Luna Ozkan ✦
Things I'm practicing, reading, and watching the sky for.
I'm 16, a Year 12 student at Godolphin and Latymer. Most evenings I'm on the guitar and this term I've been obsessed with astrophysics and quantum computing. I also gave a PhysEng Society talk on false vacuum decay back in April, shown below.
spring · 2026
guitar · most evenings
cello
ballet
tennis
cricket
painting
reading
astrophysics
quantum computing
stargazing
School write-up
Luna spearheads Orbyts astrophysics research collaboration with UCL
godolphinandlatymer.com ↗
I gave a PhysEng Society talk on false vacuum decay.
What if the universe isn't sitting at its lowest possible energy? My talk was about the idea that we might be in a metastable false vacuum, and what that might mean in terms of false vacuum decay.
"Ahead of the wall, normal physics; behind it, a completely different universe."from my slide on what decay would look likewant the full deck? view it →
What I'm working on.
Projects I'm working on, in and out of school. Some are running now, some are lined up for summer.
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Mass General · Harvard Medical School
lab work · 3-7 August 2026
I'm excited for five full days of lab work with Dr Korkut Uygun at the Center for Engineering in Medicine & Surgery.
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UCL - Quantum Computing for Materials & Chemistry
underway · summer 2026
I'm working alongside a UCL PhD researcher, with ten weeks of self-directed study this summer. Open the notebook ↗ to see what I am doing each week.
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STEM Racing (previously known as F1 in Schools) - Regional Competition
Team VRRRedline · best reaction time · February 2026
I led the design, engineering and manufacturing for the Regional Competition (against 39 teams), where we had the fastest reaction time of the day: 0.138 seconds. We didn't podium this year. School write-up ↗
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Dr Korkut Uygun: "Engineering the Future of Organ Transplants"
organised · PhysEng Society · December 2025
I organised a PhysEng Society talk by Dr Korkut Uygun (Mass General · Harvard Medical School). GCSE and Sixth Form students came in person; he dialled in live from the US. He talked about keeping donated organs viable for longer than the current few-hour window, so they could reach better-matched patients further away. Read about it ↗
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STEM Racing - In-School Competition
Team VRRRedline · 1st place · October 2025
I led the design and engineering of team VRRRedline. We came first at our school's in-house competition with a fastest total race time of 1.173 seconds. School write-up ↗ · team @vrrredline ↗ · view the portfolio ↗
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Lockheed Martin Codequest
Years 10 & 11 · 2nd place in Y10 · March 2025
A global, in-person problem-solving through coding competition organised by Lockheed Martin in which teams of 2/3 each have 2 hours to solve as many problems as possible. School write-up ↗
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Orbyts · UCL Astrophysics
spearheaded · student researcher · active since December 2024
I started emailing Dr William Dunn at UCL in December 2024 to bring Orbyts into my school. We've now got 3 Year 11s (myself included) and 10 Year 12s, working with PhD researcher Ben Wakefield. We're learning Python to build magnetic-field vector maps from raw telescope data, which feeds into Ben's research on star-forming regions like Serpens South, DR21, NGC 6334 and Rho Ophiuchi A. We will be presenting our poster at the Orbyts Conference in June 2026. School write-up ↗ · orbyts.org ↗ · view the poster ↗
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IRIS - Institute for Research In Schools
student researcher · active
As an IRIS student researcher I'm on two projects. Every week I run an experiment we designed in the chemistry labs, testing whether deep eutectic solvents (DESs) - a safer alternative to ionic liquids - can be used for carbon capture. We also ran an Earth observation project, using satellite data to investigate the environmental and long-lasting effects of the Karşıyaka wildfires, which I saw in real life, and the Mount Carmel ones. researchinschools.org ↗ · view the poster ↗
Summer notebook.
From late June to the end of August 2026 I'm working through quantum mechanics fundamentals, then quantum computing as the application that sits on top. Ten weeks, weekly topics planned in advance, notes as I go.
open the notebook →Practicing.
