Casimir Research School Delft – Leiden
Report 2015
2
Report 2015
Casimir Research School Delft-Leiden Report 2015 Content Casimir in 2015
4
1. Introducing the Casimir Research School
5
2. Our Casimir community in 2015
7
3. Education
10
4. Awards and events
16
5. Highlights of 2015
19
Outlook to 2016
20
Appendix - Casimir theses 2015
21
3
Report 2015
Casimir in 2015 Yet another year has passed in which we saw our community grow. Although the amount of published PhD theses is increasing every year, the number of starting PhD students is substantially higher. In order to strengthen the ties between the Leiden and Delft and to offer the new junior and senior researchers to get to know each other’s work, 150 people of our staff, postdocs and PhD students traveled in March of this year to Courchevel, France, for the first edition of the NanoFront Winter Retreat. More on this successful event can be found on pages 17- 18 of this report. A thriving research community also means more variety, which we see reflected in the demand for Casimir courses. This year, we discussed the option of offering a course Physics for Biologists, as a counterpart of the very popular biennially taught Biology for Physicists. We also experimented with three less physics-related courses: one on entrepreneurship, another on the art of turning your research into a video clip, and a third on programming skills. All three new courses were highly appreciated by the participants, so we definitely will incorporate them in our course program of the coming years. Apart from changes in educational program, the year 2015 also brought along several changes on the management level. In April, Nynke Dekker decided to step down as Casimir co-director. We are happy to announce that we found Hans Tanke, professor in the field of 'Biomedical Imaging' at the Bionanoscience department of the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience in Delft, and full professor in the field of ‘Cell growth and Transcription regulation’ at the Leiden University Medical Center, available to take up this task. And in December 2015, I decided that I would like to devote more time to my research. Fortunately, we have found a good replacement in Tjerk Oosterkamp, full professor at the Quantum Matter and Optics group at Leiden Institute of Physics. Since Tjerk himself used to be a PhD student in Delft and still has close connection with the research groups there, I am confident that the future of the Leiden-Delft Casimir Research School is good hands.
Hans Tanke
Tjerk Oosterkamp
May 2016 Prof. dr. Jan M. van Ruitenbeek
4
Report 2015
1. Introducing the Casimir Research School 1.1.
Casimir connects
Casimir Research School - Leiden University and Delft University of Technology’s joint
research school in interdisciplinary physics, brings together 257 PhD students, 117 postdocs and 93 senior researchers. Casimir, established in 2004, is named after Professor Hendrik B.G. Casimir (1909-2000), whose involvement in fundamental as well as applied physics left many traces in the Dutch scientific landscape. Our research program - with a strong focus on nanosciences - is developed by groups at the Delft Kavli Institute of Nanoscience and at the Leiden Institute of Physics. Research within Casimir falls with the following six research themes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Molecular Biophysics Physics of Nanostructures Quantum Matter and Functional Materials Quantum Information and quantum optics Universe physics: theory and instrumentation Dynamic Complex Systems
Each of the themes interacts in a different way with neighbouring disciplines and mixes applied research with fundamental research. The Casimir Research School aims at integrating the full scope of research activities, from basic research in theoretical and experimental physics, through applied physics and industrial research. We have the ambition of achieving breakthroughs in our understanding of nature, in pushing the frontiers of experimental techniques, in opening new application perspectives, and in breaking down barriers for improved products and processes in industry. The crossfertilization of the approaches and people working in the different ‘flavours’ of research is seen as being essential for achieving breakthroughs. The Casimir Research School facilitates optimal interaction between the three approaches, often mixing them on the research-group level. In terms of our current scientific publications, the school’s scientific output mixes highprofile fundamental results (in journals such as Physical Review Letters), results of a widely attractive nature (Nature, Science) and patents. Research collaborations are forged equally with leading universities worldwide, as well as with institutes of technology and industrial partners. Research and training are inseparable activities at the school. This means that staff members teach all courses in the MSc and PhD programs and that all education is research-oriented, incorporating the latest research insights. Each PhD student performs an independent research project as full member of one or more research groups, with Casimir providing additional cross-links between groups and to outside stakeholders such as potential employers or industrial research groups. Casimir has been a driving force in further strengthening of the ties between research and education programs in Leiden and Delft. We also operate in a European network, connecting the research schools of Université Joseph Fourier (Grenoble, France), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), the Donostia International Physics Center (Spain) and Ludwig Maximillian Universität (München, Germany).
5
Report 2015
1.2.
