A significant success for the two Clusters of Excellence PhoenixD and QuantumFrontiers at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH): two researchers have each successfully acquired a Lower Saxony Impulse Professorship. Prof. Dr. Andrea Trabattoni of the Institute of Quantum Optics and Prof. Dr. Michael Zopf of the Institute of Solid State Physics have both been awarded funding. The scientists conduct research as part of the PhoenixD and QuantumFrontiers Clusters of Excellence. Through the Lower Saxony Impulse Professorship funding line, which is part of the “zukunft.niedersachsen” programme, the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (MWK) and the Volkswagen Foundation support Lower Saxony’s universities in recruiting and retaining promising academics in the early stages of their careers, thereby strengthening Lower Saxony’s academic sector.
“As a tailor-made funding instrument, the Lower Saxony Impulse Professorship contributes to retaining top-notch research talent in our research and academic sector over the long term. I am convinced that with Prof. Dr. Michael Zopf and Prof. Dr. Andrea Trabattoni, LUH has acquired particularly qualified junior researchers for its profile-enhancing, cutting-edge research and the strengthening of its Clusters of Excellence. Through their work and their expertise, they are contributing to the broader application of future technologies in science, teaching and industry and are expanding the research infrastructure for all of Lower Saxony, which is a hub for science and research,” said Falko Mohrs, Lower Saxony’s minister of culture and science.
In the research within his “Quantum Futur” working group at LUH, Prof. Dr. Michael Zopf aims to develop semiconductor components for quantum photonics. As part of the Impulse Professorship, he plans to further investigate and utilise the characteristics of colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) to advance the field of quantum photonics research through the development and integration of new semiconductor nanomaterials in photonic components. In this context, funding from the Lower Saxony Impulse Professorship will be used to develop a versatile quantum photonics platform which will pave the way for the next generation of quantum photonics technologies. The research project is situated at the interface of the two current Clusters of Excellence PhoenixD and QuantumFrontiers and is thus an outstanding fit with LUH’s research profile. The total funding for the project is 1,997,700 euros.
Prof. Dr. Andrea Trabattoni took up the new professorship for ultra-fast photoelectron research based on the Jülich model in May 2024, in tandem with a simultaneous post as a research group leader at the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY). His scientific work is strongly integrated within the key research area Optical Technologies and the PhoenixD Cluster of Excellence. Together with the researchers at the Institute of Quantum Optics, he is investigating topics such as laser-based X-ray sources and extreme ultraviolet meta-optics. Professor Trabattoni would like to use the 1,741,600 euros in funding awarded for the Lower Saxony Impulse Professorship to establish a cutting-edge laser laboratory at LUH which will investigate and manipulate the dynamics of electrons in matter using vacuum-ultraviolet and extreme-ultraviolet light. In his research, he aims to discover new functionalities within matter through the application of light, with a particular focus on atomic nuclei and molecules.
The Lower Saxony Impulse Professorship
The Lower Saxony Impulse Professorship is intended for researchers who are nearing the end of their early career phase and completed their doctorate no more than 10 years prior to receiving the award. The funding aims to enhance these researchers’ considerable potential in terms of subject expertise, as well as their capacity to shape research profiles and structures. It also seeks to boost their potential for future leadership roles (“rising stars”).
Key research areas at LUH
LUH’s outstanding work is bundled within six interdisciplinary key research areas, which contribute to making this excellent research internationally visible. Biomedical Research and Technology, Energy Research, Optical Technologies, Production Engineering, Quantum Optics and Gravitational Physics and Interdisciplinary Studies of Science are characterised by excellent and internationally recognised research, strong support for junior researchers and the successful acquisition of coordinated collaborative projects with significant scientific and societal relevance.
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