Professor Stephan Rachel holds the position of Professor of Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics in the School of Physics, Faculty of Science, at the University of Melbourne, where he leads the Quantum Matter Group focused on correlations and topology in condensed matter. His research specializes in strongly correlated electron systems, topological phases of matter, Majorana zero modes, topological superconductivity, and quantum simulation of exotic phases. Rachel investigates the effects of interactions in topological insulators, Mott physics, magnet-superconductor hybrid systems, and non-equilibrium phenomena like discrete time crystals. His theoretical work bridges condensed matter theory with quantum computing applications, including demonstrations on IBM quantum processors.

Rachel completed his PhD at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, supported by a BMBF PhD Fellowship in 2005. He held a DFG Postdoctoral Fellowship at Yale University from 2009 to 2012, followed by a junior research group leadership position at TU Dresden, Germany. In 2017, he joined the University of Melbourne as Lecturer and ARC Future Fellow, progressing to Senior Lecturer and Professor. His scholarly impact is reflected in over 6,700 citations and an h-index of 42 (Google Scholar). Key publications include "Interacting topological insulators: a review" (Reports on Progress in Physics, 2018); "Magnet-superconductor hybrid quantum systems: a materials platform for topological superconductivity" (La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento, 2024); "Many-body Majorana braiding without an exponential Hilbert space" (Physical Review Letters, 2023); "Realization of a discrete time crystal on 57 qubits of a quantum computer" (Science Advances, 2022); and "Topological Shiba bands in artificial spin chains on superconductors" (Nature Physics, 2021). Awards include the ARC Future Fellowship (2018) and APS Outstanding Referee Award (2016). He serves as an editor for Physical Review Letters and delivers public lectures, such as the School of Physics VCE Lecture "Resistance is futile".

Professional Email: stephan.rachel@unimelb.edu.au