Yuen-Zhou, Joel
Quantum molecular photonics

Contact Information
Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Office: Urey Hall 3254
Phone: 858-534-3577
Email: joelyuen@ucsd.edu
Web: yuenzhougroup.ucsd.edu/
Group: View group members
Education
2012 Ph.D., Chemical Physics, Harvard University
2007 B.Sc., Chemistry, Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Awards and Academic Honors
2023
Nanophotonics Early Career Award
2022
Journal of Physical Chemistry C Lectureship Award
2021
W.M. Keck Research Grant Award
2021
Sloan Fellowship
2021
Camille-Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
2020
Finalist in the Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists
2019
Centre de Mécanique Ondulatoire Appliquée (CMOA) Promising Scientist Award
2019
ACS Petroleum Research Fund Doctoral New Investigator Award
2019
ACS OpenEye Outstanding Faculty Award in Computational Chemistry
2018
DOE Early Career award
2017
NSF CAREER award
Research Interests
We are theoreticians who work at the intersection of physical chemistry, condensed matter theory, and quantum optics. We are interested in how light interacts with molecular matter in the weak, strong, and ultrastrong coupling regimes. Our emphasis is on developing novel conceptual frameworks that can predict or explain qualitatively new phenomena involving molecules and light, and on utilizing numerical methods to accurately decipher details of these phenomena.

At present, our research is centered on molecular polaritonics and topological phases of matter.
Primary Research Area
Physical/Analytical Chemistry
Interdisciplinary interests
Computational and Theoretical
Materials

Outreach Activities
Keynote speaker for Breaking Barriers Through Chemistry Conference (2021); Instructor at summer school of Current topics in Theoretical Chemistry (Quito, Ecuador, 2019); Co-organized the First SoCal TheoChem Symposium at UCSD in 2016; faculty host in Research Scholars program (2016-2017), ENLACE (2018), STARS (2018); participant in Clubes de Ciencia, Ensenada 2015.

I grew up in Mexico City and speak Spanish fluently; I identify both as LatinX and Asian. I am fully committed to working with students and colleagues to further a more inclusive, diverse, and tolerant environment in the Physical Sciences and across campus.

Selected Publications   See http://yuenzhougroup.ucsd.edu/publications.html