Winter Research Group
Condensed Matter Theory
Principal Investigator
Stephen M. Winter, PhD
Associate Professor of Physics
Email: winters@wfu.edu
Office: OLIN 214
Biography: Steve is an Associate Professor of Physics, and a member of the Center for Functional Materials. He received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Waterloo, Canada in 2014 for work on strongly correlated organic materials. Subsequently, he held a postdoctoral appointment and junior research position at the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Frankfurt, Germany, where his work focused on frustrated magnetism and correlated topological materials. He joined the faculty of Wake Forest University as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2020, and was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in Spring 2026.
Current Team
Graduate Students
Samuel Griffith
Research Focus: Numerical methods for quantum magnetism
Samuel formed an interest in computational physics and quantum phenomena at Pennsylvania State University, and is researching numerical methods for quantum magnetism. He has also done work in artificial intelligence which includes helping to create virtual instructors for fighter pilots, as well as exploratory research of hybrid and quantum AI.
Banasree Mou
Research Focus: Numerical methods for non-linear optical responses
Banasree joined the group in 2022 from Bangladesh, where she previously conducted research in computational modeling of the optical properties of organic materials. She is familiar with a range of ab-initio codes, and is currently a PhD student working on implementing calculations for spin-phonon coupling.
Undergraduate Students
Currently none. Inquire with Dr. Winter, if interested!
Group Alumni
- Owen Ganter (PhD; 2021 – 2026)
- Ramesh Dhakal (PhD; 2021 – 2026 → Postdoc at CalTech Engineering and Applied Physics as of 2026)
- Kate Choi (undergraduate; 2024 – 2025 → Phd Student at Duke Quantum Center as of 2026)
- Chao Shang (undergraduate; 2021 – 2023 → PhD Student at Cornell Physics as of 2026)
- Monika Zeng (undergraduate; 2021)