Sunset by the “kvinna vid havet ,” which literally means “woman by the sea” and symbolizes the mothers and women who waited for their husbands and sons to return from the sea. I took this photograph with a 400 mm mirror lens and a Canon 90D body.

A glimpse into my biography

My name is Navid ([næ’viːd], نوید), and in Persian it means “good news.” I completed my bachelor’s and master’s studies in my hometown, Shiraz , at Shiraz University . At the beginning of my bachelor’s studies, I became very interested in astronomy, and therefore spent much of my time at the Biruni Observatory , which at the time had the largest professional telescope in Iran . During that time, I worked on the photometry of variable stars and imagined my future as an astronomy professor. However, life led me in another direction, and I pursued my master’s studies in the Complex Systems Group at Shiraz University. For my master’s thesis, I worked on the anomalous diffusion of tracers in random velocity fields. A brief summary can be found here . I began my PhD in early 2020 under the supervision of Kristian Gustavsson , in the Department of Physics at the University of Gothenburg . My PhD research was related to my master’s work, but investigated a more realistic system: the swimming strategies of active particles in turbulent flows. It combined fluid mechanics, active matter, nonequilibrium physics, and machine learning. Since my research focused primarily on plankton, I would also dare to say that it touched on biology (I do not want to make biologists angry !).

In Sweden, a PhD is divided into two parts. The first part, known as the Licentiate, typically takes 24–30 months to complete and leads to a recognized degree. It involves writing a thesis and undergoing a less formal defense with an opponent. I completed my Licentiate degree in June 2022 with Enrico Calzavarini as my opponent. You can check out my Licentiate thesis here .
Two years later, on May 27, 2024, I defended my doctoral thesis with Holger Stark as the opponent. The defense committee members were Ann Larsson , Enrico Calzavarini , and Federico Toschi . The recording of my defense presentation can be found here , and the thesis is publicly accessible through the University of Gothenburg’s library website here .

Apart from physics, I am interested in philosophy, photography, cooking, and who isn’t intrigued by politics?
My reading interests include philosophy in general, with a particular focus on the philosophy of science and the history of philosophy and science. In photography, I am passionate about astrophotography, which stems from my love for astronomy. Since my drift away from astronomy, astrophotography has been my way of staying connected to the stars. While there are many great astrophotographers, Babak Tafreshi stands out to me. Unfortunately, Sweden’s often cloudy skies limit my opportunities to capture the night sky. This led to my interest in street photography in 2022. In this genre, I admire Henri Cartier-Bresson , known for his book The Decisive Moment . Among contemporary photographers, I enjoy Alan Schaller ’s work, particularly his mastery in illustrating contrast. You can find some of my photos in the Photography tab. I also occasionally share photos on Flickr and have closed my Instagram account.

I write blog posts on different subjects from time to time, which can be found on the Blog page. I also have a Telegram channel where I post literally anything I find interesting and want to remember. It is called My Shared Memory and you are welcome to join :-)