Kick-off event for QuCoLima

The kick-off meeting of the Collaborative Research Center/Transregio TRR 306 “QuCoLiMa” (Quantum Cooperativity of Light and Matter) took place digitally on Friday, March 19, 2021.
TRR 306 QuCoLiMa was established beginning of this year, together with the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light and the Universities of Mainz, Saarbrücken, Linz, Jena, TU Kaiserslautern, and DESY Hamburg, with FAU as coordinating university. More than 100 members, interested researchers, and students of the participating universities and institutions were informed about the goals and infrastructure of TRR 306 QuCoLiMa.

Spokesperson Prof. Dr. Joachim von Zanthier and vice-spokesperson Prof. Dr. Kai Phillip Schmidt explained that the research within QuCoLiMa is inspired by cooperative behavior in our everyday life, for example flocks of birds and fish. Their dynamics can only be understood as a collective phenomenon and not as the sum of the individual contributions, which gives the ensemble particular adaptability, performance, and resilience. Based on this insight, TRR 306 addresses the question of whether and how cooperative behavior arises in the quantum world and how it can be controlled.

In the afternoon session, interested students and prospective doctoral candidates were informed about the Research Training Group (RTG) integrated into QuCoLiMa. Here, doctoral researchers can benefit from annual summer schools, special lectures, lab-rotation internships, to block lectures and topical meetings.  Application for a position within the new TRR 306 QuCoLiMa is possible at any time.

Further information on QuCoLiMa and the integrated RTG can be found on the project homepage www.qucolima.de.