A note on each of these.
Guitar every evening
Learning, writing, perfecting previously learnt songs every evening on the acoustic guitar. I am currently Grade 5/6 Trinity for tab reading and can play any chord based song.
Cricket U15 Indoor · 2024 · National Champions
ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) Girls U15 Schools Indoor Competition, 2024 National Champions
team Instagram posts · coming
Cello weekly
Weekly lessons, Grade 5/6. I love playing in every school concert and, although most songs we play are classical, I love when we branch out and play more modern ones as well. Examples of pieces from string ensemble: Viva la Vida, Remember Me from Coco, Vivaldi, Planets from Gustav Holst, various requiems, Ludovico Einaudi.
Ballet Grade 6 · RAD
I have been going to ballet since I was 6 years old and now, ten years in, I am Grade 6 ballet and train every Saturday.
Tennis Squad · twice a week
Reading.
I've been a bookworm since I could read - had a Kindle from age 5! During lockdown I was doing about a book a day; one library card wasn't enough, so we ended up with three. These days it's mostly physics, with a first-edition collection on the side.
~ a book a day · COVID stretch, 2020–21
kindle · since age 5
3 library cards · used up in lockdowns
currently · astrophysics · quantum computing
a few from my shelves · hover or tap for titles
Want the current reading list? message me.
Wider reading and viewing
Books and films on my list right now, across the subjects I'm into.
Sci-fi books
- Klara and the SunKazuo Ishiguro · 2021
- Project Hail MaryAndy Weir
- The Three-Body ProblemCixin Liu
- SemiosisSue Burke
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyDouglas Adams
Sci-fi on screen
- InterstellarChristopher Nolan · 2014
- ArrivalDenis Villeneuve · 2016
- Hidden FiguresTheodore Melfi · 2016
- ChernobylHBO miniseries · 2019
- 2001: A Space OdysseyStanley Kubrick · 1968
- Ex MachinaAlex Garland · 2014
Physics
- Astrophysics for People in a HurryNeil deGrasse Tyson
- A Brief History of TimeStephen Hawking
- Seven Brief Lessons on PhysicsCarlo Rovelli
- HelgolandCarlo Rovelli
- Six Easy PiecesRichard Feynman
- Storm in a TeacupHelen Czerski
- The Black Hole WarLeonard Susskind
Chemistry
- The Disappearing SpoonSam Kean
- What is Chemistry?Peter Atkins
- MoleculesTheodore Gray
- Periodic TalesHugh Aldersey-Williams
- Napoleon's ButtonsPenny Le Couteur & Jay Burreson
- Stuff MattersMark Miodownik
Biology
- The Body: A Guide for OccupantsBill Bryson
- Your Inner FishNeil Shubin
- The Gene: An Intimate HistorySiddhartha Mukherjee
- The Vital QuestionNick Lane
- I Contain MultitudesEd Yong
- An Immense WorldEd Yong
- The Selfish GeneRichard Dawkins
Maths
- The Music of the PrimesMarcus du Sautoy
- What is Mathematics?Richard Courant & Herbert Robbins
- How to Think Like a MathematicianKevin Houston
- Fermat's Last TheoremSimon Singh
- Humble PiMatt Parker
How I study.
A handful of tools I keep coming back to, and a couple of past-paper archives that are surprisingly hard to find unless you know to look.
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Quizlet
This is my go-to for distilling notes into study sets, and the platform I have the most love-hate relationship with. Their suspicious-account detector has cancelled me five times. The last time, regular support was unreachable, so my dad ended up emailing the CEO of Quizlet directly to get me reinstated. I keep making the flashcards anyway.
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Save My Exams
Interactive Q&A. I use it when I want to drill specific topics rather than read through notes.
Past papers worth bookmarking
Past papers I keep bookmarked: Save My Exams and Physics & Maths Tutor.
Painting.
Stargazing.
I use my own telescope when London skies actually cooperate. It started in primary school after a Suzie Imber talk online.
