Professor Kurdak's research is mainly in the area of mesoscopic physics. At low temperatures and in small length scales, quantum effects and the discrete nature of charge become increasingly important. Professor Kurdak studies various systems, including ultra small tunnel junctions that are coupled to GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures, semiconductor quantum dots and quantum point contacts, and systems of Au nanoparticles, where these effects play a key role. Many of the samples used in these experiments are fabricated using standard semiconductor processing techniques including electron beam lithography and they are characterized by low temperature transport measurements at temperatures as low as 20 mK.