Organization
In 2015, the Casimir organization consisted of the following persons: Scientific director Prof. dr. J.M. van Ruitenbeek Co-director Prof. dr. N.H. Dekker (until April) / Prof. dr. H.J. Tanke (as of April) Casimir Board Dr. C. Danelon Prof. dr. E.R. Eliel Prof. dr. J. Zaanen Prof. dr. ir. H.S.J. van der Zant (chairman)
Casimir Education Committee Dr. C. Danelon Dr. M.J.A. de Dood Dr. A.F. Otte Prof. dr. H. Schiessel (chairman)
Coordinators Casimir pre-PhD MSc-track Christophe Danelon (Delft) Hara Papathanassiou (Leiden) Casimir office Marije Boonstra (coordinator) Charlotte Laurense-Griffioen (management assistant) Casimir PhD platform Orkide Ordu (Bionanoscience, Delft) Elena Beletkaia (until September), Sara Carozza (as of September) (Biophysics, Leiden) Julia Cramer (Quantum Transport, Delft) Gesa Welker (Quantum Matter and Optics, Leiden) Bob van Waarde (Quantum Matter and Optics, Leiden) Mickael Perrin (until June), Floris Kalff (as of June) (Molecular Electronics & Devices, Delft) Scientific Advisory Council Prof. Malcolm R. Beasley, Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering and former Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, USA Prof. Jonathan Howard, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology & Genetics and Professor of Biophysics, Dresden University of Technology, Germany Prof. Jörg Peter Kotthaus, Professor of Physics and former Director of the Center for Nanoscience, München, Germany Prof. Peter B. Littlewood, Professor of Physics and Associate Laboratory Director for Physical Sciences and Engineering at Argonne National Laboratory, Professor of Physics in the James Franck Institute at the University of Chicago, USA Prof. dr. Albert Polman, Professor of photovoltaics at the University of Amsterdam, scientific group leader and director of the FOM-Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Prof. Zheng-Yu Weng, Professor of Theoretical Physics, Tsing-Hua University, Beijing, China
6
Report 2015
2. Our Casimir community in 2015 2.1. Growing population Our Casimir population is continuously growing. This table shows the number of staff members (senior researchers), postdocs and PhD students that were registered in our research school on December 31st, 2015. It also shows the number of PhD theses that were completed in 2015. Staff1
Postdocs
PhD students
Theses
Leiden: Delft:
38 55
39 78
109 148
20 20
Total:
93
117
257
40
2.2. Successful PhD defenses In total, 40 PhD students published their dissertations in 2015. It is the second-highest number of Casimir theses defended since the start of our school in 2004. Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Theses completed 23 28 22 17 25 31 23 39 41 39 40
Average time to thesis approval (years) 4.54 4.26 4.49 4.02 4.20 4.15 4.50 4.14 4.47 4.23
All PhD students in Casimir are appointed on a four-year contract at Leiden University or Delft University of Technology to conduct their PhD research. In 2015, over 85% of the Casimir theses were accepted within five years after the starting date of the PhD project, as is shown in the figure below. To compare: in 2014, this was 75%.
Time to thesis Theses published in 2015 (total = 40)
Number of theses
20 15 10
5 0 3-3.5
3.5-4
4-4.5
4.5-5
5-5.5
5.5-6
1
Number of Casimir staff members (not fte) including part-time appointments and retired staff members still active in our research community
7
Report 2015
The Casimir p-profile in the figure below is showing the cumulative numbers of theses completed as a function of the time-to-thesis for all completed PhD theses within the Casimir Research School (starting dates since 2001). The median of the distribution - 50% of all dissertations completed within the Casimir Research School - falls within four years and two months. We prefer to use the time-to-thesis rather than the time-to-graduation because the time between the actual defense ceremony and the date at which the completed thesis is submitted to the committee is often not considered to be part of the PhD project.
8
Report 2015
2.3. Career perspectives Casimir keeps track of the former PhD students’ first jobs. The pie chart diagram below provides an overview of the initial career steps, based on information provided by those who received their PhD degree in 2015. Although in April 2016 some of the young researchers were still in the phase of applying for a job, most of them had found one within a few months after - or even before - their defense had taken place.
Career PhD�alumni 2015 unknown 5% finance 3% consultancy 2%
applying 13%
education 7%
postdoc/academia 60%
high-end industry 10%
Figure 2. Pie chart showing the sectors in which the 40 PhD students that succesfully defended their theses in 2015 found a new job.
2.4. New Casimir members PhD cohort 2015 PhD Students Cohort 2015 Leiden/Delft and Male/Female
Total Male
Nationality
Europe
World
Female
Dutch
(non-Dutch)
(non-Europe)
Leiden
24
16
8
6
13
5
Delft
39
32
7
14
13
12
63
48
15
20
26
17
Total
9
Report 2015
Several senior researchers have joined Casimir in 2015, including: Hyun Youk (Delft since 01/2015; previously at UCSF and MIT) focuses on cell-cell communication. He leads a group that applies synthetic-biology approaches and systems-level analyses in single cells to reveal design principles underlying collective behaviors of cells. One of his projects is aimed at phase transitions in stem cells, in which he tries to program cells with nanodevices using concepts from statistical mechanics. In December 2015, Hyun was awarded an ERC Starting Grant on this topic. Stefan Semrau (Leiden since 04/2015; previously at MIT and Whitehead), establishes a research line concerning the ‘physics of cancer.’ Using embryonic stem cells as a model system, Stefan is determined to unravel the fundamental regulatory mechanisms that underlie the complex decision-making process. The Semrau lab does so at three different levels: the molecular, systems, and tissue level. Together with PIs Timon Idema and Sander Tans, he furthermore focuses on cell adhesion molecules and cell sorting, in order to work towards the spatial control of artificial tissues.
