David Glowacki

Biography

David  is a Royal Society Research fellow and proleptic lecturer, joint between the Department of Chemistry and Computer Science. From 2013 - 2015, he was a visiting scholar at Stanford University. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin . Glowacki obtained his BA in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. He then moved to the UK, and obtained a master of arts (MA) in cultural theory as a Fulbright scholarship finalist at the University of Manchester. With funding from an Overseas Research Studentship, he completed his PhD at the University of Leeds in 2008 with Prof.

Research Interest

My publications reflect my diverse interests: (1) Computational simulation of classical and quantum reaction dynamics. Going all the way back to its roots in alchemy, chemistry is a science of transformation. And transformation is driven by chemical reactions, where rearrangment of atomic nuclei and electrons incorporates aspects of both classical and quantum mechanics. I try to better understand chemical reactions by developing and applying computational tools for application to environmental and biological systems. (2) Non-equilibrium statistical mechanics & energy transfer. The modern view of chemical transformation is that reactions occur on so-called 'energy landscapes', which are similar to the landscapes that you experience walking through the mountains. Chemical reactions require energy so that molecules can mount hills and cross valleys. I work to understand the microphysics of molecular energy transfer: How do molecules acquire energy from their surroundings? And how do they utilise the energy they acquire?