Group and Collaborators from Academia and Industry

Stephan Rauschenbach (PI)

Since 2017      Prof. of Physical Chemistry, University of Oxford
                        Tutorial Fellow of Wadham College.
2007-2017      Group leader, Electrospray Ion Beam Deposition Lab, 
                        Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart.
2007                Dr. sc. (PhD) in Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
2004 –2007     PhD student, Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research
1997-2003       Study of Physics at the University of Augsburg, ETH Zürich, TU München     

​​​​​​Jingjin Fan (Postdoc)

Jingjin Joined the group as a postdoc in October 2023. Her research focuses on advancing soft-landing methods to investigate the gas-phase structure and conformational changes of membrane proteins. Her research aims to deepen the understanding of protein structures in the gas phase, with broader implications for protein structure in unique environments. During her PhD at Tsinghua University, under supervision of Prof. Xiaoyu Zhou and Prof. Zheng Ouyang, Jingjin developed the microdroplet ESI soft-landing platform and investigated the structural integrity of soluble proteins, as well as the process of amyloid fibrillation. Her publication list can be found here. She was awarded the Marie Curie Fellowship in 2024 and became a Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College in 2025. Beyond the lab, Jingjin is a passionate karaoke enthusiast and enjoys practicing slow-motion kung fu—Tai Chi. 

Benjamin Mallada (Postdoc)

Benjamin joined the group as a postdoc in June 2024 to take care of the lab's Omicron Infinity STM/ncAFM. Before this, he completed his PhD at Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic, under the supervision of Prof. Pavel Jelínek and Dr. Bruno de la Torre, working on LT-SPM and on-surface synthesis. He is currently interested in exploring the application of ESIBD to SPM samples, with a particular focus on biomolecules. Aside from science, he enjoys learning about rare books, reading, and, more recently, wood carving.

Lukas Eriksson (DPhil Student)

Lukas (Magdalen College) joined the group in July 2022 as a Part II student (Lady Margaret Hall) working on instrumentation development for the preparation of SPM and cryo-EM samples. His DPhil focuses on imaging biomolecules and biomolecular interactions predominantly using cryo-EM. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, hiking, and woodworking.

Michael Foster (DPhil Student)

Laurence Seeley (DPhil Student)

Laurence (Jesus College) joined the group in October 2023 as a DPhil student investigating the rehydration of gas-phase proteins for cryo-EM structure determination. Using microsecond melting and revitrification, he aims to recover the native, hydrated state of soft-landed proteins, revealing the dynamics of protein hydration and folding in the process. In his spare time, Laurence enjoys playing tennis, the piano, and cooking.

Alejandro Lynch Gonzalez (DPhil Student)

Alejandro (Keble College) joined the group in September 2023 as a Part II student (Magdalen College) working on instrumentation for cryogenic sample transfer to link ESIBD and SPM. This work continues in his DPhil and will be followed by the development of a new ESI source and further improvements to the ESIBD-SPM workflow. He also enjoys calisthenics, linguistics, and video games, where he competed semi-professionally in Overwatch during 2020.

Noor Hamed Naseeb (DPhil Student)

Noor (Merton College) officially joined the group in 2024 as a DPhil student investigating the structure of highly dynamic heat shock proteins using ESIBD and cryo-EM. For her master’s research, she collaborated with this group to perform molecular dynamics simulations on membrane proteins in the gas phase—a project she continues to pursue. When she's not working, Noor enjoys reading, archery, and rock [climbing].

Carl von Hallerstein (DPhil Student)

Carl (Oriel College), a joint member of the Robinson group, began to work in the lab in 2024 after having previously read for an MChem degree at Merton College. He completed his Part II project in the group of Prof. Phil Biggin (Oxford SBCB), using Molecular Dynamics simulations to investigate ligand bias at GPCRs. He continues his work on GPCRs and other membrane proteins in the ESIBD-group, with a special focus on the metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR), endeavouring to develop robust workflows that bring together native MS and cryoEM to yield insights into biological function. Outside of the lab, he greatly enjoys music, especially choral singing and opera. 

Stephanie Stankard (Part II Student)

Steph (Lincoln College) joined the group in September 2024 as a part II student. Her thesis is about fabricating and characterising cryo-EM grids in ES-IBD. Outside of the lab, Steph enjoys life drawing, pub quizzing and escaping Oxford.

Joshua Holloway  (Part II Student)

Josh (Trinity College) joined the group in September 2024 as a Part II student. He is working on the SPM side of the lab, his thesis is about the control of molecular assembly and conformation at surfaces in ESIBD. Outside of the lab, Josh is currently president of Trinity College Boat Club, so spends his spare time at the river!

Simon Knoblauch (Visiting Master's Student)

Simon joined the group in 2024 as a visiting master’s student in biochemistry from the University of Tübingen, Germany. In his thesis project, he is investigating the mechanisms of gas-phase collapse of flexible proteins and non-rigid protein complexes using ESIBD and cryo-EM. When not in the lab, Simon tries scaling walls with plastic holds.