3. Education 3.1. Training of students Training of young researchers
The Casimir Research School organizes workshops and offers special courses on a graduate and an advanced graduate level. Casimir PhD students are required to acquire 15 credits in thematic graduate education during their PhD. Casimir uses the following formats for its educational activities: Graduate courses throughout the year Casimir Summer Schools A biennial Casimir Science Day A biennial Spring School for PhD students and post-docs only The Casimir course schedule is available on our website. 2 Each PhD student has her/his own educational plan, detailing the workshops and courses one should attend. The PhD supervisors coach the students in drawing up and updating this plan, and monitor progress in an informal and formal way. Fully in the spirit of Hendrik Casimir, the research school aims to provide PhD students with more than just training for a specific subfield of physics. Personal development courses are part of the educational programme, too. The participating universities and the funding agencies FOM and NWO offer these courses. A full list of courses can be found on the Casimir website. They cover topics such as presentation skills, scientific integrity, time management and business orientation.
Casimir pre-PhD track for MSc students
For students interested in a research career beyond the MSc phase, Casimir has established a special pre-PhD track within the existing MSc programmes Physics (in Leiden) and Applied Physics (in Delft). This Master’s track focuses on educating students, especially for PhD positions at the two institutions or elsewhere and is designed to respond to the increasing mobility of students after completing their BSc. The track leads to a particular set of courses and research experiences in more than one department. A selection takes place for entrance into this track.
2
http://casimir.researchschool.nl/phd-course-scheme-138.html
10
Report 2015
3.2. Casimir courses 2015 Casimir Workshop - Entrepreneurship (February)
Description: This workshop is aimed at PhD students and postdocs who are seriously considering the possibility of starting up their own business after their current contract. It is a 2-day program during which the participants write on a business proposal, guided by leading experts in the field. Lecturers: Paul Hedges: ‘Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands’, Marco Beijersbergen: ‘How to become an entrepreneur: What are the hurdles?’ and others. Number of participants: 5 participants received the Casimir certificate.
Casimir Course - Theoretical Biophysics (February-May)
Description: This course provides a theorist's perspective on biophysics. There is an explosion of data from extremely sophisticated experiments (e.g. single molecules experiments) that, in order to be interpreted, require a theoretical understanding on the basis of statistical mechanics. Instead of trying to provide a broad overview over the molecular biology of the whole cell, the lectures are focused on the molecules that are involved in the so-called central dogma: information flows from DNA via RNA to proteins. The common structure of these molecules is that they are polymers. More specifically: polymer physics, DNA (from base pairs to larger scales), RNA and protein folding, DNA-protein complexes, protein-target search, kinetic proofreading for transcription, chromatin were discussed. Lecturer: Helmut Schiessel. Number of participants: 9 participants received the Casimir certificate.
Casimir Course (and MOOC) - Topology in Condensed Matter (February-May)
Description: The idea behind topological systems is simple: if there exists a quantity, which cannot change in an insulating system where all the particles are localized, then the system must become conducting and obtain propagating particles, when this quantity (called "topological invariant") finally changes. Frequently, the edges of such topological materials have properties that are impossible to achieve otherwise owing to the so-called "bulk-edge correspondence". It guarantees the existence of protected states at the edge and their robustness against anything that happens at the boundary. The practical applications of this principle are quite profound, and already within the last eight years they have led to prediction and discovery of a vast range of new materials with exotic properties that were considered to be impossible before. Our central focus will be these very exciting developments with special attention to the most active research topics in topological condensed matter: namely the theory of topological insulators and superconductors following from the 'grand ten symmetry classes' as well as topological quantum computation and Majoranas. We will complete this general picture with a discussion of some of the other ramifications of topology in various areas of condensed matter such as photonic and mechanical systems, topological quantum walks, topology in fractionalized systems, driven or dissipative systems. Lecturer: Anton Akhmerov. Number of participants: 5 participants received the Casimir certificate.
