Dr Jan Tomczak joined King's College London in January 2023 as a Senior Lecturer in Physics. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Konstanz and the University of Heidelberg in Germany before obtaining a Master’s degree in Condensed Matter Physics from Université Paris-Sud Orsay in 2004 and in 2007 a PhD from Ecole Polytechnique, France. After postdoctoral research at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Tsukuba, Japan and Rutgers University, NJ, USA, Jan led a senior research group at TU Wien, Austria.

Research 

Tomczak Group

We study electronic, optical, and thermoelectric properties of correlated materials, such as transition-metal oxides, intermetallics, rare-earth compounds, and iron pnictides and chalcogenides, using realistic computer simulations. Owing to strong Coulomb interactions, electrons in these materials are in a collective state that is extremely sensitive to external perturbations, resulting in rich phase diagrams and a propensity for large response functions. This high sensitivity is a harbinger for many technological applications, such as optoelectronic switches, sensors, memory storage, and thermoelectrics. In our work, we aim for a fundamental and microscopic understanding of correlated materials and to make accurate theoretical predictions for their properties and applicability in functional devices a reality.