Our Team
Science is never built alone.
Helnium brings together scientists across disciplines, united by a shared curiosity for the hidden beauty of matter and the belief that different perspectives reveal what one alone cannot see.
Hélène Lambert
Founder & Scientific DirectorHélène is a Swiss chemist at the University of Geneva, specializing in coordination chemistry and crystallography. Also an artist and pianist, she has always been fascinated by the patterns, symmetries and forms that seem to repeat themselves throughout nature. She founded Helnium and pioneered a new approach she calls Scientific Design, using real scientific processes such as crystallization and coordination chemistry to create natural patterns, colors and forms. Her work explores the self-organization of matter and the idea that some of the forms we find most beautiful may already be deeply written into the natural world.
Karl Gaff
Scientific Imaging CollaboratorKarl is an Irish science artist, microscopist and photographer whose fascination with the microscopic world began at the age of six with his first microscope. He later completed a Master’s degree in microscopy and has worked across several Irish universities, currently at Trinity College Dublin. Founder of Art of Science Photography, his work combines science, microscopy and fine art to reveal worlds normally invisible to the human eye — from microorganisms and natural specimens to crystallized pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and complex chemical systems. Through experimental imaging, he transforms scientific observation into visual storytelling at the intersection of physics, chemistry, nature and art.
Ali is a chemist and researcher at the University of Geneva whose work explores the relationship between molecular structure, light and motion. With a background in coordination and organometallic chemistry, he studies how carefully designed molecular systems can produce unexpected behaviors, from luminescence and phosphorescence to energy transfer and molecular motion. His research brings together synthesis, coordination chemistry and photophysics, exploring how changes at the molecular scale can completely transform the way matter interacts with light.
Coordination Chemistry & Photophysics Ali Jamjah
Maciek is a Polish organic chemist and scientific photographer with a fascination for molecules, light and color. His research focuses on the synthesis of novel organic materials and organic electronics, exploring how molecular structure can give rise to remarkable optical and electronic properties. Known through his visual work as Luminescent Chemist, he brings the laboratory to life through photography and videos, capturing fluorescent compounds, reactions and the unexpected colors that appear during real chemical experiments. His work brings together organic synthesis, materials chemistry and scientific imaging, revealing that some of chemistry’s most beautiful moments happen long before we ever see the final molecule.
Luminescent Chemistry Collaborator