Casimir/NanoFront Workshop - How to create a video about your research (April) Description: One new way of communicating your research to a possibly very broad audience is making a short science video animation in the style of MinutePhysics, ASAPScience or other Youtube stars. In this workshop, science writer Astrid Smit and science journalist and animator Bruno van Wayenburg will help you with telling your research story as a video animation. They will guide you in condensing the most salient points of your research (also useful for doing popularisation in other formats), telling a good story about it, and with writing a script and storyboard for a 2-3 minute video. Prepare to fiercely select and condense, but also to think up concrete examples and metaphors to make your research graspable! Following that, they will show you what is involved in filming, narrating, editing, publishing and promoting your research story as an online video. Lecturers: Astrid Smit and Bruno van Wayenburg. 11
Report 2015
Number of participants: 10 participants received the Casimir certificate.
Casimir Course - Biology for Physicists (September-October 2015)
Description: Our goal is to introduce scientists with little biological background to several basic topics in molecular biology, as described from a biologist’s perspective. We will also discuss related papers from the recent literature. This will provide a taste of not only how biology works, but also how biological experiments are performed, and the sorts of complications biology experiments often encounter. Topics include: Evolution and Horizontal Gene Transfer; Gene Expression; Proteins and Enzymes; Metabolism; Genetic Engineering and synthetic biology; Microbial Ecology; DNA Replication; Membrane transport and the nuclear pore complex; RNA Interference; Building a synthetic cell; and the cytoskeleton. Instructors: Greg Bokinsky, Jakub Wiktor (Teaching Assistant). Guest lecturers: Jakub Wiktor, Adi Ananth, Mohamed Fareh, Yaron Caspi, Mathijs Vleugel Number of participants: Of the 16 participants 9 received the Casimir certificate.
Casimir Course - Fundamentals of Quantum Information (September-October)
Description: Quantum information is the future of computing and communication. Quantum computers offer exponential speedup over any classical computer. Similarly, quantum communication offers many advantages, including the ability to create secure encryption keys where security rests only on the laws of nature. This class will teach you the fundamental principles of quantum information. You will learn what are quantum bits, quantum operations, and essential concepts that distinguish quantum from classical. You will learn basic techniques used in quantum algorithms, and examine basic examples of such algorithms. You will also take the first step in understanding how a quantum bit can be implemented. Topics: quantum states, measurements; Bell test, entanglement; unitary operations, no cloning; quantum gates, universal gate sets, entangling gates; bipartite states, mixed states, partial trace, purification; teleportation, superdense coding, remote state preparation, quantum repeater; basic algorithms and quantum algorithmic techniques; simple physical implementations of qubits. Lecturers: Stephanie Wehner and Leo DiCarlo Number of participants: 6 participants received the Casimir certificate.
Casimir Course “Advanced Microscopy for Biologists” (November-December) Description: During seven course days (including lab tours) the following topics were discussed: Fluorescence, microscopy, correlation spectroscopy, application FRET Superresolution fluorescence microscopy Live cell/animal fluorescence/bioluminescence imaging SEM, TEM, AFM Cryo‐TEM, Electron tomography, correlative light and electron microscopy Subject area: This new Casimir course is aimed at providing our PhD students with a solid background on the principles of optical and electron microscopy techniques and their applications to study biological processes from the single‐molecule to the cellular level. Lecturers: Michel Orrit, Bernd Rieger, Christophe Danelon, Andreas Engel, Roman Koning Number of participants: 8 participants received the Casimir certificate.
12
Report 2015
Casimir Course “Electronics for Physicists” (November)
Description: We study electronics with a strong focus on practical applications. After reviewing the basics of passive and active components and their practical limitations, we focus on circuit simulation, systematic troubleshooting and opamp circuits. Signals, noise and interference problems (and solutions!) are also an important topic. We finish with an overview of microwaves and various measurement techniques, and a day on advanced use of electronic measurement equipment. Several case studies from the physics lab are used throughout the course to make the theory come alive. Subject area: The course is a must-have for PhD students and post-docs interested in experimental physics. Lecturers: Dr. V. Zwiller and R. Schouten. Number of participants: 35 participants received the Casimir certificate.
Casimir Course – Programming (November)
Description: An intensive workshop aimed at developing basic programming skills among Casimir PhD students and postdocs. The majority of scientists encounter tasks where programming is either helpful or even required. With relatively little training, you can solve these tasks in a fast, systematic, and clean way while also making your solutions reusable for yourself and others. This one-week long intensive workshop will give you this training. Topics:
Basics of programming: the ABCs. The unix shell: a different view on your files. Using libraries: stand on the shoulders of giants. Structuring your program: no spaghetti code. Testing: are you really sure there are no bugs? Version control: this worked yesterday! Data storage and processing: how to not get lost. Programming languages: from C to Matlab. Next steps: publishing your code, using supercomputers, and more.
Lecturers: Anton Akhmerov, Jos Thijssen, Michael Wimmer. Number of participants: Of the 52 participants 40 received the Casimir certificate.
