New European doctoral network ALMOA
Prof. Dr. Angelika Wiegele (University of Klagenfurt and Global Faculty, University of Cologne) will coordinate the new EU-funded doctoral network ALMOA (Advances in Large-scale, Multilevel, and Hierarchical Optimisation for Challenging Applications) on mathematical optimization, supported by €3.8 million through Horizon Europe’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
Starting in January 2026, ALMOA will fund 13 doctoral positions across Europe. In Cologne, Prof. Dr. Frank Vallentin will supervise a project in information theory on optimal lattice quantizers.
TIDE receives further funding
After a very successful evaluation, the Research Training Group “Template-Designed Organic Electronics” (GRK 2591 – TIDE) has obtained continued funding for an extra 4.5 year.
TIDE investigates the influence of molecular order on the behaviour of devices in the field of organic electronics.
Congratulations to the TIDE team and its speaker Klaus Meerholz who have put together both an exciting research program and powerful program for graduate education.
Ernst-Ising prize for Camiel van Efferen
The Ernst-Ising Preis 2024 is awarded to Camiel van Efferen for his dissertation "Growth, phases and correlation effects of single-layer MoS2 and VS2". In his research Camiel van Efferen created and investigated new structural and electronic phases of single layer transition metal sulfides. Among the discoveries of Camiel van Efferen are charge density wave in vandium sulfides and the Kondo effect in twin boundaries of MoS2. Furthermore, using contactless doping he induced a semiconductor-to-metal transition in MoS2 which led to the first observation of multipolarons in a 2D material.
We congratulate to the prize.
Medal for Ladislav Bohatý
Prof. Dr. Ladislav Bohatý was awarded the Commemorative Medal of the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, in recognition of his lifetime achievements. Prof. Bohatý has been working - often in collaboration with CRC 1238 - on a broad range of quantum materials, including systems with multiple types of orders, frustrated systems and crystals for non-linear optics.
Spectacular success in the German Excellence Strategy
Our physics department wins two Clusters of Excellence, DYNAVERSE and ML4Q. In total, five clusters at the University of Cologne win funding.
Selina Olthof is granted a Heisenberg Professorship
Our former QM2 Member Selina Olthof has been appointed as a Professor at the University of Wuppertal, a position awarded through the prestigious Heisenberg Professorship by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Collaborative Grants Renewed
CRC1238 „Control and Dynamics of Quantum Materials“ and CRC/TR 183 „Entangled States of Matter“ start after a very successful evaluation their third funding period from 1.7.2024 until 30.6.2028. Congratulations to the two teams!
Gerhard Ertl Young Investigator Award 2023
Wouter Jolie received the Gerhard Ertl Young Investigator Award 2023 for his outstanding work in the field of surface science and, especially, for the exploration of electron correlations in the one dimensional cavities formed by mirrow twin boundaries in monolayer MoS_2.
Congratulations!
Malte Gather wins ERC Advanced Grant
Malte Gather receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) for his work on overcoming the fundamental dispersion limit of optical interference. He wants to explore the coupling of light and matter in the strong coupling regime with possible applications in future biosensors and implants that use light to, e.g., make the interactions of neurons in the brain visible. Furthermore, he received a proof of concept grant to enable the transfer of his results into the market and society.
Congratulations!
INNOMAG Dissertation Prize 2023
Nina del Ser received the INNOMAG Dissertation Prize 2023 of the magnetism section of the German Physical Society for her PhD Thesis "The Turn of the Screw and the Slide of the Skyrmion".
Congratulations!
Max Delbrück award for junior researchers
We congratulate Dr. Ciarán Hickey on receiving this year's Max Delbrück award for junior researchers. The prize, one of five "future awards" of the University of Cologne, commends Ciarán for "the discovery of novel spin liquids in field-driven quantum matter". It recognizes his work on identifying a Higgs transition in the paradigmatic Kitaev model and providing theoretical guidance in the experimental observation of a planar half-quantized thermal Hall effect in the Kitaev material RuCl3.
Development of new technology
A research team with groups from Wuppertal, Oxford, Berlin, Tübingen and Düsseldorf in collaboration with Selina Olthof and Klaus Meerholz from the University of Cologne has developed a highly efficient tandem solar cell composed of perovskite and organic absorbers which can be produced at a lower cost than conventional solar cells made of silicon. The further development of this technology is expected to make solar energy even more sustainable.
