News

The symposium brought together researchers working across the full landscape of quantum materials with excellent invited talks, contributed sessions, posters, and student panels. We are grateful to the organizers for creating such an engaging and well-curated event that sparked new ideas for our ongoing work in 2D materials and device physics. Looking forward to participating again next year!

Our new lab website is officially live, and we’re thrilled to share our work with the broader community. Here you’ll find updates on our research, new publications, group news and opportunities to join the team. We look forward to using this platform to share our progress and connect with future collaborators and students.

Viktoryia was recently interviewed by one of the leading news portals in Belarus, sharing her story from growing up in Belarus to building a research group in the United States. In the interview, she spoke about the promise of 2D materials, the challenges and opportunities in academic research, and her hopes for inspiring young scientists back home. It was a meaningful opportunity to reconnect with the community that shaped her early academic path. Read here at Zerkalo, formerly known as Tut.by.

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit a local school and introduce students to the fun side of physics through interactive experiments. Through simple but engaging demonstrations on electromagnetism, we hoped to spark curiosity and love to physics and sciences. Students' enthusiasm and questions were truly energizing. It was great to engage with our local community and spark interest in science among young students.

We are so excited that the retinal prosthesis project originating at Stanford — where Viktoryia contributed to device development — was featured on the cover of Time magazine. This work, led by Prof. Daniel Palanker in collaboration with Science Corp., represents nearly two decades of innovation and has now demonstrated remarkable clinical results, enabling many patients to read letters and words again. In the video on the Time website you can see glimpses of our cleanroom at Stanford, where Viktoryia and the team spent countless ours working with 2mm retina implants, picking up those tinies is no joke with tweezers! This project is a beautiful demonstration of how rigorous research and the perseverance of PhD students and postdocs can ultimately lead to the technologies that change lives. Congrats again to both teams at Stanford and Science Corp., excellent work!

Viktoryia recently attended the New Laser Scientists Conference at JILA, CU Boulder—an intensive two-day program focused on developing strong NSF proposals. The workshop combined targeted grant-writing training with inspiring tours of JILA’s state-of-the-art laser laboratories. Many thanks to the organizers for creating such a valuable and thoughtfully structured experience.

Our retinal prosthetics research was recently highlighted in The New York Times, following a clinical study showing restored functional vision in patients with geographic atrophy. Viktoryia contributed to the development of biocompatible coatings for a new generation of retinal prosthetic devices with improved resolution of neural stimulation. The project is led by Prof. Daniel Palanker of Stanford University in collaboration with Science Corp., which is driving the efforts of device upscaling and bringing it to the market. Congratulations to the teams! Excellent milestone achieved and so excited to see the results of the clinical trials published!

Viktoryia participated in the SPRC 2025 Symposium, an immersive gathering designed to spark strategic conversations about the future of photonics across life sciences, computing, materials, and commercialization. With keynotes from internationally recognized experts and discussions focused on new opportunities and shared challenges, the meeting offered a unique perspective on where the field is heading. A warm thank-you to the organizers for creating an inspiring space for collaboration and forward-thinking dialogue. Looking forward to participating next year!

Viktoryia has officially arrived at UCF and is thrilled to join the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. After completing her work at Stanford, she is excited to become part of this vibrant community of faculty, begin teaching UCF students, and contribute to the department’s growing research ecosystem. She is now actively building her research lab and looks forward to engaging with students, collaborators, and the broader UCF community. Don't hesitate to reach out as we have open positions for UG, PhD and postdoc research roles.