Job alert

Head (m/f/d) admin­is­tra­tion and finan­cial controlling

We are looking for a new colleague to manage the finances of the IQST — Center for Integ­rated Quantum Science and Techno­logy as well as admin­is­trat­ive matters, to coordin­ate the commu­nic­a­tion with IQST Fellows, the IQST community and external share­hold­ers, and to organ­ise, plan and imple­ment events, workshops and conferences. 

For more inform­a­tion, please see the advert­ise­ment below. We look forward to receiv­ing your application. 

Programme:

3 April from 10.00 to 18.30 Scientific session with 2 breaks (topics related to quantum science and techno­logy and collab­or­at­ive projects) 

4 April from 9.00 to 11.30 Industry session 

from 13.00 to 16.00 Scientific session

A celeb­ra­tion of quantum

The special symposium “IQST: A Decade of Quantum Advance­ments — Past, Present, and Future” in Stutt­gart was a celeb­ra­tion of the first 10 years of IQST, and of quantum science and techno­logy as a whole.

When the Center for Integ­rated Quantum Science and Techno­logy (IQST) was founded in 2014, it was one of the first of its kind in the world. Its ‘found­ing fathers’, Wolfgang Schleich (Ulm Univer­sity) and Tilman Pfau (Univer­sity of Stutt­gart), had the clear vision that a holistic approach was needed to advance quantum science in general and the emerging field of quantum techno­logy in partic­u­lar. To harness unique proper­ties of quantum systems for innov­at­ive techno­lo­gies, physi­cists, chemists, engin­eers and poten­tial users have to work hand in hand and develop novel theor­et­ical and exper­i­mental concepts, imple­ment them in practical systems, and estab­lish new capab­il­it­ies in well-chosen applic­a­tion to ultimately exploit their full potential. 

This cross-disciplinary approach became a hallmark of IQST. In her opening address, IQST Director Stefanie Barz (Univer­sity of Stutt­gart), who leads the centre since 2022 together with Fedor Jelezko (Ulm Univer­sity), gave a broad overview of what this means in practice. The IQST network has mentored more than 125 PhD students across scientific discip­lines, funded more than 80 collab­or­at­ive projects, welcomed 105 visit­ors, awarded eight teacher-student schol­ar­ships and six family-support grants, and sponsored 32 confer­ences. The community fostered exchange through dedic­ated IQST Days, sympo­sia, workshops and PhD retreats, reached out to the public in trade shows and by engaging with school classes, and secured an impress­ive volume of external funding for projects at the heart of the IQST mission.

A decade of growth

Over this past decade, the field of quantum techno­lo­gies has gained an aston­ish­ing momentum, attract­ing a huge number of research­ers across academic discip­lines and indus­tries world­wide. Stake­hold­ers in science, policy and educa­tion, as well as the general public, are also becom­ing increas­ingly aware of and inter­ested in the ‘second quantum revolu­tion’ and its promise to lead to new gener­a­tions of techno­lo­gies for comput­ing, commu­nic­a­tion and sensing. This growth is directly reflec­ted in the devel­op­ment of IQST, which had 23 fellows in 2014 and today brings together 52 research­ers and their groups. The network now extends beyond the three core insti­tu­tions — the Univer­sity of Stutt­gart, Ulm Univer­sity and the Max Planck Insti­tute for Solid State Research in Stutt­gart — bring­ing into the IQST family colleagues from other insti­tu­tions in Baden-Württemberg with whom IQST research­ers have collab­or­ated for many years. Major new initi­at­ives have emerged as well, in which the IQST and its members play central roles, such as QuantumBW, which was launched last year. 

The driving role of IQST in the wider ‘quantum ecosys­tem’ in Baden-Württemberg was also an aspect that Wolfram Ressel, Rector of the Univer­sity of Stutt­gart, and André Schmandke, Head of Research and Innov­a­tion Policy & Research in Life and Natural Sciences at the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts, emphas­ised in their welcome addresses. The vibrancy of the IQST community was evident in the talks given by IQST Fellows, which covered the full spectrum of quantum science and techno­logy, but also in the way the IQST community — especially young scient­ists — inter­ac­ted during the discus­sion and poster sessions and at the confer­ence dinner, seizing the oppor­tun­ity to network with the many friends and colleagues from academia and industry who had come to Stuttgart. 

Natur­ally, the IQST activ­it­ies take place in a highly active inter­na­tional envir­on­ment. It was there­fore a partic­u­lar privilege and pleas­ure that many esteemed colleagues from around the world were able to join our celeb­ra­tion. The engaging plenary talks by Ivette Fuentes (Univer­sity of Southamp­ton), Mutsuko Hatano (Tokyo Tech), Pascale Senel­lart (Univer­sity of Paris Saclay), Michelle Simmons (Univer­sity of New South Wales), Andreas Wallraff (ETH Zurich) and Gregor Weihs (Univer­sity of Innsbruck) provided an exquis­ite overview of some of the most excit­ing research going on in the field today.