The paper Perovskite–organic tandem solar cells with indium oxide interconnect has been published in Nature.
Bernhard Heß prize for Selina Olthof
Dr. Selina Olthof received the Bernhard Heß prize of the University of Regensburg. She will give a guest lecture on "Solar Energy Conversion" in the context of the prize.
Wolfram-Prandl-Prize 2020 for Dr. Sabrina Disch
Sabrina Disch is the winner of the Wolfram-Prandl-Prize 2020 for young scientists awarded by the German Committee Research with Neutrons (KFN). Dr. Sabrina Disch receives the prize for her outstanding research results on the understanding of structure, spin structure and spin dynamics of magnetic nanoparticles achieved with innovative neutron scattering methods. Congratulations!
Achim Rosch receives the Max Delbrück prize
Achim Rosch receives the Max Delbrück prize of the University of Cologne
Magnetic nanoparticles change their magnetic structure
In their publication Field-Dependence of Magnetic Disorder in Nanoparticle in Physical Review X, Sabrina Disch and her collaborators used polarized neutron scattering to explore how the internal magnetic structure of nanoparticles changes in moderate magnetic fields. More details can be found here.
Walter Schottky prize for Zhe Wang
Dr. Zhe Wang receives the Walter Schottky prize "For his pioneering work in the field of quantum magnetism, in particular for the experimental detection of so-called Bethe strings using THz spectroscopy at very high magnetic fields." Zhe Wang has been working since 2019 at the Institute of Physics II on the high-intensity THz experiments. Our congratulations to Dr. Wang for this outstanding recognition of his work!
Klaus Liebrecht prize
Jan Masell receives the Klaus Liebrecht prize in 2019 for the PhD thesis "Magnetic Skyrmions and Topological Domain walls" where he investigated the properties of topological magnetic textures. He developed, for example, the theory of topological maghetic whirls in helical magnets and put forward new concepts for skyrmion-based magnetic memories. The Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Cologne awards the Klaus Liebrecht prize for the best thesis work.
Classic double-slit experiment in a new light
Young’s double-slit experiment is the prototype for any interference phenomenon based on elastic scattering. The discovery of a double-slit-type interference pattern in resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) on Ba3CeIr2O9 confirms a prediction dating from 1994 and establishes a new versatile tool to measure the symmetry of excited states in the same way as elastic scattering does for the ground state. The two-beam interference of dimers is the simplest and most transparent example for such interference effects. In Ba3CeIr2O9, it reveals clear fingerprints of a dimerized valence bond solid with singlets built from spin-orbit-entangled j=1/2 pseudospins instead of simple spins, as reported in Science Advances.
Welt der Physik
Physics World
Science Advances
press release
Humboldt Research Award
Prof. Tien-Cuong Dinh (National University of Singapore/University of Paris 6) received a Humboldt Research Award for his achievements in mathematics in the areas of several complex variables, pluripotential theory and complex dynamics. Tien-Cuong Dinh is a regular visitor of the Institute of Mathematics and of QM2 and will be our guest again with support by the Humboldt Research Award.
Gaede Prize of the German Physics Society awarded to Dr. Selina Olthof
Dr. Selina Olthof will be awarded the “Gaede Prize” of the German Physics Society for her outstanding research in the field of photoelectron spectroscopy. She investigates novel semiconducting materials, organics as well as hybrid perovskites, focussing on the influence the energy level alignment at internal interfaces might have on the performance of optoelectronic devices. The award ceremony will take place at the DPG annual meeting in Regensburg on April 2nd 2019.
After her PhD at the TU Dresden and a postdoc stay at Princeton University, Selina Olthof joined the group of Prof. Meerholz at the Chemistry Department at the University of Cologne in 2012, where she currently holds a position as Junior Group Leader. Our congratulations to Dr. Olthoff for this outstanding recognition of her work!
Cluster of Excellence: Matter and Light for Quantum Computing
Zala Lenarčič featured on the Nature blog
APS fellowship for Yoichi Ando
Article on Quantum Computing
based on interviews with Yoichi Ando and Alexander Altland
on our collaborative plans in the field of quantum computing.
Prof. Ando listed as a "Highly Cited Researcher"
Long-term QM2 guest Prof. Valery Pokrovsky receives Landau Gold Medal 2018 of Russian Academy of Science
It is awarded only every 5 years. Valery Pokrovsky, since 20 years regular visitor of the institute of theoretical physics and, since its founding, also of QM2, is the only person who received the prize twice, in 1982 (together with Patashinsky) and in 2018.
