Vidya Madhavan

Vidya Madhavan is a physics professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign whose research focuses on fundamental problems in quantum materials, unconventional and topological superconductors, and using molecular beam epitaxy to unravel the mysteries of complex systems at the atomic scale.

Madhavan investigates fundamental problems in quantum materials where interactions between the spin, charge, and structural degrees of freedom lead to emergent phenomena. She uses the tools of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), spin-polarized STM (SP-STM) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to unravel the mysteries of complex systems at the atomic scale. Her group carries out challenging, high-risk experiments, wherein the possibility of discovering new phenomena is high. Her team's recent work has focused on STM studies of complex oxides and monolayer films of topological materials and transition metal dichalcogenides.

Among her honors are a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Experimental Investigator Award. 

Madhavan is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. She also served as a member-at-large of the APS Division of Condensed Matter Physics.