The summer school 2025 was held at UZE Obergurgl and has mainly been organized by a DK ALM PhD student researchers committee.
For the detailed programme please use the link.
Speakers
Monika Ritsch-Marte, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria
Optical and acoustic trapping for tomographic reconstruction
Optical and acoustic forces are both utilized for contact-free manipulation of biological samples in micro-fluidic chambers.
Their respective benefits and limitations will be discussed, in particular for their suitability for particular applications in
biomedical research, such as reconstructing a microscopic sample in 3D. While holographic optical tweezers provide fine
control of μm-size objects such as cells, acoustic forces are strong enough to handle mm-size samples such as organoids,
cancer spheroids or early stage developing organisms. Acoustofluidic actuation, for example, enables the tomographic
3D reconstruction of a zebrafish larva by optical coherence tomography (OCT), which is otherwise impeded by severe
attenuation artifacts. A significant challenge here, however, lies in the fact that the exact orientations of the sample are not
known a priori, which requires a more sophisticated reconstruction algorithm.
Albert Schliesser, Niels Bohr Institute, Denmark
Optomechanics with coherent phonons
In this lecture, we will discuss optomechanical systems, in which phonons are coupled to other quantum degrees of
freedom such as light. We will discuss their theoretical description and different experimental implementations, review
characteristic phenomena, potential applications and some frontiers of current research.
Elsa Abreu, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
THz dynamics of quantum materials
Quantum materials exhibit rich phase diagrams, strongly sensitive to external parameters. They are characterized by a
variety of intriguing properties, which arise from complex interactions between microscopic degrees of freedom. One
approach that has proven successful in decoupling the effect of different degrees of freedom is to perform time-resolved
measurements, which yield the out-of-equilibrium response of different components of the system following an ultrafast
perturbation. Of particular interest is photoexcitation by a terahertz pulse, where the low photon energy ensures that the
out-of-equilibrium sample remains closer to its electronic ground state. I will focus on one example of our work, where we explore the THz response of Mott insulators.
Vera Schäfer, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Germany
Precision spectroscopy of highly charged ions
Highly charged ions (HCIs) are a promising tool for using precision spectroscopy to search for new physics: their valence
electrons are very tightly bound to the nucleus, suppressing many error sources, while making them more sensitive to
relativistic effects and different candidates for new physics. However most of their electronic transitions lie deep in the UV,
making it difficult to cool and control them with lasers. In this lecture I will present how we can access HCIs for precision
spectroscopy and use co-trapped singly charged ions for cooling and readout of the electronic state.
Alejandro Pozas-Kerstjens, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Quantum information theory
In the context of the information age and the race for encoding information in ever smaller physical systems, one may wonder:
what is the smallest system that we can use to store, transmit and process information? Is it a molecule? An atom? An
electron? At these scales, the behavior of physical systems is best described by quantum mechanics, which despite its
success is full of unintuitive phenomena such as superposition and entanglement. Are these new phenomena an obstacle for
information processing? In this course we will review the rules that govern the quantum world, which limits do they set to
information processing (and what this tells us about nature), and how using them we can develop faster computers and
more secure communications.
Matteo Zaccanti, CNR-INO & LENS, Italy
Ultracold atomic mixtures
I will provide an overview of ongoing theoretical and experimental research on ultracold atomic mixtures, particularly
on those made by two different fermionic species. I will first describe the rich few-body phenomena connected with such
systems, and their possible impact at the many-body level. I will then discuss the specific combination of lithium and chromium
atoms, realized in our lab, highlighting its peculiar properties, and describing two recent studies of our group: One targeted to
the production of quantum gases of paramagnetic polar molecules, and a second one exploring the transport properties
of light impurities within a Fermi gas of heavy atoms.
David Lederbauer and Elisabeth Gruber-Tokić, projekt.service.büro, University of Innbruck, Austria
From idea to exploitation – how to acquire and manage third party funded projects
The acquisition, management an potential exploitation of third party funded project is a requirement for a successful career in research. Therefore, experts from the research support office will provide an overview how you can turn your research interests into third party funded project. The event will inform you how to navigate the diverse funding landscape and find the funding agency that best suits you. Next, you will learn about the most important project management tools and how to use them. Alongside, the course will touch upon possibilities on how to disseminate and also protect and exploit potential project results, turning ideas into innovation.
