Here is a list of the past Alumni Talks.
1. We welcomed back Dr. Abtin Narimani as the first speaker of our new talk series 'Alumni Talks'. Abtin completed his PhD in Physics at the University of Hamburg, where he worked on the Belle II experiment, developing machine learning techniques (CNNs) for particle identification. He is currently a Data Scientist at Lufthansa Group Business Services. His talk shared insights on transitioning from a PhD in physics to a career in data science and industry, and offered practical advice for researchers considering similar paths.
Date: June 25, 2025
Time: 4:30 - 5:30 PM
Location: ZOQ Seminar room, building 90, Campus Bahrenfeld
How to get to the ZOQ : Institute for Quantum Physics : University of Hamburg
2. In this talk, Dr. Benjamin Arenas shared his career journey from undergraduate chemistry student to Lecturer in Chemistry Education. He (very briefly) delved into his scientific research background before exploring his current role at the University of Edinburgh. In mapping out the path that got him to his current position, he shared some perspectives that were useful to the participants – to new postdocs or seasoned researchers alike, regardless of whether their next step is a postdoc contract, a junior professorship, a role in industry, or something entirely different! He also shared some recent results from his portfolio of chemistry education research.
Date: 21st July, 2025
Time: 4:30 PM
Venue: Seminar Room 3, Building 1b, Second Floor
Since 2023, Ben is a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh in Physical Chemistry Education. He teaches physical and analytical chemistry to undergraduate and postgraduate students and his research portfolio has a focus on education research, encompassing themes such as inclusive learning environments and enquiry based learning in the teaching laboratory.
Ben studied chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. This was followed by a PhD under the supervision of Prof. Melanie Schnell, first at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, and then at DESY and CAU Kiel. Ben is an alumnus of the IMPRS-UFAST and the PIER PhD program. His thesis concerned the study of astrochemically relevant molecules with high-resolution rotational spectroscopy and electrical discharge experiments. After this, Ben continued as a postdoctoral researcher in DESY’s Spectroscopy of Molecular Processes group or FS-SMP, which was coupled with weekly teaching duties at CAU Kiel. In 2022, Ben took up a Teaching Fellowship in Physical Chemistry at Durham University.
You can write to us at pragya.chopra@pier-hamburg.de, mirko.siemssen@pier-hamburg.de or cesar.cabrera@uni-hamburg.de if you are interested in the materials, or in connecting with the speaker.
