Francois Conradie
Biography
I am a curious experimentalist specialising in biophysics and photonics, with a strong passion for interdisciplinary research and the integration of knowledge across fields to address scientific questions from new perspectives. During my Master’s and Doctoral studies at the University of Pretoria, I have explored and expanded the capabilities of single-molecule spectroscopy (SMS).
My work combines SMS with time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) to implement multi-timescale fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), spanning systems from ensembles of emitters to single-photon emitters.
Research
My PhD research in Biophysics and Photonics focuses on developing experimental techniques within the field of quantum metrology. The main samples of interest are photosynthetic light-harvesting aggregates, which are biologically important and exhibit similarities to quantum dots.
These aggregates involve fast energy transfer processes that are known to involve non-trivial quantum superpositions. I probe these dynamics by distinguishing interactions between singlet and triplet spin states from mfrom more enigmatic energy trapping processes using single photon counting and correlations. This work is opening quantum metrology capabilities for the first time in South Africa, with direct applicability to highly sensitive biological samples.
Awards & presentations
Conference presentation, SAIP 2024.
“Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy of the main plant light-harvesting complex“
Poster presentation, ICO-26, 2026.