Education and research experience

Postdoctoral fellow

2023–present

Institute of Science and Technology Austria

Topic: Membrane remodelling by the action of elastic filaments
Supervisor: Prof Anđela Šarić

I developed coarse-grained molecular-dynamics models for protein-driven membrane. I carried out simulations in the LAMMPS simulation package including changes to its source code. I mentored Master’s students and junior PhD students.

  • Marie Curie-Sklodowska action IST-BRIDGE fellowship (160k EUR)

  • Research has resulted in the publication:

    Adam Prada, M. Muñoz-Basagoiti, F. Frey, B. Meadowcroft, M. Amaral, A. Šarić; A tutorial for mesoscale computer simulations of lipid membranes: tether pulling, tubulation and fluctuation; Soft Matter, 2025, 21, 7736-7756, doi: 10.1039/D5SM00148J

    Adam Prada, F. Frey, A. Šarić, “Does membrane tension help or hinder neck scission?”, Manuscript being revised, 2026

PIBBSS fellowship

(Principles of Intelligent Behavior in Biological and Social Systems)

Apr-Jul 2022

Centre for Theoretical Studies, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Topic: Quantifying agency of computational systems
Supervisor: Dr Tomáš Gavenčiak

A fellowship aimed at introducing natural scientists to the problem of AI alignment. Finished with a miniproject on the topic of agency from the information theory point of view.

PhD in Chemistry

2018–2023

Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge
Trinity College, University of Cambridge

Topic: Quantum chemical dynamics in condensed phase
Supervisor: Prof Stuart Althorpe

I have coded up from scratch two simulation packages for two quantum chemical dynamics approaches in Python, C++ and Fortran. These included parallelisation using MPI and OpenMPI for running on clusters. I extensively taught theoretical and computational courses and tutored Master’s and junior PhD students.

  • EPSRC Doctoral Teaching Award (fully funded PhD studentship, 100k GBP)
  • Cambridge Trust Cambridge European Scholarship (Honorary)
  • PhD Thesis: “Dissipative Matsubara Dynamics”, doi: 10.17863/CAM.95949

  • PhD First-year Report: “Hierarchical equations of motion”, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.7566519

  • Research has resulted in the publication:

    Adam Prada, Eszter S. Pós, Stuart C. Althorpe; “Comparison of Matsubara dynamics with exact quantum dynamics for an oscillator coupled to a dissipative bath”, J. Chem. Phys. 2023; 158 (11): 114106. doi: 10.1063/5.0138250

BA MSci Honours degree in Chemistry

Oct 2014–Jun 2018

Trinity College, University of Cambridge

  • MSci Thesis:

    “Matsubara trajectory study of centroid molecular dynamics”, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.7576509
    I coded up from scratch a simulation package for Matsubara dynamics and Centroid Molecular Dynamics (CMD) in Fortran and used it to explain the way CMD approximates Matsubara dynamics

  • Year 4: Class I

    Overall rank 3rd out of 60 in Chemistry,
    Norrish Prize for distinction in Physical Chemistry,
    Norrish Prize for the best Theoretical project
    Project: Matsubara trajectory study of centroid molecular dynamics
    Supervisor: Prof Stuart Althorpe

  • Year 3: Class I

    Overall rank 10th out of 104 in Chemistry

  • Year 2: Class I

    Overall rank 42nd out of 582,
    9th out of 133 in Chemistry A (physical, theoretical),
    11th out of 159 in Chemistry B (organic and inorganic),
    45th out of 209 in Physics A (quantum, condensed phase)

  • Year 1: Class I

    Overall rank 38th out of 626,
    9th out of 295 in Biology of Cells,
    11th out of 484 in Chemistry,
    37th out of 342 in Physics

Application of stochastic coupled cluster to the uniform electron gas and lithium hydride using the HANDE package

Aug–Sep 2017

Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Supervisor: Dr Alex Thom

Stochastic coupled cluster computations of the free electron gas and solid lithium hydride using the HANDE package.

