordy	Jesus Cifuentes	Fabio Henriques	Juliette Soule
Alexander Hahn	Tom Day	Xin Hong	Felix Thomsen
Sebastian Murk	Mengke Feng	Cahit Kargi
Raji B Nair	Irene Fernandez de Fuentes	Guangxi Li
Elisabeth Wagner	William Gilbert	Angsar Manutaly
	Ingvild Hansen	Mauricio Morales
	Yue Jonathan Huang	Lirande Pira
	James Slack-Smith	Maria Quadeer
	Rostyslav Savytskyy	Alexis Shaw
	Amanda Seedhouse	Youle Wang
	Santiago Serrano
	Holly Stemp
	Ensar Vahapoglu
	Wyatt Vine
	Zeheng Wang

Apply for a PhD scholarship

Our PhD scholarship programs provide successful candidates with an opportunity to work with leading researchers. Find out more information on how to apply for our various PhD Scholarship programs.

Learn more

Student stories

Bringing Molecules to Life on a Quantum Computer

When a twist of fate sparks a quantum career

SQA alumna Holly Stemp wins the 2025 Malcolm Chaikin Prize

Uncovering Nature’s Mysteries with Quantum

Exploring the Limits of Quantum Fields

SQA Scholar recognised in "Cosmos Quantum Quest"

Pursuing your passion – and making friends

Quantum supremacy based on rigorous maths

Be inspired by Riddhi Ghosh, SQA PhD Scholar at Macquarie University

Leaping into the business of quantum

Working at the intersection of light and matter

Building the Quantum Internet

Better than rocket science

Cracking the code of reality

Venturing into the quantum world

A universe of possibilities

Where physics and start-up culture mix

What excites our students about the Sydney quantum scene?

PhD student videos

SQA PhD Scholars

Apply for a PhD scholarship