Find out who were the former students and graduates of GoLP and where they are now. AlumniLuis O. Silva
Thales Silva
PhD Researchers
Luis O. Silva 
Luís O. Silva is IST Distinguished Professor, Professor of Physics at Técnico Lisboa (IST), and Visiting Professor in Physics at the University of Oxford. He obtained his degrees (Lic. 1992, PhD 1997 and Habilitation 2005) from IST. He was a post-doc at UCLA from 1997 to 2001. His scientific contributions are focused in extreme plasma physics in the laboratory and in astrophysics, from a fundamental point of view and towards their applications for secondary sources for biology and medicine.
He has authored more than 200 papers and 3 patents, was awarded two Advanced Grants from the ERC (2010 and 2015), served on the program/selection committees of conferences and prizes worldwide, and on the scientific/advisory committee of several EU infrastructures. He has supervised 17 PhD students and 16 post-doctoral fellows whose work was recognized with several prizes.
Luís O. Silva was awarded the 2024 Blais Pascal Medal in Physics, the 2011 Science Prize of TU Lisbon, the IBM Scientific Prize 2003, the 2001 Abdus Salam ICTP Medal for Excellence in Nonlinear Plasma Physics by a Young Researcher, and the Gulbenkian Prize for Young Researchers 1994, among other prizes and distinctions. He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society and to the Global Young Academy in 2009, Fellow of the European Physical Society in 2017, Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences, and Corresponding Member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences in 2019, and Sócio Efectivo (Chair 8C) of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences in 2024.
Research Interests: Check my personal webpage for news and more information here
Latest Publications:- Computational modelling of the semi-classical quantum vacuum in 3D, Communications Physics 8 (2025) p. 224
- Relaxation to universal non-Maxwellian equilibria in a collisionless plasma, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122 (2025) p. (17) e24178131
- Experimental Observation of the Motion of Ions in a Resonantly Driven Plasma Wakefield Accelerator, Physical Review Letters 134 (2025) p. 155001
Ricardo Fonseca
Ricardo Fonseca was born in Lisbon, Portugal on September 11th, 1973. He received his degree in Physics Engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico in 1996 and joined the Laser and Plasma Group at this institute. In 2000 he spent one year at the University of California Los Angeles working on the numerical modelling of high intensity laser plasma interactions. He obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from the Technical University of Lisbon in 2002, on the subject of Laser-Plasma Electron Accelerators. He is a researcher for the Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear and in 2003 he took up a teaching position at ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute, where he is currently a teniored Full Professor. He has over 100 publications in leading scientific journals. He was awarded the Oscar Buneman award in 2000. He is currently the Dean of Technology and Architecture at ISCTE-IUL.
Latest Publications:- Experimental Observation of the Motion of Ions in a Resonantly Driven Plasma Wakefield Accelerator, Physical Review Letters 134 (2025) p. 155001
- Particle-in-cell simulations of pulsar magnetospheres: Transition between electrosphere and force-free regimes, Astronomy & Astrophysics 690 (2024) p. A229
- OSIRIS-GR: General relativistic activation of the polar cap of a compact neutron star, New Astronomy 112 (2024) p. 102261
Thomas Grismayer
Thomas Grismayer received a Master's Degree in Plasma Physics in 2003 at University Paris VI (France) with a specialization in Laser-Plasma interaction. Thomas Grismayer completed a PhD degree in Plasma Physics at the Centre de Physique Théorique of Ecole Polytechnique in 2007 under the supervision of Prof. Patrick Mora. Right after in 2008, Thomas Grismayer moved to the United States to work as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Warren Mori, in the Plasma Simulation Group at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). In 2011, Thomas Grismayer received a post-doctoral fellowship from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and started to work in the Group for Lasers and Plasmas (GoLP) at Instituto Superior Técnico. In 2013 he was awarded a Starting Grant from FCT (Researcher) and he is currently continuing his research at GoLP.
Research Interests: - Ion acceleration in dense target irradiated by intense laser (plasma expansion models) - Parametric instabilities related to inertial fusion (nonlinear and multiple dimensional effects associated with electron plasma waves) - Shear instabilities (magnetic field generation, particle acceleration) - QED effects in plasma in extreme high fields laser setup (pair cascades, gamma-ray emission) and in astrophysics (magnetic reconnection, neutron stars modeling)
Latest Publications:- Computational modelling of the semi-classical quantum vacuum in 3D, Communications Physics 8 (2025) p. 224
- Kinetic Structure of Strong-Field QED Showers in Crossed Electromagnetic Fields, Physical Review Letters 134 (2025) p. 135001
- Multiplicity of electron and photon-seeded electromagnetic showers at multipetawatt laser facilities, Physical Review E 110 (2024) p. 065208
Thales Silva
Thales Silva is a dedicated researcher at GoLP specializing in fundamental plasma kinetic instabilities, laser-plasma interactions with an emphasis on laboratory astrophysics, and plasma-based accelerators. His work is at the forefront of exploring and understanding fundamental and complex behaviors of plasmas in many scenarios.
