Daniil Riabov

The aim of this project is to develop ultra-sensitive bionanophotonic systems which will combine advanced electromagnetic field manipulation in dielectric metasurfaces with profound methods of surface biofunctionalization. Our goal is to achieve digital molecules detection in real-time and implement this technology into point-of-care diagnostics.

I was born in Cherepovets, Russia and completed my higher education in this lovely city. Further I moved to St.Petersburg, to start my bachelor program “Nanophotonics and Quantum Optics” at ITMO University. The main reason why I chose this academic path is my desire to build career in physics along with admiration of “Nanoscience” which I believed to be an engine of progress. I never had a regret for my choice. Even though the studies were very hard, I managed to enter scientific research quite early and became a coauthor in a scientific paper published in Nano Letters journal in my 3rd year of bachelor program. Further extending my research into the field of Nanophotonics and Metamaterials perfectly matched with my scientific interests. Now I am a PhD student at EPFL and I work in Prof. Hatice Altug’s group in biosensing related projects. I really enjoy working in EPFL since here I have an opportunity to follow full process of research starting from electromagnetic simulations and fabrication in the cleanrooms to functionalization and optical characterization of the resulting chips. Such a variety gives a researcher enough space for improvement at each step and allows to develop deep understanding of the whole process.

I obtained my Bachelor degree in “Nanophotonics and Quantum Optics” at ITMO University, St.Petersburg, Russia in 2021. At ITMO I gained research experience in the field of “Nanophotonics and Metamaterials” for more than three years. In 2023 I joined PhD program in Photonics at EPFL. My scientific background focused initially on nonlinear nanophotonics. For example, as a bachelor student, I participated in the project “Stimulated Raman emission in subwavelength structures”. Later I extended my studies to “Nonlinear optical heating” effects which resulted into my first paper in “Nanophotonics” journal. Extensive curricular training in optics along with my experimental skills allow me to conduct deep research in the area of nanophotonics combining both theoretical and experimental approaches. I strongly believe that my research experience would be helpful for project development and allow me to bring fresh ideas into the field of bionanophotonics.