Melis Tekant
melistekant AT gmail DOT com
About me
I currently work as a Quantitative Researcher at Cubist Systematic Strategies. Previously, I was a graduate student at MIT, where I received my PhD in physics in 2021. For my doctoral work, I studied the coupling between chemical pattern formation and cellular mechanics. My research has spanned a wide array of topics from ultracold quantum gases to cellular biophysics. I am a Heising-Simons Fellow and a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow (NDSEG).
I love tackling complex datasets and uncovering the underlying trends, symmetries, and relationships. I’m especially interested in employing data driven approaches to solve societally impactful problems, where quantitative analysis and statistical modeling has been traditionally underutilized. Check out my GitHub page to view some of my projects!
Work Experience
Cubist Systematic Strategies
(2022 – present)
Research analyst
Research Experience
MIT Physics of Living Systems
(2017 – 2021)
PhD candidate in the experimental biophysics group of Prof. Nikta Fakhri
Thesis title: “Mechanochemical pattern formation in the cellular actomyosin cortex”
MIT – Two Dimensional Materials
(2014 – 2017)
PhD candidate in the experimental condensed matter physics group of Prof. Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
Stanford University – Ultracold Quantum Gases
(2013 – 2014)
Undergraduate research assistant in the experimental atomic physics group of Prof. Ben Lev
Stanford University – Solid State Physics
(2012 – 2013)
Undergraduate research assistant in the experimental condensed matter physics group of Prof. David Goldhaber-Gordon
Honors and Awards
Heising-Simons Physics Research Fellowship
(2019)
The Heising-Simons Fellowship is awarded to one physics graduate student every year. For this fellowship I wrote a research project proposal and received $7,500 in grant prize.
Henry W. Kendall Fellowship
(2014)
This fellowship is awarded to first year graduate students in the MIT physics department.
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG)
(2014)
NDSEG is a highly selective, three year graduate fellowship program for students in STEM fields.
Melis Tekant 