He earned his PhD from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, where his research focused on instabilities in the beam transport of space-charge dominated beams in linear accelerators. Following his PhD, he joined GoLP as a postdoctoral researcher during the EuPRAXIA preliminary design phase.
Since joining GoLP, he has contributed to various research areas, including:
- Laser-Plasma Instabilities: Generation of magnetic fields due to stimulated Raman scattering.
- Plasma Instabilities: Investigating instabilities like Weibel and electron cyclotron maser.
- Plasma Accelerators: Exploring the long-term evolution of plasma accelerators and positron acceleration.
He earned his PhD from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, where his research focused on instabilities in the beam transport of space-charge dominated beams in linear accelerators. Following his PhD, he joined GoLP as a postdoctoral researcher during the EuPRAXIA preliminary design phase.
Since joining GoLP, he has contributed to various research areas, including:
- Laser-Plasma Instabilities: Generation of magnetic fields due to stimulated Raman scattering.
- Plasma Instabilities: Investigating instabilities like Weibel and electron cyclotron maser.
- Plasma Accelerators: Exploring the long-term evolution of plasma accelerators and positron acceleration.
Research Interests: Density down-ramp injection in LWFA; ion motion, plasma heating, and long-time evolution in plasma accelerators; laser-plasma interaction.
Latest Publications:- Relaxation to universal non-Maxwellian equilibria in a collisionless plasma, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122 (2025) p. (17) e24178131
- Radiative cooling induced coherent maser emission in relativistic plasmas, Science Advances 11 (2025) p. eadt8912
- Ring momentum distributions as a general feature of Vlasov dynamics in the synchrotron dominated regime, Physics of Plasmas 31 (2024) p. 052112
Graduate Students
João Joaquim
João was born in 2002 in Lisbon. He completed his bachelor's degree in Engineering Physics from Instituto Superior Técnico in 2023, and is currently working on his master's thesis under the supervision of Prof. Luís O. Silva, on theoretical plasma astrophysics. His research focuses on incorporating radiation reaction effects into plasma kinetic models in neutron star magnetospheres. His main scientific interests are general relativity and plasma physics.
Manuel Ratola
Manuel was born in 2002 in Setúbal, Portugal. He completed his bachelor's degree in Engineering Physics at Instituto Superior Técnico in 2023 and is currently working on his master's thesis under the supervision of Prof. Luís O. Silva and Dr. Thales Silva, focusing on theoretical plasma physics. His research centers on the study of plasma instabilities, mainly beam instabilities, in the context of the Fireball experiment at CERN. Outside of academics, Manuel enjoys playing the piano and practicing sports.
Margarida Pereira
Margarida completed her bachelor's degree in Engineering Physics at Instituto Superior Técnico in 2023 and is currently working on her master's thesis under the supervision of Prof. Luís O. Silva and Prof. Frederico Fiúza. Her research focuses on the development of reduced models for relativistic plasmas, integrating particle-in-cell simulations with machine learning techniques.
Zahra M. Chamazkoti
Zahra was born in northern Iran, by the Caspian Sea. Growing up within the strong mathematical tradition of Persian culture had a profound influence on her. Her Master's focused on the generation of ultrashort pulses via plasma. In 2022, she joined GoLP as a research visitor under the supervision of Professor Luís O. Silva, working on enhancing the efficiency of attosecond pulses via relativistic plasma mirrors and their experimental design with modern laser facilities. The generous environment at GoLP—committed to sharing knowledge and science, and fostering collaboration with ambitious and visionary researchers—motivated her to begin her PhD in 2024. Her current research focuses on ionization fronts—from the formation of relativistic plasma mirrors to ultra-fast ionization phenomena as laboratory analogs of QED cascades.
Zahra is always open to scientific discussion—feel free to contact her via email anytime.
Afonso Santos
Born in Lisbon in 2002, Afonso is currently in the first year of the Master's in Physics Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico, after completing his Bachelor's degree there in 2024. His academic interests lie primarily in Computational Physics, Plasma Physics, and General Relativity. He is working under the supervision of Prof. Luís O. Silva, focusing on alternative Particle-In-Cell algorithms to address open-boundary systems in Computational Plasma Physics. Outside of academics, Afonso enjoys working out and is a big fan of video games and comics.
Francisco Assunção
Francisco was born in 2001 in Lisbon. He completed his Bachelor's degree in 2022 and is currently in his first year of the Master's programme in Physics Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico, with his main scientific interests being plasma physics and computational physics. He recently started working under the supervision of prof. Luís O. Silva, where he is studying particle drifts in astrophysical plasmas with ultra strong magnetic fields.