Casimir & QuTech Academy Course: Quantum communication and cryptography (November-December)
Description: Quantum communication offers unparalleled advantages over classical communication. Examples range from quantum key distribution that allows to the generation of secure encryption keys, improved clock synchronization on satellites, to the use of a quantum network to assemble small quantum computers into a larger quantum computing cluster. In this class, you will learn the fundamentals of quantum information theory and quantum cryptography. The goal of quantum information theory is to determine how we can best protect quantum information from errors. It forms a crucial tool for building quantum communication networks. You will also learn the core techniques of quantum cryptography, enabling you to understand and implement quantum key distribution, as well as make an entry into current research in this field. The student will acquire a good understanding of the fundamental concepts of quantum information theory, a good understanding of the essential tools in quantum cryptography, insight into the differences between classical and quantum communication and cryptography. Topics:
cq-states, distinguishing quantum states information gain vs. disturbance: the gentle measurement lemma encoding classical information into quantum states quantum data compression noisy quantum channels quantum error-correction for communication 13
Report 2015
noisy channel coding: limits of sending classical information using quantum states: classical capacity, entanglement assisted capacity noisy channel coding: limits of sending quantum information: quantum capacity, entanglement cost, the decoupling theorem entanglement distillation finite size entropy measures: min and max entropies (quantum) randomness extraction quantum uncertainty and the monogamy of entanglement quantum key distribution (QKD) Lecturer: Stephanie Wehner. Number of participants: 1 participant received the Casimir certificate.
Casimir Course “Hot Topics in Quantum NanoScience” and “Hot Topics in Bionanscience” (year-round)
Description: Speakers from all over the world are asked to present pedagogical introductions to their field with an emphasis on basic concepts. Besides such an introductory lecture open for everybody, the participants of this course will have an additional discussion with the speaker discussing a recent paper and the holy grails of the field. Preparation: The tutorial, as a one-hour lecture, is open for everyone to attend. A second hour is reserved as a discussion hour between the registered class of PhD students and postdocs with the lecturer. The course teachers act as moderators. Apart from attending the public lecture, private discussion and reading the research paper, each session is concluded by writing a one-page essay within one week on the subject and preferentially in the context of the participant’s own research. Sessions of 2015:
26 June 2015, Jack Szostak: 'Towards recreating a prebiotically plausible protocell' Host: Cees Dekker 19 June 2015, Jin-Soo Kim: 'Programmable nucleases' Host: Chirlmin Joo 23 April 2015, Philippe Bastiaens: 'Recursion and the self organisation of intracellular reaction patterns' Host: Hans Tanke 17 April 2015, Laurens Molenkamp 'Zero-energy Andreev bound states in a HgTebased topological Josephson junction' Host: Leo Kouwenhoven 10 April 2015, Harold Erickson 'FtsZ-driven cell division in E coli bacteria and in synthetic cells' Host: Cees Dekker 12 March 2015, Gunnar von Heijne 'Forces acting on nascent polypeptide chains during co-translational protein translocation and folding' Host: Marie-Eve Aubin Tam 29 January 2015, Khalid Salaita 'Fluorescence-based force sensing' Host: Marie-Eve Aubin-Tam Coordinators: Leo Kouwenhoven (QN) and Hans Tanke (BN) Number of participants per session: 10-20
Casimir Summer School - Les Houches, France: Frontiers of Condensed Matter: Nanosciences and Energy (August-September) Description: This Les Houches international doctoral training session aims at offering Master and Ph.D students a training programme in the area of Condensed Matter Physics. It is organized jointly by the Ecole Doctorale de Physique de Grenoble (France), the Casimir Research School Delft-Leiden (Netherlands), and the Ecole Doctorale de Physique et d'Astrophysique (PHAST), Lyon (France), in collaboration with the Donostia International Physics Center, San Sebastian (Spain) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe (Germany). 14
Report 2015
Topics include: Quantum thermodynamics, Topological phases, Quantum transport, Nanomechanics, Transport in hybrid systems, Strongly correlated systems. Lecturers & topics S. Bergeret (San Sebastian), Spin-dependent transport in hybrid systems J. Meyer (Grenoble), Topological phases Y. Nazarov (Delft & Grenoble), Quantum Transport J. Pekola (Aalto & Grenoble), Quantum thermodynamics F. Pistolesi (Bordeaux), Nanomechanics L. Fritz (Utrecht), Strongly correlated systems Seminar speakers: D. Basko (Grenoble), C. Bäuerle (Grenoble), P. Brouwer (Berlin), F. Giazotto (Pisa), F. Hekking (Grenoble), J. van Ruitenbeek (Leiden), V. Vitelli (Leiden)