A bright future

Quantum techno­logy is a young field, and the symposium demon­strated how attract­ive it is not only academ­ic­ally, but also for those with an entre­pren­eur­ial spirit. During the IQST Start-up Session, repres­ent­at­ives from Swabian Instru­ments, Printop­tics, QC Design, NVision, Diatope and 21 Semicon­duct­ors gave an inspir­ing insight into the wider economic and societal impact that quantum techno­lo­gies will have.

As IQST enters its second decade, the future could not be brighter. Quantum techno­lo­gies are rapidly becom­ing avail­able for applic­a­tions in ever new fields, opening up new uncharted fronti­ers to be explored, creat­ing new needs for the emerging quantum-technology ecosys­tem, and present­ing new oppor­tun­it­ies and challenges to promote quantum science and techno­logy in a society that is increas­ingly aware of the poten­tial of quantum techno­lo­gies. This makes our holistic approach as relev­ant today as it was when IQST was founded.

Photo credits: Jan Will

For updates and insights leading up to the symposium, follow us on LinkedIn.

Four IQST Fellows among the world’s most highly cited researchers

The list with the Highly Cited Research­ers 2023 can be found under https://clarivate.com/highly-cited-researchers/

#WeQuantum at Quantum Effects

We had the pleas­ure and privilege of showcas­ing our activ­it­ies and sharing our passion for quantum science and techno­logy at the Quantum Effects exhib­i­tion and confer­ence in Stuttgart

Last week, the first Quantum Effects exhib­i­tion and confer­ence was held at Messe Stutt­gart. The aim was to provide an arena to showcase the poten­tial of application-oriented quantum techno­lo­gies and to foster exchange. For IQST, it was a highly success­ful event, provid­ing a unique oppor­tun­ity to reach out to a wide audience and to share our vision of how innov­at­ive techno­lo­gies emerge from funda­mental quantum physics.

Promin­ent guests at the IQST Quantum Effects booth

We were delighted that so many people stopped by, inter­ac­ted with our exhib­its — from a virtual lab tour to hands-on quantum-optics exper­i­ments to real quantum devices — and asked questions. And we were partic­u­larly pleased that so many young visit­ors, includ­ing school classes, came to take with us a dive into the quantum world.

We were happy to meet and inter­act with many visit­ors to the IQST booth, which was part of the joint stand of the QuantumBW network. Among those who came to visit were several promin­ent guest, includ­ing Winfried Kretschmann, Minister-President of the State of Baden-Württemberg, and Petra Olschow­ski, Baden-Württemberg Minis­ter for Science, Research and the Arts, as well as high-ranking industry repres­ent­at­ives — all of whom showed great interest in the exhib­its and the quantum techno­logy behind them.

Lots of action at our Quantum Effects stand

On display was also the strength of the quantum community in Baden–Württemberg. We shared a stand with many of our colleagues, collab­or­at­ors and friends across the QuantumBW network. Count­less helping hands made the event a success, from planning how to share our passion for quantum science and techno­logy with others, to setting up the stand, to guiding our visit­ors through the exhibits. 

Among the most popular features on the IQST booth at last week’s Quantum Effects exhib­i­tion and confer­ence in Stutt­gart was our Photo Box. Many visit­ors took the oppor­tun­ity to get entangled with Alice, Bob and Schrödinger’s cat — in one state or another, or both — and to take a print home as a souvenir.

The team spirit was also evident at the Network­ing Night after the first day of the event, which provided a welcome oppor­tun­ity to network in a relaxed atmosphere — and to exchange ideas for the next Quantum Effects fair and confer­ence, which will take place on 8 and 9 October 2024, again in Stuttgart. 

We hope to see you all there! 

Virtual-Reality lab-tour shooting

Visit Quantum Effects and take a virtual tour of our labs

Over August we filmed in the labs of Stefanie Barz, Sebastian Loth and Sungkun Hong at the Univer­sity of Stutt­gart, Fedor Jelezko at Ulm Univer­sity, and Aparajita Singha at the Max-Planck Insti­tute for Solid State Research, Stutt­gart, Germany. The labs were scanned every 1.5 metres using a camera that rotates 360° and takes 60 images per rotation. Now, when visit­ors put on their VR goggles, they can navig­ate almost seamlessly through the labs.

Curious? Come and see us at Quantum Effects. And for those who cannot make it, the tour will later be avail­able on our website, www.iqst.org.

IQST takes part in Quantum Effects exhibition

Save the date (and get your ticket) – Quantum Effects exhib­i­tion and confer­ence for quantum techno­lo­gies, Stutt­gart, 10–11 October 2023

Many thanks once more to our visit­ors and all who contrib­uted to this day of fruit­ful exchange. 

Photos: Armin Buhl, Ulm