News Overview
Stay informed with our latest news and announcements on this page. For more in-depth content, we also encourage visitors to explore our bimonthly STRUCTURES Newsletter magazine, which features a variety of articles, interviews with members, and background information on our latest research and activities.
Two outstanding Heidelberg-based early-career researchers – Junior Professor Dr Lauriane Chomaz and Dr Ganna Gryn’ova – have each been awarded an ERC Starting Grant, which is a high amount of funding from the European Research Council (ERC). Prof. Chomaz, an experimental physicist at Heidelberg University, will receive approximately 1.5 million euros for her research work on two-dimensional dipolar quantum gases. The ERC will likewise endow Dr Gryn’ova with around 1.5 million euros for a project on the design and modelling of functional organic materials. The computational chemist from the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) also does research at the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) of Ruperto Carola. The funding has been granted for a period of five years.
Lauriane Chomaz’s research project to be funded with the ERC Starting Grant is called “Two-dimensional Dipolar Quantum Gases: Fluctuations and Orders” (2DDip). In it, she addresses the question of how matter orders itself under extreme conditions – in two-dimensional space and in the presence of competing long-range and short-range atomic interactions – and how the resultant order changes under the effect of quantum and thermal fluctuations. With the assistance of an innovative experimental apparatus, the scientist will, for the first time, generate ultra-cold quantum gases from dysprosium atoms in an effective two-dimensional space. Dysprosium is a rare earth and exhibits the highest magnetic moment of all natural stable chemical elements. By examining different states of these magnetic gases, Prof. Chomaz wants to gain new insights into hitherto unexplored, exotic states of matter, their respective orders, ordering mechanisms, and their fluctuations. The physicist hopes that her research will help to answer open questions on two-dimensional ordering in the presence of long-range atomic interactions, and to open up new research avenues.
After graduating in quantum physics, Lauriane Chomaz gained her doctorate in 2014 with a study of Bose gases in reduced dimensions at the École normale supérieure in Paris (France). She then continued her research as a post-doc at the University of Innsbruck (Austria). For that she received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship from the European Commission and was admitted to the Elise Richter Programme of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). In 2021 she joined Heidelberg University as a tenure-track professor. Prof. Chomaz is part of the STRUCTURES Cluster of Excellence with her newly formed “Quantum Fluids” research group at the Institute for Physics. She is also a member of Heidelberg University’s Collaborative Research Centre 1225 “Isolated Quantum systems and Universality under extreme conditions” (ISOQUANT).
See University press release from January 19, 2022:
German | English.
The STRUCTURES cluster wishes everyone a bright, healthy and prosperous new year. Despite the ups and downs due to Covid-19, we hope that 2021 has been a successful year for all of our members. We are grateful for the commitment and the fruitful, lively collaboration within and beyond the cluster, which we are looking forward to maintain. For the new year, we are excited to announce many lecture programs, talks, fellowships and guest programs – with the Jour Fixe as the central place to meet and exchange ideas.
The Jour Fixe continues in January with the following guests:
- January 21: Anna Erzberger (EMBL, Heidelberg) (Postponed)
- January 28: Fabian Hahner (MI, Heidelberg)
- February 04: No Jour Fixe - General Assembly
We are happy to present the fourth volume of the STRUCTURES newsletter!
The STRUCTURES Office is happy to answer questions and to receive feedback.
A new podcast episode of “#exzellenterklaert - Spitzenforschung für alle” is going to air tomorrow (Dec 15):
Episode (5): “Quantenwissenschaft - Grundlage der Technologien von morgen.” (MCQST)
Quantum physics pushes the limits of our imagination, but builds the foundation for revolutionary new technologies. Researchers from @mcqst_cluster (Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology) discuss this in the latest episode of the podcast "#exzellenterklaert – Spitzenforschung für alle".
The German science podcast on current science topics reflects the research diversity of the Germany’s leading research institutions and Clusters of Excellence: from Antiquities to Quantum Physics. In each episode, listeners can expect insights into the interdisciplinary work of one research network. The researchers of the clusters of excellence, funded by DFG talk to podcaster Larissa Vassilian about how they want to find scientifically sound answers to relevant topics of our time – for the society of tomorrow.
Talk postponed: Faszination Wissenschaft - 60 Begegnungen mit wegweisenden Forschern unserer Zeit by Herlinde Koelbl
We regret that due to the current pandemic situation, Herlinde Koelbl's talk cannot take place on December 16, 2021. But we are planning it for next year! Please stay tuned for the new dates.
Aufgrund der momentanen COVID-Situtation kann der Vortrag von Herlinde Koelbl am 16.12.2021 leider nicht stattfinden. Er wird auf das nächste Jahr verschoben - weitere Informationen folgen!
We are delighted to announce that this semester term the Ruperto Carola Lecture Series (Ruperto Carola Ringvorlesung) is organized by Matthias Bartelmann, STRUCTURES member, and Manfred Salmhofer, speaker of STRUCTURES.
On Monday, November 8, Manfred Salmhofer addresses the connection between the diversity of structures that surround us in the natural world and the unity of the laws of nature that underlie them. In addition to lectures by Markus Oberthaler and Matthias Bartelmann from STRUCTURESwe are looking forward to six renowned speakers from philosophy, brain research, psychology, literature, law, and music.
Lectures take place every Monday at 7:30 pm, Aula Neue Universität. The talks will be given in German language.
See press release here (November 4, 2021).
The next episode of “#exzellenterklaert - Spitzenforschung für alle” is online! Learn more about “Bacteria in the Gut - How Drugs Affect our Microbiome,” and listen directly to Lisa Maier, Junior Group Leader at the Tuebingen Cluster of Excellence CMFI.
The German science podcast on current science topics reflects the research diversity of the Germany’s leading research institutions and Clusters of Excellence: from Africa Studies to Quantum Physics. In each episode, listeners can expect insights into the interdisciplinary work of one research network. The researchers of the clusters of excellence, funded by DFG talk to podcaster Larissa Vassilian about how they want to find scientifically based answers to relevant topics of our time - for the society of tomorrow.
Link: https://exzellent-erklaert.podigee.io/.