This is how one of the Casimir pre-PhD students, Josko de Boer, experienced the summer school: "You know that the Netherlands is really flat? Well, Les Houches made the point that most of the world isn’t rather clearly. In fact, it does so quite bluntly, with a huge, erect, Mont Blanc - in your face. Let’s just look at a day in l’Ecole de Physique, shall we? Every morning, my alarm would ring around 7.15 - enough time to have a shower, shave and try to become generally presentable. I’m never sure if I succeed. This involves walking from the bed into a rather neat bathroom, with a shower, a sink and what not. The accommodation is very luxurious. Around 7.35 I’d leave the accommodation, stepping into the brisk mountain air. This is simply exhilarating - it’s fresh, it’s cold and oh-my-god there’s a 4809m mountain in my face. I’d walk down towards the restaurant, which is located at approximately the same distance horizontally as it is vertically. In there, there’d be croissants, coffee, coffee and more croissants. Around 8.30 it would be time to walk up to the lecture hall. After some general loitering in front of it, the lecture would commence. Now, in the morning we had interesting lectures - on topics like topological insulators or the spin diffusion equation with Rhasba spin orbit coupling. There would be three breaks, of which the second one separates two different lecture topics and includes cookies. Yes, you heard me - cookies. After the lectures, it’d be time for lunch, or dinner. I got confused, because apparently a three course lunch is normal in France. This lunch would be extremely good and we were served by some very hospitable, friendly French folk. One of these spoke English, the other limited English. Who said the French won’t? At this point, there would be a break of undetermined length. The idea was to have a one hour break, then have two seminars, but it happened that no seminar was scheduled - leaving time for hiking, if you so choose. Or, as I did one day with a new Finnish friend, draw the mountains on paper using pencils. That was fun. At some point, we also spent time making photographs. Les Houches features some cute, miniature lizards that show up if the sun shines. And, a creature I had heard of but not seen before appeared; the Hummingbird Hawk Moth. It’s a prime example of convergent evolution. It turns out it is at least a summer visitor in most of ‘Northern Old World’, and actually native to most of that area (among which, Les Houches). Anyway, the seminars would be interesting. I think the most impressive one was by Lego Man, Vincenzo Vitelli from Leiden. He literally had a room full of physicists occupied with his Lego topological meta-materials for two hours. As the seminars concluded, we’d go down to the restaurant for dinner - again, three courses. Again, this would be plenty, luxurious. Had I noticed they took good care of our "culinary disabled"? They made a very good attempt at remembering what people had what allergy/diet, and try to bring them what they required. The evenings were free, unless there was a poster session. The poster sessions were a chance to socialize. People are expected to bring a poster, so that conversations about research can be started. For instance, I made a polish friend after asking after its poster - by now, I’ve read its master thesis that it was turning in that week. It was really interesting. As one of the Casimir Pre-PhD students, I didn’t have much of a poster (lacking a Master thesis), but some people were still interested and asked after it. Of course, I’d ask them about their research immediately after, so I think the poster session was a success. One night, there was even a movie night which I think was organized by an English PhD. I forgot what movie we watched, but it was a SciFi movie and it was amusing. Afterwards, I spent some more time talking to the Polish friend. That’s, pretty much, a day in Les Houches. In the weekend, most people would hike. You have to remember that even going to the supermarket takes about 2 hours."
15
Report 2015
4. Awards and events Casimir PhD positions For a limited number of students within the Casimir Pre-PhD track, a PhD position is guaranteed. This so-called prize-PhD position is funded through the NanoFront program. Students of the Casimir pre-PhD program can apply for these positions by writing a research proposal. Between 2011 and 2014, the following seven alumni of the track received a Casimir PhD position: Tim Baart, Julia Cramer, Chris Smiet, Jelmer Wagenaar, Misha Klein, Tom van der Reep, and Henk Snijders. The Casimir Pre-PhD track focuses on preparing MSc. students for a PhD position, either at Leiden, Delft or elsewhere. The Casimir PhD positions of 2015 have been awarded to Marios Kounalakis, Guoji Zheng, Joeri de Bruijckere, and Michiel Bakker. These four alumni of the Casimir Pre-PhD track successfully defended their research proposals. The jury was impressed by the quality of their work and their ability to counter the jury's critique during the interview.
Before moving to Leiden University to start in the Casimir Pre-PhD track, Marios Kounalakis (Heraklion, Greece, 1990) performed his BSc studies in Athens and obtained an MSc degree in Particle Physics from Paris Diderot University. In the group of Leo DiCarlo at Delft University of Technology, Marios will start his project 'Quantum Simulation of Gauge Theories in Circuit QED' a project of highly interdisciplinary nature, as it brings together quantum engineering with applied and fundamental physics. Guoji Zheng (Ruian, China, 1992) obtained his BSc degree at Delft University of Technology, before starting the Casimir Pre-PhD track at that university. Under the supervision of Lieven Vandersypen, Guoji will work on his project entitled: 'A spin qubit network coupled via a microwave resonator.' Joeri de Bruijckere (Oostburg, the Netherlands, 1992) switched from mechanical engineering, in which he received his BSc degree, to physics. Apart from studying at Delft University of Technology, Joeri performed his rotations at the universities of Geneva and San SebastiĂĄn. In the coming four years, under supervision of Herre van der Zant, Joeri will develop superconducting single-molecule transistors, by means of which he will study single-electron and many-body phenomena in a yet unexplored transport regime, thereby exploiting the unique features of chemically tailored molecules.
