About Postdoc Council
The Princeton Postdocs social group was organized in 2006 by postdocs at Princeton (notably Angela Yu, now a professor at UCSD). Since October 2015 PDC is officially recognized by the University. We primarily host social events to build a sense of community among Princeton Postdocs, but are working to introduce professional development programming as well.
The PDC is administered strictly by postdoctoral volunteers and has no outside administrative support: please volunteer by suggesting ideas for events, join the executive committee by emailing pdcofficers AT princeton.edu
Current Council Members
Yan Shvartzshnaider is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Yan recieved his Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Sydney, Australia. He is now working in the EDGE lab, where is research is focused on future Internet networks such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Fog-type computing. He is also interested in research commercialisation, technology in general and the impossible!
Francois Laforge is an Associate Research Chemist. He received his Ph.D. from Queens College, New York in 2007. He is now working in Prof. Rabitz lab doing experimental research on optimal coherent control of quantum systems. Beside science, Francois likes Nature, camping, running, tennis, soccer, amateur electronics, woodworking and riding his awesome Yamaha WR250R motorcycle.
Vanisha Lakhina has been a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Lewis Sigler Institute of Integrative Genomics/Molecular Biology department since March, 2012. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania where she studied how zebrafish olfactory sensory axons navigate to their correct location in the brain. Vanisha is currently examining the molecular mechanisms of long-term memory and axonal regeneration upon injury in worms. She loves dancing, hiking and food!
Andreas Ritter graduated as Master of Physics at Potsdam University in Germany. He did his PhD in Physics and Astronomy at Macquarie University in Australia and had his first postdoc position at National Central University in Taiwan. In 2014 he joined the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. His hobbies include but are not limited to fishing, paragliding, hiking with his 3 dogs, and DJing.
Denys Bondar is an Associate Research Scholar at the Department of Chemistry. Denys received his Ph.D. from University of Waterloo, Canada in 2011. He is currently working on developing novel theoretical and computational frameworks for non-equilibrium quantum statistical mechanics. In his free time, Denys likes to do something such that he does nothing.
Anja Metelmann is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Electrical Engineering since September 2015. Anja received her PhD in Physics from the Technical University in Berlin, Germany, and had her first postdoctoral position at the Physics Department of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Her current research focuses on the theory of nonreciprocal photon propagation in open quantum systems. If she would have free time, she would spend it with books, b-ball and beautiful people.
Bernhard Buchholz graduated as Diplom-Physiker (similar to Master of Physics) at “Ruprecht-Karls Universität Heidelberg” in Germany. He did his PhD “Development, primary validation and field deployment of novel calibration-free laser hygrometer for research aircraft” in the department of engineering at “Technische Universität Darmstadt” in Germany. In Jan 2016, he joined the department of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton University. Besides his academia interests in other areas where he graduated as a Bachelor of Science in Business Informatics and as a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Economics, he likes discussions, organizing, traveling, running, hiking and enjoying his life.