Besides physics, Francisco enjoys practicing the piano and drawing, and has an interest in animation.
Latest Publications:- Ring momentum distributions as a general feature of Vlasov dynamics in the synchrotron dominated regime, Physics of Plasmas 31 (2024) p. 052112
Diogo Carvalho
Diogo was born in 1995 in Lisbon, Portugal. He obtained his M.Sc. degree in Engineering Physics from Instituto Superior Técnico in 2018. For his Master's Thesis, he developed machine learning algorithms for fusion plasma tomography with applications to JET and COMPASS. After his studies, he was a research fellow for IPFN's FRIENDS project and later a trainee at the Artificial Intelligence & Operations Innovation Team of the ESA. Currently, he is a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Luís O. Silva (GoLP), Prof. Diogo R. Ferreira (IPFN), and Prof. E. Paulo Alves (UCLA) working on the intersection of machine learning and high performance computing for laser-plasma simulations.
Latest Publications:- Learning the dynamics of a one-dimensional plasma model with graph neural networks, Machine Learning: Science and Technology 5 (2024) p. 025048
Ankur Nath
Ankur was born in Agartala, India. He completed his master's from the National Institute of Technology, Agartala, in 2018, under the supervision of Dr. Biswajit Paul, with a thesis focusing on Scalar-field Cosmology, with exposure to the basics of general relativity. After his master's, he worked as a Junior Research Fellow in a project funded by ISRO, India focusing on the field of theoretical/computational Astrophysics -precisely about studying accretion disk physics of neutron star binaries. He is currently pursuing his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Luis O. Silva. His research aims to look at the extreme Plasma physics in astrophysical scenarios where strong magnetic fields are present. Besides physics, he enjoys music, drawing/painting, reading thrillers and playing football.
Camilla Willim
Camilla received her master’s degree in physics in 2018 at the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf (HHU), Germany. Her master’s project was directly related to laser–plasma physics and under the supervision of PD Dr. Götz Lehmann. She investigated two-dimensional plasma photonic crystals — plasma structures with unique optical properties.
Camilla is currently a graduate student at IST. She is pursuing her PhD in the Group for Lasers and Plasmas (GoLP) under the supervision of Prof. Jorge Vieira and Prof. Luís O. Silva. Camilla’s work focusses on non-linear optics of plasmas in the critical density limit at high intensities driven by structured light.
Latest Publications:- Optimizing proton acceleration using hollow laser pulses and a double-layer target: effects of focal spot position and polarization, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion 67 (2025) p. 015027
- Proton acceleration with intense twisted laser light, Physical Review Research 5 (2023) p. 023083
Pablo J. Bilbao
Pablo received his master's in Physics in 2020 from Lancaster University in the UK. His work, supervised by Dr. Elisabetta Boella, was focused on proton acceleration via laser-plasma interaction. The main focus of his research was on understanding how different parameters affect Target Normal Sheath Acceleration and how to optimise them to achieve better proton beams. Pablo is currently pursuing a PhD within the Group for Lasers and Plasmas (GoLP) under the supervision of Prof. Luís O. Silva. He is studying the interaction between high energy radition and plasmas. Such setups can lead to novel acceleration and other interesting extreme plasma phenomena.
Research Interests: Laser-plasma interactions, Ion acceleration in dense target irradiated by intense laser, electron acceleration, astrophysical plasmas, particle-in-cell codes, high-performance computing
Latest Publications:- Relaxation to universal non-Maxwellian equilibria in a collisionless plasma, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122 (2025) p. (17) e24178131
- Radiative cooling induced coherent maser emission in relativistic plasmas, Science Advances 11 (2025) p. eadt8912
- Laboratory realization of relativistic pair-plasma beams, Nature Communications 15 (2024) p. 5209
Filipe Cruz
Filipe Cruz was born in 1998, in Leiria, Portugal. He graduated in Physics Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico, and for his Master's thesis, he studied laser-driven, ion scale magnetospheres in laboratory plasmas through the performance of multiple collisionless particle-in-cell simulations. For his PhD, he is working under the supervision of Prof. Luís Oliveira e Silva to study broadband lasers as a way to mitigate the parametric instabilities that form in laser-plasma interactions.
Latest Publications:- Laboratory Study of Magnetic Reconnection in Lunar-relevant Mini-magnetospheres, The Astrophysical Journal 969 (2024) p. 124
- Laboratory realization of relativistic pair-plasma beams, Nature Communications 15 (2024) p. 5209
- Strong collisionless coupling between an unmagnetized driver plasma and a magnetized background plasma, Physics of Plasmas 30 (2023) p. 052901
