Junior Quantum Seminar Series holds inaugural meeting
© 2022 EPFL
On 25 October the first meeting of the Junior Quantum Seminar Series took place. This series brings together junior researchers – PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers – to share their work with one another, and encourage scientific cross-fertilization and knowledge transfer between EPFL’s many groups focusing on quantum physics.
“Junior researchers can greatly benefit from the creation of a framework where ideas can be shared and discussed between peers,” says Fabrizio Minganti, a post-doc at the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics of Nanosystems (LTPN), who is one of the organizers of the series along with Giulia Del Pace, a post-doc at the Laboratory for Quantum Gases (LQG) and Valentin Goblot, a post-doc at the Laboratory of Quantum Nano-Optics (LQNO).
This first session began with breakfast and an informal discussion between attendees, followed by two seminars: “Self-Organization with strongly-interacting Fermi gases” by Tabea Bühler a PhD student from the LQG, and “Criticality and bosonic quantum information encoding” by Luca Gravina, a PhD student at LTPN.
Along with offering junior researchers the opportunity to share their research with one another, these seminars also offer a safe space where both scientific and personal problems can be discussed and addressed in a non-judgmental environment.
The first seminar was very well-received, with attendees raising many interesting questions and having important discussions. The organizers found that students and post-docs were very interested in participating in this event.
“We anticipated 40 people for this first time, but actually there were more than 50 people!” Minganti says.
The organization of this series is being supported by the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE) along with the associated labs doing quantum research at EPFL.
“As the hub for quantum research, innovation and education at EPFL, the QSE Center is very proud to have committed support early on for this grass-root event series that brings together our growing quantum community,” say Vincenzo Savona, Academic Director of the QSE Center. “It is important for junior researchers to have a place to connect and share with one another, and we look forward to seeing this series continue and flourish.”
“Overall, there was a great atmosphere, sparking many interactions between people from the various groups,” says Minganti. “We plan to meet two other times this semester, and then repeat the initiative next year. Anyone else who would like to help in the organization is more than welcome to join!”