Queen Mary Centre for Undergraduate Research (QMCUR) is "popping champagne and raising a toast" to Jiang Feng and Valentin Marku, both first-year students in Aerospace Engineering, on the publication of their first paper titled "Sensitivity kernel for local Hall effect measurements: An adjoint finite-element approach"…. This remarkable achievement was developed under the excellent supervision of Dr Yiwei Sun.

The study introduces a methodology to probe local inhomogeneities in semiconductor and 2D-material wafers by generating Hall‑conductivity maps using a dual‑configuration four‑point probe, with the adjoint method used to map the probe's spatial sensitivity. This detects non‑uniformities as small as 0.1%, without requiring any devices to be fabricated on the wafer, offering a novel, non‑destructive screening tool for semiconductor quality control.

It is worth highlighting the elegance of the mathematical formalism and tools used in the paper, which demonstrate how far Jiang and Valentin have moved beyond foundational learning during this venture.

A special note of merit goes to Dr Yiwei Sun, who guided Jiang and Valentin with trust and openness exposing them to the full complexity of the problem and solution without confinement. This should serve as an exemplary model of how undergraduate students can be mentored and empowered in their research journey.

The work will continue with a follow-up study focused on the experimental validation of the methodology. As part of their development, Jiang and Valentin will take part in a deep-dive scientific discussion where they will explain their work in further detail to QMCUR’s leadership and respond to questions in a PhD viva-like session. Additionally, they will disseminate their work at the upcoming research showcase events and conferences at QMUL over the next few months.

Congratulations to everybody involved; this is a shining example of what undergraduate research can achieve when talent, trust, and excellent supervision come together!