Cloning, expression, purification and application of antibody fragments

Aug–Sep 2016

BIOCEV — Biotechnology and Biomedicine Center of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Charles University, Vestec, Czechia
Supervisor: Dr Cyril Bařinka

  • Project work has contributed the publication:

    Z. Novakova, N. Belousova, C. A. Foss, B. Havlinova, M. Gresova, G. Das, A. Lisok, A. Prada, M. Barinkova, M. Hubalek, M. G. Pomper, C. Barinka, “Engineered Fragments of the PSMA-Specific 5D3 Antibody and Their Functional Characterization”, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 21(18), 6672 (2020), doi: 10.3390/ijms21186672

Synthesis and characterisation of thiadodecaborane derivatives for application on gold surfaces

Oct 2012–Jun 2014, Aug–Sep 2015

Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Řež, Czechia
Supervisor: Dr Jan Macháček

  • Project work has contributed the publication:

    J. Fanfrlı́k, A. Přáda, Z. Padělková, A. Pecina, J. Macháček, M. Lepšı́k, J. Holub, A. Růžička, D. Hnyk, P. Hobza, “The dominant role of chalcogen bonding in the crystal packing of 2D/3D aromatics”, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 53, 10139 (2014), doi: 10.1002/anie.201405901

Synthesis of gold nanoparticles and their characterisation by UV/Vis spectroscopy and electron scanning microscopy

Oct–Dec 2012

Czech Technical University in Prague, Czechia
Supervisor: Ing Filip Novotný

Teaching experience

Undergraduate chemistry supervisor

2018–2022

University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Taught courses:

  • Year 1:
    • Chemistry (Theoretical, Physical, Organic, Inorganic)
  • Year 3:
    • A4: Theoretical chemistry
    • B6: Statistical mechanics
    • C7: Further quantum mechanics (Perturbation theory)

Undergraduate theoretical chemistry practicals demonstrator

Oct 2018–Feb 2020
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Czech Chemistry Olympiad lecturer

2016–present
University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Czechia
Charles University, Prague, Czechia

Lecturer of physical and theoretical chemistry at the Czech Chemistry Olymipad summer school Běstvina.

Winter School Supervisor

Jan 2018, Jan 2019 Wuhan University Cambridge Winter Program

Outreach activities

(for more info about my outreach activities, please see the activities section of my page)

Chemistry Race organiser

Feb 2019–present

I organised and raised funds for the expansion of an originally Czech competition to the UK (University of Cambridge) and later to Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria). I organised these events for up to 300 high-school students, including recruitment and organisation of volunteers, and securing of institutional support. I developed an automated multi-lingual LaTeX typesetting that supports the whole international competition. I also worked in the capacity of a question author and editor.

Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, Austria University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czechia

Czech Chemistry Olympiad problem author

2019 University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Czechia
Charles University, Prague, Czechia

Author of the physical chemistry questions for category A (highest category) of the Czech Chemistry Olympiad

Trinity College Science Society President

Mar 2016–Mar 2017

I organised weekly talks with science speakers (including 3 Nobel Prize laureates), two trips for students to the lab of Lord Rayleigh, and a science symposium.

KSICHT organiser

KSICHT = Chemistry Correspondence Seminar of the Charles University in Prague (Czech abbreviation)
2014–2021
Charles University, Prague, Czechia

Problem author and reviewer, and lab demonstrator

Pre-University extracurricular activities

  • Participant at the World Science Conference Israel 2015

    Selected as the winner of KSICHT 2014

  • International Chemistry Olympiad 2014 in Hanoi

    Gold medal (Rank 24 out of 291)

  • International Chemistry Olympiad 2013 in Moscow

    Silver medal (Rank 54 out of 291)

  • European Union Science Olympiad 2012 in Vilnius

    Gold medal (Rank 5 out of 44)

Language skills

  • English: fluent (level C2)
  • Czech: native speaker
  • German: level B2

Interests

  • Long distance running

    • Generali Prague Half Marathon 2025

      5 April 2025 1:46:30

    • Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon 2024

      6 April 2024 1:53:42

    • Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon 2023

      1 April 2023 1:51:16

    • Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon 2019

      6 April 2019
      1:43:08

    • Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon 2018

      7 April 2018
      1:43:04

    • Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon 2017

      1 April 2017
      1:54:20

    • Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon 2016

      2 April 2016
      1:44:08

    • Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon 2015

      28 March 2015
      1:55:55

  • Karate
  • Ballroom dancing
  • Amateur astronomy, space exploration
  • Cocktails
  • Philosophy, linguistics, religion