Awards & Support – Quantum UniBasel

Excellence Awards

A QCQT excellence award is offered once a year by the QCQT PhD school. PIs can nominate candidates in recognition of an outstanding achievement in research. Nominees need to be registered members of the PhD school. The award consists of an award certificate from the PhD school, listing on the QCQT page, plus a monetary prize. Awardees should present their work in the QCQT lunch seminar.

Three awardees were granted with a QCQT excellence award on April 30th 2021 by the executive committee in recognition of their outstanding contributions to scientific research at the University of Basel.

QCQT Excellence Awardees 2021

Natascha Hedrich

Natascha Hedrich from the research group of Prof. Patrick Maletinsky receives a QCQT 2021 Excellence Award in recognition of her outstanding work “Nanoscale mechanics of antiferromagnetic domain walls”, published in Nature Physics.

Natasha Tomm

Natasha Tomm from the research group of Prof. Richard Warburton receives a QCQT 2021 Excellence Award in recognition of her outstanding work “A bright and fast source of coherent single photons”, published in Nature Nanotechnology.

Mudith Sinhal

Mudith Sinhal from the research group of Prof. Stefan Willitsch receives a QCQT 2021 Excellence Award in recognition of his outstanding work “Quantum-nondemolition state detection and spectroscopy of single trapped molecules” in Science.

QCQT Excellence Awardees 2019

Matthias Löbl, “Excitons in InGaAs quantum dots without electron wetting layer states”, Commun Phys 2, 93 (2019), https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-019-0194-9

Travel Support

QCQT PhD students can apply once a year for a travel support for the attendance of a conference or research stay abroad.

Märta Tschudin, MIT, Cambridge/Boston (Jun-Dez 2019)

At the beginning of my PhD studies I had the opportunity to leave for a study exchange at the MIT in Cambridge/Boston. I joined the Group of Prof. Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, where I worked on the fabrication of two-dimensional, magnetic samples. In the lab I got to know many new fabrication and measurement techniques and I also had the chance to gain insight into other American Universities in the Boston area (Harvard for example allows MIT students to work in their cleanroom). I received precious guidance for fabricating new 2D samples and at the end of my stay, I could take several samples with me to be measured in Basel.

I enjoyed living in Cambridge and being immersed into its international student life. Cambridge has a very lively atmosphere and offers many different places to explore (even by bike!). I was generally fascinated by the numerous scientific events taking place in the greater Boston area, ranging from evening lectures in Museums and science slams in cafes to open air theatre plays in the heart of Boston.

This exchange has certainly formed an important part of my PhD and I am very grateful for the financial support from both the Basel QCQT PhD School and the Quantumsensing Group of Prof. Patrick Maletinsky from the University of Basel.