Available projects at UQ (PhD, masters, honours, and undergraduate)
- Atomic physics as a probe of the Standard Model at low energies
- Development of high-precision atomic structure methods
- Theoretical characterisation of systems for the development of atomic clocks
- Enlightening the search for dark matter (and other exotic physics)
- For more details, see: researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/24237
- Projects are flexible and other projects are available, contact me with any questions
- Formal applications are made through the University of Queensland – smp.uq.edu.au/study/higher-degree-research. Feel free to contact me directly with any questions
Current PhD Students
Ashlee Caddell (PhD student, UQ)

Ashlee works on developing methods for searching for dark matter and exotic physics using atomic phenomena.
Publications during PhD
- A. R. Caddell, V. V. Flambaum, and B. M. Roberts, Phys. Rev. D 108, 083030 (2023), [arXiv:2305.05125].
Conferences/Worskhops during PhD
- AIP (Australian Institute of Physics) Summer Meeting (talk), ANU, 2023
- 9th Symposium on Frequency Standards and Metrology (poster), Kingsclif NSW, 2023
- ASA (Astronomical Society of Australia) ASM (poster), 2023
- Canberra International Physics Summer School, 2023
- AIP (Australian Institute of Physics) Congress (talk), Adelaide, 2022
- Dark Side of the Universe (talk), UNSW, 2022
- ASA (Astronomical Society of Australia) ASM (talk), 2022
- ACAMAR (Australia-China Consortium for Astrophysical Research) Meeting on Astroparticle Physics (talk), 2022
- DAMOP (poster, virtual), 2022
- AIP (Australian Institute of Physics) Summer Meeting (poster), QUT, 2021
Carter Fairhall (PhD student, UQ)
Carter works on extending methods for high-precission atomic structure calculations for fundamental physics studies. Primary supervisor: Dr. Jacinda Ginges.
Publications during PhD
- C. J. Fairhall, B. M. Roberts, and J. S. M. Ginges, Phys. Rev. A 107, 022813 (2023), [arXiv:2212.11490]
- B. M. Roberts, C. J. Fairhall, and J. S. M. Ginges, Phys. Rev. A 107, 052812 (2023), [arXiv:2211.11134]
Conferences/Worskhops during PhD
- AIP (Australian Institute of Physics) Summer Meeting (talk), ANU, 2023
- 9th Symposium on Frequency Standards and Metrology (poster), Kingsclif NSW, 2023
- AIP (Australian Institute of Physics) Congress (poster), Adelaide, 2022
- DAMOP (poster, virtual), 2022
Current Honours/Masters Students
Robin Cserveny (Masters student, UQ and University of Vienna, Austria)
Project: Theoretical study of atomic systems for the development of atomic clocks
Conferences/Worskhops during masters
- AIP (Australian Institute of Physics) Summer Meeting (talk), ANU, 2023
Jack Easton (Honours student, UQ)
Project: Theoretical characterisation of cesium and francium for parity violating tests of the standard model
Dhruv Jani (Honours student, UQ)
Thesis: Detection of Gravitational Waves and Dark Matter using terrestrial based Optical Atomic Clocks
Previous Students
Pengrui Jiao (Honours student, UQ)

Thesis: Dynamic Breit Correction to Atomic Energy Levels
Graduated: June 2023
Pengui went on to do a PhD at PSL, in Paris, France.
Victoria Inselmann (Honours student, UQ and the University of Copenhagen)

Graduated: December 2022
Co-Supervised with Prof. Tamara Davis
Thesis: Black hole entropy with varying constants of nature
Flynn Linton (Honours student, UQ)

Graduated: June 2022
Thesis: Extending correlation methods for high-accuracy calculations of atomic wavefunctions
Conferences during honours
- ACUR student conference 2022 (talk)
- AIP (Australian Institute of Physics) Summer Meeting (poster), QUT, 2021
Flynn went on to a Masters position at ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
Ben Carew (Honours student, UQ)
Graduated: June 2022
Thesis: Atomic Ionisation with Electron Interactions of Dark Matter
Conferences/Presentations during honours
- ACUR student conference 2022 (talk)
- AIP summer meeting 2021 (poster)
- Outreach talk at 2021 Pint of Science event, Brisbane
After graduating Ben was awarded a summer scholarship at University of Sydney (Dark Matter Centre of Excellence).
Ben was then accepted into the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Advanced Methods in Particle Physics program
Conner Dailey (Honors student, University of Nevada, Reno)

Graduated: May 2017
Thesis: Initial Search Results for Dark Matter Using the GPS.DM Observatory
Publications during honors
- B. M. Roberts, G. Blewitt, C. Dailey, M. Murphy, M. Pospelov, A. Rollings, J. Sherman, W. Williams, A. Derevianko, Nature Commun. 8, 1195 (2017), [arXiv:1704.06844]
- B. M. Roberts, G. Blewitt, C. Dailey, A. Derevianko, Phys. Rev. D 97, 083009 (2018), [arXiv:1803.10264]
Conner went on to a PhD position at University of Waterloo and the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics