IFA wins ERC Synergy Grant 2022
IFA physicist Thomas Pohl, together with Arno Rauschenbeutel from the Humboldt University Berlin and Sebastian Hofferberth from the University of Bonn, have been awarded one of this year’s prestigious ERC synergy grants from the European Research Council
![[Translate to English:] Illustration of a nanoscale optical fibre in which photons are coupled to mesoscopic atomic ensembles that each act as a giant superatom. Copyright Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.](/fileadmin/_processed_/b/c/csm_ERC_grant_illu_a8cc84a92e.jpg "[Translate to English:] Illustration of a nanoscale optical fibre in which photons are coupled to mesoscopic atomic ensembles that each act as a giant superatom. Copyright Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.")
In their project “Superatom Waveguide Quantum Electrodynamics” (SuperWave), the team will realize a unique optical medium in which thousands of atoms are made to act collectively like a single giant and couple to light in an optical nanofiber that is even thinner than the diameter of the employed atoms themselves. With this novel system, they hope to explore an uncharted regime of quantum optics research in which light behaves like exotic photonic matter and which could yield key insights for applications in optical quantum technologies.
More details about the SuperWave project can be found at the respective press release from the Humboldt University (https://www.hu-berlin.de/en/press-portal/nachrichten-en/october-2022/nr-221026).
The ERC Synergy Grants
Almost 360 proposals were submitted in this first ERC Synergy Grant call under the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. The funding, worth in total 295 million euro, will help groups of two to four outstanding researchers bring together complementary skills, knowledge and resources in one ambitious project.
The 29 winning projects involve 105 principal investigators who will carry out their research at universities and research centres in 19 countries across Europe and beyond (Source: European Research Council).
More details can be found on the official European Research Council (ERC) press release website