RESEARCH

We are an experimental physical chemistry laboratory studying chemical dynamics in complex systems. The current understanding of chemical dynamics was established, both experimentally and theoretically, in an idealized setting where the surroundings of a molecular system are homogeneous and isotropic. Yet in living processes and practical applications, chemistry happens in highly heterogeneous, often anisotropic environments. To what extent do the textbook physical picture and theoretical predictions apply to real-life chemical transformations?

At the molecular and nanometer scales, thermal fluctuations are no small correction. A protein changes its conformation under the stochastic sway of solvent molecules, for instance. We therefore study chemical dynamics at its most fundamental level, one molecule or one particle at a time, to measure the distributions and the dynamics that an ensemble average erases. Our aim is a first-principles, predictive understanding of the chemical dynamics of single stochastic entities: how determinate function emerges from random motion, and where the textbook picture holds, fails, or must be extended.

Advancing the field requires high-quality, quantitative in situ and in operando experiments. Toward this goal, our lab develops new instruments and theoretical methods that now find applications in physical materials, chemical and materials biology, and biophysics. Because randomness can mimic law, we strive to interpret our results using data-based analyses (let the data speak for themselves) rather than imposing a presumed model, such as a fixed number of states or a kinetic scheme. Current research areas include:

Updated: 2026.11.09.