Dr. Nayla El Kork obtained her PhD in 2009 from the Universite Claude Bernard - Lyon 1, France where she studied the optical properties of nanoparticles through Scanning Near Field Optical Microscopy and Confocal Microscopy. During her PhD, she was a holder of Max Planck Institute Grants for undergoing research at Friedrich Schiller University (Jena) and Chemnitz Technical University (Chemnitz), Germany. She joined Khalifa University in 2010, where she is still pursuing teaching and research activities. Dr. Nayla collaborates with various research teams across institutions in the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S.A. She has been awarded multiple consecutive research grants, resulting in several high-impact scientific works and the successful graduation of numerous MSc and PhD students. Currently, she has PhD openings and welcomes interested candidates.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has embarked on a remarkable quest through the launch of several groundbreaking missions, such as the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), complementing the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission, and the bold Emirates Mission to the Astroid Belt (EMAB). Dr. Nayla El-Kork's current research project seeks to build upon the foundation laid by these missions, investigating the intricate line list and emission properties of diatomic molecules. Astronomical observations will play a critical role, enabling the retrieval of vertical density profiles for species at different conditions. The overall results can be correlated with space weather and planetary dynamics.
Ultracold diatomic molecules have several applications, including quantum simulation and computing ( Ultracold molecules could be used as qubits in quantum computing due to their long coherence times and strong dipole-dipole interactions), Ultracold Chemistry (ultra-cold moleculess allow the study of controlled chemical reactions at extremely low temperatures, revealing new quantum effects in reaction dynamics) and Astrophysics and Cosmology (Simulating interstellar and planetary atmospheres where molecules exist at very low temperatures). However, recognizing molecules that can be cooled down to very low temperatures is a challenge. In this project, we use quantum mechanical calculations to characterize which molecular species can be cooled down to temperatures as low as the nanoKelvin regime and propose useful experimental parameters.
Dr. Nayla El-Kork's research group has recently acquired funding through a research grant that will last until the end of 2027. Consequently, she has several PhD position openings. Please contact her at nayla.elkork@ku.ac.ae if interested.
1) Several PhD position openings are currently available in Dr. Nayla's research group. Topics of interest include the electronic structure calculation of molecules, synthetic line lists/spectra, and direct correlations with astronomical spectra. This work is under the scope of a large collaboration between world-renowned teams located in the U.A.E, U.K., and U.S.A.
2) Undergraduate and graduate Internships are available in Dr.Nayla's research team.
If interested, please send an e-mail to nayla.elkork@ku.ac.ae
