Center for Ultracold Atoms and Quantum Gases, IExP and IQOQI, Innsbruck
Category for non scientific news about the T-REQS group
OPEN CALL – The Aurora Excellence Fellowship Program for Visiting Bachelor, Master and PhD Students is now accepting applications. This internship program aims to enhance scientific collaboration and exchange in the field of quantum science and technology between the University of Naples Federico II and Universität Innsbruck, both members of the Aurora European Universities Alliance.
More information:
Quantum Science Austria
University of Innsbruck, University of Vienna, Vienna University of Technology, University of Linz, IST Austria, Austrian Academy of Sciences
The Second Quantum Revolution – the breathtaking development of modern quantum science – would not have been conceivable without the pioneering contributions from Austria. Based on them, quantum technologies are being developed today that surpass classical technologies in many areas. The Cluster of Excellence Quantum Science Austria, which has now been approved by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, is advancing basic research in the quantum sciences, aims to expand the frontiers of knowledge and thus be the engine for future innovations. The focus is on fundamental questions regarding the quantum nature of space, time and gravity, new paradigms in quantum information science and the physics of quantum many-body systems. The scientists* in Innsbruck, Vienna, Linz and Klosterneuburg are asking innovative fundamental questions that can only be solved by combining the unique know-how available in Austria. With well-controlled model systems based on trapped ions, ultracold atoms, long-range interaction systems, photonic systems, superconducting quantum circuits, and nanoscopic solid-state systems, they aim to unravel the most challenging puzzles of the quantum world.
In the Framework of the Quantum Austria Initiative a joint project from the University of Innsbruck and the TU Wien was awarded and starts at the beginning of 2023. The “Austrian Quantum Simulator Infrastructure” project with a total funding of about 3 Million Euros will greatly enhance the already existing quantum simulators in several labs in Innsbruck and Vienna and also help in the building up of new simulators. Quantum simulators are a very powerful tool to study complex quantum systems by mimicking their behaviour with a quantum system which is fully controllable. The project consortium combines a great variety of physical systems which are used as simulators, including solid-state systems, ultracold atoms and trapped ions. Our group is participating with our long-range interacting atoms inside an optical lattice and our Rydberg tweezer array experiment.
Francesca Ferlaino has been awarded the Cardinal Innitzer Prize for Natural Sciences 2021 last weekend in Vienna for her outstanding achievements in the field of ultracold quantum gases. Her pioneering work with lathanoid atoms has been internationally groundbreaking in this field.
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn awarded 26 scientists with the Cardinal Innitzer Prize at the Archbishop’s Palace in Vienna on Saturday. This year, due to the cancellation of last year’s award ceremony caused by the pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 prizes were awarded together. Named after Vienna Archbishop Cardinal Theodor Innitzer (1875-1955), the science prize is one of the most prestigious awards of its kind in Austria. It has been awarded by the Archdiocese of Vienna since 1962 and is supported by the Federal Ministry of Science, several provinces, as well as banks, insurance companies and the Chamber of Commerce. The list of laureates reads like a “who’s who” of Austrian science.
Francesca Ferlaino was awarded this year’s Cardinal Innitzer Prize for Natural Sciences for her pioneering work with ultracold quantum gases. Her work with lathanoid atoms was particularly highlighted. “As a scientist, you have made a difference when others jump on the bandwagon – nowadays, more and more physicists around the world are working with precisely these atoms. It is therefore no exaggeration to say that Ferlaino has done true pioneering work,” said laudator Ulrike Diebold from TU Wien.
In recognition of her outstanding achievements, Francesca Ferlaino was elected a Corresponding Member of the Mathematical and Natural Sciences Class of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) strengthens its ranks with 31 newly elected members. In this year’s elections, 19 female and 12 male researchers from a wide variety of disciplines in the humanities, social and cultural sciences as well as mathematics, natural and technical sciences were awarded membership in the ÖAW for their outstanding scientific achievements. Francesca Ferlaino’s research explores quantum phenomena in atomic gases at ultralow temperatures with contributions spanning topics including quantum matter of atoms and molecules and few-body and scattering physics. Her work has earned her multiple awards, including the prestigious Feltrinelli Prize, the Grand Prix de Physique “Cécile-DeWitt Morette/École de Physique des Houches” from the French Academy of Sciences, the Junior BEC Award, and the Erwin Schrödinger Prize, the highest award of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In addition, she is recipient of an Alexander-von-Humboldt Professorship, a START-Prize and two ERC Grants (Starting and Consolidator).
Philipp and Gianmaria held their defenses for their PhD thesis and are now officially Doctors of Philosophy. Congratulations and we wish you all the best for your future!