Quantum dynamics will be the topic of the next Fall Physics Colloquium at 4 p.m. Tuesday, October 6, in Moulton Hall, room 214.

Professor Greg Engel will give a talk titled “Exploring Design Principles of Quantum Dynamics in Biological Light Harvesting Systems.”

Engel is a professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago, the James Franck Institute, and the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics. Through his research, Engel seeks to isolate the underlying design principles of solar light harvesting optimized by nature for the past 2.4 billion years.

During the talk, Engel will discuss developing new spectroscopy for “imaging excited state dynamics.” Grants and awards for his work come from the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, to name a few. Scientific American named him one the “Top 50 Leaders in Research.”

The event is free and open to the public. For accommodation requests or more information on the colloquium series, contact the Department of Physics at 438-8756 or email Kerry Stewart at krstewa@ilstu.edu.