Bertus van Heerden

Bertus van Heerden

Postdoctoral Fellow

University of Pretoria

“My research focusses on extending the current single-molecule spectroscopy setup in order to perform single-particle tracking, allowing us to study freely diffusing photosynthetic proteins – in solution and eventually in a natural membrane. This is important as it brings us closer to performing single-molecule experiments in vivo. I am also interested in the theoretical side of single-particle tracking, as well as the use of photon correlations to study light harvesting. This includes picosecond correlations, like the quantum optical effect known as photon antibunching, as well as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, which is used to study diffusion and dynamics such as protein aggregation.”

Interests
  • Single-molecule spectroscopy
  • Real-time feedback-driven single-particle tracking
  • Model membranes
  • lala
Education & Experience
  • Postdoctral Fellow, 2024–present

    University of Pretoria

  • PhD in Physics, 2024

    University of Pretoria

  • Visiting Student Researcher, 2022–2023

    Washington State University

  • MSc in Physics, 2021

    University of Pretoria