Dr. Zala Lenarčič receives Jožef Stefan Golden Emblem Prize
Selina Olthof receives Eleonore Trefftz professorship
Wallenberg academy fellowship for Dr. Maria Hermanns
Sophie Germain Prize for Xiaonan Ma
Sabrina Disch receives Max Delbrück prize for junior researcher
ERC advanced grant for Yoichi Ando
Spring School on Topological Matter
Sabrina Disch becomes member of the "Junges Kolleg" of the Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts
New Collaborative Research Center in Mathematics approved
In addition, the CRC intends to explore connections with fields where, so far, the potential of the symplectic viewpoint has not been fully realized or, conversely, which can contribute new methodology to the study of symplectic questions (e.g. optimization, computer science).
A group from Bochum and two further researchers from Münster join this QM2 initiative. press release
Charlotte Herbig receives the 2016 Wayne B. Nottingham Prize
Charlotte Herbig won the prize for her work on ion irradiation of two-dimensional (2D) materials. She discovered that 2D materials like graphene act as a one-way valve for energetic particles leading to highly pressurized blisters that do not release the trapped gas up to extremely high temperatures. Charlotte Herbig received her Master's at the University of Cologne, is a member of the Bonn-Cologne Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy and currently a PhD student in the group of Prof. Michely. press release
“PeroBOOST” project researches development of solar cells from perovskites
QM2 member Klaus Meerholz and his group
have started the “PeroBOOST” project together with AIXTRON SE, Enerthing GmbH, Lunovu GmbH, SOLUXX GmbH, the Center for Organic Electronics Cologne (ZOEK) gGmbH, the Fraunhofer ISE Laboratory and Service Center Gelsenkirchen, and Duisburg-Essen University. The basis for this three-year project (03/2016-02/2019) is the recent discovery of the superb properties of organo-perovskite materials for efficient solar cells.“PeroBOOST” is being supported with funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2014-2020. read more
Achim Rosch receives the 2016 Europhysics Prize
Since 1975 the Europhysics Prize is awarded every 2 years by the Condensed Matter Division of the European Physical Society for outstanding achievement in condensed matter physics. The official announcement of the European Physical Society can be found at 2016 Europhysics Prize. Our congratulations to Achim Rosch for this well deserved recognition.
Two collaborative reasearch centers approved
Maria Hermanns receives Max Delbrück prize for junior researcher
Maria Hermanns received the prize for her theoretical analysis of magnetic moment fractionalization arising from the interplay of frustration, topology and correlations in the context of condensed matter physics.
She has developed a family of microscopic models that allow to analytically track this fractionalization of elementary quantum degrees of freedom and to establish a rigorous connection between emergent spin liquid physics and Majorana metals.
Maria received her PhD from Stockholm University, held a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University, and since 2012 is a member of the Institute of Theoretical Physics where she currently leads an Emmy-Noether research group.
Universität eröffnet das COPT.ZENTRUM für Organische Elektronik
read moreEmmy Noether Grant for Sabrina Disch
Dr. Disch joined the Chemistry Department of the University of Cologne in 2014 as a junior group leader after postdoctoral stays at the University of Oregon, USA, and the Insitute Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France. She has been a member of QM2 since 2015.
Our congratulations to Sabrina Disch!
ERC grant for Alexander Grüneis
Unified theory for skyrmion-materials
Semyon Klevtsov receives Max Delbrück prize for junior researcher
Prof. Meerholz has been listed as the "Highly Cited Researcher"
Prof. Klaus Meerholz works in the field of organic nanoelectronics at the Institute for Physical Chemistry of the University of Cologne. He is director of the Center of Organic Production Technologies (COPT) in NRW e.V and vice-speaker of QM2.
Prof. Grüneis receives the Austrian START Prize in 2014
Prof. Grüneis studied in Vienna and received 2004 his PhD from the Tohoku University in Japan. He started as a junior professor in Cologne in April 2014. He receives the prize for his project on the "Quasiparticle Dynamics and Optical Properties of Designer van-der-Waals Solids". Within this project he plans to prepare novel layered materials and investigate their properties using spectroscopy.
Our congratulations to Prof. Grüneis.