GFZ German research centre for geo sciences

Dr. Sergey Lobanov

Junior Group Leader
Dr. Sergey Lobanov
Building D, Room 229 (Büro)
Telegrafenberg
14473 Potsdam

Research Interests:

    My primary goal as a geoscientist is to understand the connection between the core, mantle, and crust on various geologic time scales in order to help decipher Earth’s complex history. Planetary-scale geological processes, such as mantle convection and geodynamo action, operate at great depths and are governed by properties of minerals at high pressures (P) and temperatures (T). Accordingly, the structural, transport, and electronic properties of minerals at high P-T have been at the frontier of geosciences and one of the major subjects of my research. In order to understand Earth’s deepest geological processes, I derive high quality mineral physics data using in situ measurements at high-P and -T. 
    After receiving my PhD from V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy (Novosibirsk, Russia), I accepted a postdoctoral (2012) and subsequently a research scientist (2015) position at the Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington. At Carnegie, I used state-of-the-art light-based probes, to make important contributions in the areas of volatiles chemical reactivity, optical and transport properties of mantle minerals, and exoplanet mineralogy. In 2017, I moved on to Stony Brook University (New York State) as a Research Assistant Professor where I had the pleasure to apply and deepen my spectroscopic expertise while working with world-renowned chemists on novel metal organic frameworks, compounds that hold great promise for air purification. 
    In 2018, I took on a new challenge as a Helmholtz Young Investigators Groups Leader at the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ). At GFZ, I established a new research group (CLEAR) to study properties of the deep Earth via unconventional ultra-fast time-resolved spectroscopic techniques.
    In 2020, I initiated tecnhical developments that allow all-optical measurements of sample density in the diamond anvil cell. This research direction is now funded by the ERC Consolidator Grant ("Glass2Melt: Universal Model of the Density of Deep Silicate Melts").
    Another new research direction is the use of time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy (both at ambient and high pressure) to probe the local structure and conmposition of challenging samples (amorphous and/or with multiple chemical impurities).
    Feel free to reach out if you are interested in using our labs or would like to discuss a collaborative project.

Career:

  • 7/2018 - present: Helmholtz Young Investigators Group Leader, GFZ, Potsdam, Germany
  • 6/2017 – 5/2018: Research Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, USA
  • 2/2015 – 5/2017: Research Scientist, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, USA
  • 9/2014 – 9/2015: Foreign Postdoctoral Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Solid State Physics, Hefei, China
  • 12/2012 – 1/2015: Postdoctoral Associate, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington
  • 1/2012 – 6/2012: Visiting Investigator, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington
  • 7/2007 – 12/2012: Research Associate, Laboratory of High Pressure Minerals and Diamond Deposits, V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

Projects:

2024-2029: “Glass2Melt: Universal Model of the Density of Deep Silicate Melts”, ERC Consolidator Grant

2023-2026: “How important is radiative transport at the core-mantle boundary?”, DFG SPP “DeepDyn”

2023-2026: “Densities, structures and refractive indices of carbonate glasses at high pressure”, DFG Individual Grant

2018-2024: “The color of the Earth's mantle (CLEAR): Physical properties of the deep Earth through spectroscopic studies at high pressure and temperature”, Helmholtz Young Investigators Group Leader

Awards:

2019 Mineral and Rock Physics Early Career Award (American Geophysical Union)

2019 Deep Carbon Observatory Emerging Leader Award

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