COMPOS team
Prof. Alexander Lvovsky
Programme Founder
Alexander Lvovsky is an experimental physicist, born and raised in Moscow. He has studied and taught in Russia, USA, Germany, Canada and UK, where he is now a professor at the University of Oxford.
Alexander is a past Canada Research Chair, a lifetime member of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the Optical Society and a winner of many awards – most notably the International Quantum Communications award, commendation letter from the Prime Minister of Canada and the Emmy Noether research award of the German Science Foundation. His work has been featured by CBC, NBC, Wired, New Scientist, MIT Technology Review, the Guardian, TASS and even the Daily Mail.
As the founder of COMPOS, Alexander is proud of the way the programme has grown in five years and excited for further growth in the future.
Clara Gonsalves
Assistant Coordinator
Having studied Physics at the University of Nottingham, Clara is not only a proud member of the COMPOS Team but also works in Outreach for the University of Oxford Department of Physics. Clara works closely with schools, helping to encourage young students to study Physics at a higher level and supporting schools to deliver COMPOS Tuition through our Schools Pilot.
Jackie Jordan
Programme Administrator
Jackie Jordan is the administrator for COMPOS. She was born and bred in Oxford and, having worked at the University since 1999, she certainly knows her way around.
Jackie is an experienced administrator, with 30 years plus experience in higher education administration.
Nicky Jaggar-Ryan
Business and Outreach Coordinator
Having spent more than a decade in event management within the third sector, Nicky was delighted to recently join the COMPOS Team and to help raise awareness of the opportunities the programme presents to students. Being a passionate advocate of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Nicky works to promote the programme far and wide, encouraging students from lots of different backgrounds to participate in the programme and working with philanthropists to support that mission.
Dr Rachael Hawkins
Academic Coordinator
Rachael Hawkins is an experienced teacher and project manager from West Oxfordshire. She decided at 11 years old that she would be an astrophysicist and became the first person in her family to attend university, joining Imperial College to study for her MSci Physics and then Queen Mary, London where she earned her PhD in Brane Cosmology.
As well as teaching, Rachael has also worked for the Institute of Physics, as a consultant and teacher trainer for STEM Learning and as Head of Services for a national charity. She project manages the operations of the COMPOS programme and plays a pivotal role in the smooth running of the programme, working closely with students, tutors and schools alike. Rachael is passionate about helping individual students to grow in their learning and understanding so is proud of what the programme offers.
Vlad Chernov
Lead Tutor
Vlad Chernov is an educator, having completed undergraduate studies in Applied Physics and Maths at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), followed by a Masters programme in Aerodynamics. Vlad started teaching Physics and Maths in 2006 in Moscow before moving to the UK in. Vlad taught Physics and Further Maths to secondary school students and was the head teacher of Algorithmics UK - an online school teaching programming (Python and Scratch). Vlad joined Alex to launch COMPOS in 2021 and is delighted to be a key part of the team, delivering regular webinars and supporting our tutors.
