Rate My Professor Harald Schwefel

Schwefel leads the Resonant Optics research group at the University of Otago and serves as Deputy Director Science and Principal Investigator at the Te Whai Ao – Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, as well as a Principal Investigator in Quantum Technologies Aotearoa. His research centers on the interaction of light and matter in dielectric materials, focusing on resonantly enhanced nonlinear optics and optical frequency conversion using ultra-high quality whispering gallery mode resonators fabricated from crystalline materials. This enables nonlinear interactions between widely spaced frequency bands, including microwave-to-optical conversion, terahertz photonics, optical frequency combs, and sensing applications across UV, visible, microwave, and THz domains. Key publications include 'Coherent control of magnon–polaritons using an exceptional point' (Nature Physics, 2025), 'Newton's rings for absolute distance measurement' (Optics Letters, 2025), 'Multichannel upconversion of terahertz radiation in an optical disk resonator' (Optics Express, 2025), 'Bidirectional Electro-Optic Wavelength Conversion in the Quantum Ground State' (2020), and 'Coherent Conversion Between Microwave and Optical Photons—An Overview of Physical Implementations' (2020). Schwefel has received a Google Academic Research Award of US$50,000 in 2024 to advance quantum technologies and a Marsden Fund grant of $941,000 in 2024 with Dr. Nicholas Lambert for exceptional control of quantum states using non-Hermitian physics and magnon-polaritons. He delivered his Inaugural Professorial Lecture titled 'Resonating with light' in May 2025. His scholarly work has accumulated over 4,500 citations.