Timo Nieminen

Dr. Timo Nieminen is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Physics, Faculty of Science, at the University of Queensland. He obtained his PhD from the University of Queensland in 1996 and a Bachelor of Science with Advanced Honours from the same institution. His academic career includes a position at Queensland University of Technology from 1998 to 2000, followed by his ongoing role as Senior Lecturer in Computational Science at the University of Queensland since 1996. Nieminen's research focuses on light scattering, optical trapping and micromanipulation, computational electromagnetics, photonics, and biological and industrial applications of light scattering and light-matter interactions. His primary projects encompass full-wave electromagnetic modelling of the production of optical forces and torques in laser trapping, optical measurement of microscopic forces and torques, extremely asymmetrical scattering in Bragg gratings, and micro-opto-mechanical systems. He is also involved in physics education initiatives within the school.

Nieminen has produced 242 scholarly works from 1996 to 2025, including 113 journal articles, 114 conference papers, 11 book chapters, and other outputs. Notable publications include 'Colloquium: Momentum of an electromagnetic wave in dielectric media' (Reviews of Modern Physics, 2007), 'Physics of optical tweezers' (2007), 'Optical forces, trapping and manipulation' (2015), 'Controlled transfer of transverse orbital angular momentum to optically trapped birefringent microparticles' (Nature Photonics, 2022), and 'Optical tweezers in mechanobiology' (2023). He has led or contributed to multiple Australian Research Council Discovery Projects, such as 'Probe-free biophysical force and torque measurements with optical tweezers' (2018-2022), 'Dynamics of constrained Brownian motion of neuro-secretory vesicles' (2011-2013), 'Advanced optical tweezers technologies for biophysical measurements' (2010-2014), and 'Cell fluid interaction: inside and outside cells' (2023-2026). Nieminen has supervised 12 PhD completions between 2008 and 2023 and currently advises doctoral students in neuroscience and biohydrodynamics of bacterial-based active matter. His developments in computational toolboxes for optical tweezers and modelling techniques have significantly influenced research in biophysics, photonics, and optical manipulation.

Professional Email: timo@physics.uq.edu.au