People A-Z
Prof. José Miguel Figueroa-O'Farrill

- Personal Chair in Geometric Physics
Contact details
- Tel: +44 (0) 131 650 5066
- Email: J.M.Figueroa@ed.ac.uk
- Room: 6321
- Web: http://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/~jmf
Research Interests
I do research in Mathematical Physics. I apply algebra and geometry to solve problems motivated by String Theory. I am fascinated by supersymmetry and its many mathematical manifestations. In the past I have also worked on conformal field theory, integrable systems and even knot theory. I enjoy applying homological methods whenever possible.
Research Groups
Current and Recent PhD Students
- Dr Simon Philip (PhD 2005)
- Dr Hannu Rajaniemi (PhD 2006)
- Dr Sunil Gadhia (PhD 2007)
- Dr George Moutsopoulos (PhD 2008)
- Dr Elena Méndez-Escobar (PhD 2010)
- Dr Patricia Ritter (PhD 2011)
- Dr Paul Reynolds (PhD 2012)
- Dr Moustafa Gharamti (PhD 2015)
- Dr Noel Hustler (PhD 2015)
- Dr Carlos Zapata-Carratalá (PhD 2019)
- Dr Ross Grassie (PhD 2021)
- Andrew Beckett
- Girish Vishwa
- Jarah Fluxman
Biographical Statement
I was born in Havana six days after JFK was shot, but my mother assures me that this was a coincidence. Five years later we moved to Madrid where I lived through la transición. At 16 I moved to the USA: this means that instead of la movida, I suffered Reaganomics. After a year or so wondering what to do with my life, I went to MIT to study Physics and Mathematics. Three years later I hit the snooze button of the alarm clock of Life and went to Stony Brook where I did a PhD in Theoretical Physics. In 1989 I started the usual series of postdocs (Leuven, Bonn, QMW) and ten years later I moved to sunny Edinburgh as a lecturer, then a reader and finally as a piece of furniture.
Education Background
- BSc MIT 1984
- PhD SUNY StonyBrook 1989
Previous Employment
- 1989-91 KU Leuven
- 1991-93 RFWU Bonn
- 1993-99 QMW London
Education
PhD SUNY Stony Brook (1989)
BSc MIT (1984)