During his MSc studies, Michiel Bakker (Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1989) did internships in Delft, at the Forschungszentrum JĂźlich, Aachen, Germany, and at the Experimental Quantum Computing group at IBM Research, New York, USA. With the groups of Ronald Hanson and Tim Taminiau, Michiel planned to do a PhD project entitled 'A single-spin quantum sensor for magnetic phenomena in solid-state systems.' However, in May 2016, Michiel decided to accept an offer from MIT and therefore will not make use of his Casimir PhD position.
16
Report 2015
Hendrik Casimir prize The Casimir Research School yearly awards the Hendrik Casimir Prize to the best MSc students in (Applied) Physics at Leiden and Delft. The prize consists of a certificate and a sum of € 750.- . The prize is based on the revenues from a donation by the late Josina CasimirJonker, wife of the famous Hendrik Casimir. The students are nominated by a committee formed by Jos Thijssen (director of Master Education Delft), Martin van Exter (Director of Education Leiden), Hara Papathanassiou (study advisor Leiden) and Christophe Danelon (coordinator of the Casmir pre-PhD Master program in Delft). This year’s prize was awarded to Stijn Debackere and Eduardo Pavinato Olimpio. Stijn Debackere is an MSc student of the Physics/Cosmology track at Leiden University. He has made a switch from Theory to Cosmology. In the first year of his MSc he has completed more than the nominal 1 year credits, has taken the long versions of the mandatory courses, and scored above 8.0 on all his courses with several between 9 and 10. Currently, he is working on a project in Cosmology that spans theory, data analysis, and numerical modelling. Eduardo Pavinato Olimpio is a talented student of the Casimir Pre-PhD MSc track at the Bionanoscience department in Delft. He has made a great impression on several supervisors, one of them writes about Eduardo's time in his lab: “Eduardo Olimpio has proven to be a truly outstanding researcher during his stay in my group at the AMOLF institute. It was particularly remarkable how he mananged to master highly complex mathematical problems in a very short time. He not only adapted code to track cells within mini-organs called organoids, but also extended a th mathematical model of their movement. Together with his On Friday December 4 , Jan van Ruitenbeek (right) awarded the prize to independence, own initiative, and mature discussion, he has Eduardo (left) and Stijn (middle). been one of the stand-out students of my lab in the past years.”
NanoFront Winter Retreat
Two buses, filled with almost 150 nanoscientists from the Leiden Institute of Physics and the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience in Delft, left for the French Alps on Monday March 16 th. After a long day on the road, we arrived at the conference hotel in Courchevel. The next morning, professor Cees Dekker, chair of the NanoFront Steering Committee, opened the first edition of the NanoFront Winter Retreat by giving an overview of the developments within the program since its start in 2013. This was the official start of four days filled with nanoscience, sun, and skiing. Each morning after breakfast, we started with an interesting keynote lecture, followed by two plenary lectures by faculty members, and several focus sessions by Delft and Leiden postdocs and PhD students. After lunch time, all participants were free to discover the snow on the Courchevel surrounding slopes. In the late afternoons, everyone returned to the conference center for more lectures on bionanoscience and quantum nanoscience, and for example for the discussion sessions on research ethics and the ethics of creating an artificial cell. For a full overview of our program, you can download the program booklet here. In an informal setting, all participants could meet their fellow NanoFront PhD students, postdocs and staff members from Leiden and Delft during the poster sessions and, for instance, during the Q&A session after dinner. Learning more about each other’s research
17
Report 2015
eventually led to four interesting new research proposals of PhD students and postdocs who did not work together before. These ideas were presented on Thursday evening, after which a jury consisting of Tjerk Oosterkamp (Leiden), Milan Allan (Leiden), Martin Depken (BN/Delft), and Anton Akhmerov (QN/Delft) decided to award the NanoFront Winter Retreat collaboration prize to Marek Noga (research technician at the Delft/BN Greg Bokinsky lab) and Wim Pomp (PhD student at the group of Thomas Schmidt in Leiden) for their proposal "Division of synthetic cells triggered by phase separation in lipid bilayers". In the jury’s view, their proposal showed a challenging goal of major importance, combining two very different methods to create a route for its realization. In addition to the money prize of the € 300.that was awarded to Marek and Wim, the Nanofront Steering Committee decided to allow Marek’s and Wim’s supervisors to submit this idea as an additional synergy proposal for the Nanofront PhD call 2015. On Friday the 20th, after dinner, we returned home with the feeling that we can look back at a week full of scientific highly interesting talks, and many moments of new interactions, which will certainly lead to new collaborations within the NanoFront program in the near future! Visit this page for more photos and videos of the NanoFront Winter Retreat.
