Bram de Winter

  • Research Associate
Bram de Winter

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About

I am a Research Associate in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge, working at the interface of isotope geochemistry, mineral physics and planetary science. My research seeks to understand how rocky planets differentiate and evolve, and whether the present-day Earth still preserves a chemical record of its earliest history.

I completed my PhD in Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford in 2026. During my doctoral research, I developed an approach that combines high-temperature experiments, first-principles atomistic simulations and planetary-scale modelling to understand stable isotope fractionation under the extreme conditions of planetary interiors. In particular, I investigated Mg and Si isotope fractionation between mantle minerals and silicate melts, from magmatic temperatures at the Earth's surface to the pressures and temperatures of a deep terrestrial magma ocean. 

Alongside my research, I have been active in teaching, outreach and the international space community. I founded the ACHIEVED Academy and Mission Design Competition and am active in the Executive Committee of the Space Generation Advisory Council.

  • DPhil in Earth Sciences, University of Oxford (2026) — research focused on stable isotope geochemistry and planetary differentiation. 
  • MSc in Geology & Geochemistry, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2022) — graduated cum laude. 
  • BSc in Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2019).

Research

My research aims to reconstruct the earliest chemical evolution of Earth and other rocky planets using stable isotope geochemistry. As part of the ERC EARTHMELT project, I combine high-temperature experiments, atomistic simulations and planetary modelling to understand how isotopes fractionate during magma-ocean crystallisation and planetary differentiation.

A central goal of my work is to connect processes across scales, from the bonding environment of individual atoms to the evolution of an entire planet. My longer-term vision is to extend this approach across multiple stable and radiogenic isotope systems and integrate them using statistical models. Ultimately, I aim to move from predicting the isotope signatures produced by planetary processes to using those signatures to reconstruct Earth's most probable chemical state before the geological record began.