18
Report 2015
NOV
OCT
SEP
JUL
JUN
MAY
APR
MAR
FEB JAN
5. Highlights of 2015
Ronald Hanson (Kavli Delft/QN) receives Ammodo KNAW Award for fundamental research QN researchers Warner Venstra and Val Zwiller awarded with STW Take-off grant
NWO-Vici grant for Lieven Vandersypen (Kavli/QN): 'Quantum simulation on a chip'
Dutch FYSICA Prize for Marileen Dogterom (Kavli/BN) Delft and Copenhagen join forces to create quantum computer HFSP Research Grant 2015 for Nynke Dekker (Delft/BN) FOM Projectruimte research grants awarded to Sander Otte (Delft/QN) and Chirlmin Joo (Delft/BN)
NWO Rubicon fellowship for Hannes Bernien (Kavli/QN) NeVac prize for Jaap Kautz and Johannes Jobst (Leiden) KNAW Royal Academy Professor Prize for Cees Dekker (Kavli/BN) Casimir Pre-PhD student Jacob Bakermans winner of the SPIN BSc competition NTvN prize for David van Woerkom (Kavli/QN) Carlo Beenakker (Leiden) knighted 'Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw' Hans Tanke new Casimir co-director
STW Open Technology Programme Grant for Ekkes Brück (Delft/FAME) NWO Vidi grants for Milan Allan (Leiden), Chirlmin Joo (Kavli/BN), Michael Wimmer (Kavli/QN), and Stephanie Wehner (QuTech) ERC Advanced Grant for Cees Dekker (Kavli/BN)
135 million euros for development of quantum computers
eScience Grant for Dorothea Samtleben's (Leiden) neutrino research Simon Gröblacher (Delft/QN), Michel Orrit (Leiden), and Jan Zaanen & Koenraad Schalm (Leiden) awarded with FOM Projectruimte grants Rubicon grants for Rifka Vlijm and Felix Hol (both Kavli/BN) EPS/QEOD Fresnel Prize awarded to Delft/QN Tim Taminiau NWO-Veni grants for Leiden postdocs Corentin Coulais and Johannes Jobst Leiden professor Michel Orrit honored with Grand Prix SFO Léon Brillouin Intel partners with QuTech for US$50 million Kavli PhD thesis prize awarded to Kavli/QN alumnus Hannes Bernien iGEM Grand Champion Award for team under supervision of Kavli/BN PI Anne Meyer
Research grants for Kavli/BN NanoFront PI's Greg Bokinsky and Hyun Youk FOM Valorisation Chapter Prize 2015 awarded to former Kavli/QN PhD student Gabriele Bulgarini
Casimir PhD positions of 2015 awarded to Marios Kounalakis, Guoji Zheng, Joeri de Bruijckere, and Michiel Bakker Leiden PhD student Koen Schakenraad wins Lorentz Graduation Award
DEC
Hendrik Casimir Prize 2015 awarded to Stijn Debackere and Eduardo Pavinato Olimpio Leiden PI Carlo Beenakker receives FOM Projectruimte grant Kobus Kuipers appointed Departmental Chair of Kavli/QN Tjerk Oosterkamp will become the Scientific Director for Casimir
19
Report 2015
Outlook to 2016
Upon starting as Scientific Director of Casimir, I asked myself what I could do further improve the already so successful research school. Our community values our educational program, and our activities, like the three-day Casimir Spring School that took place in Heeg, Friesland in April 2016, are highly appreciated. Now, five months and a dozen of very helpful meetings with various members of our research community later, I think that the main challenges for the coming period are strengthening the role of Casimir as a vehicle to attract talent to Leiden and Delft on the one hand, and ensuring that our talented PhD students and postdocs experience their time in our research school as a useful stepping stone in their career on the other. By organizing the Casimir Open Days and by increasing our (online) visibility we hope to offer our faculty, especially those who are just starting to build their own research group, more high-quality applications from skilled, internationally trained prospective PhD students. In order to raise awareness amongst our final-year PhD students and postdocs about their career options, we will offer several events per year. There are many ideas about how this can be arranged in a better way: apart from discussion sessions with peers, we will plan company visits and we will even experiment with in-company rotations for final-year PhD students. We will develop our plans in close cooperation with the members of our Casimir PhD platform, young, bright minds who, from their user experience, always provide us with useful feedback. With the NanoFront program almost being halfway, we may learn from its first results: it can be very useful to not exclusively look to the program’s scientific output, but also to the internal and external networks we see emerging. Personally, I experienced a great advantage when applying for a NWO Large research grant. I truly hope that Casimir can continue to serve as a fruitful breeding ground for similar research project in the near future.
May 2016 Prof. dr. Tjerk Oosterkamp Scientific Director
20
Report 2015
Appendix - Casimir theses 2015 The PhD theses published in 2015 by Casimir PhD students are listed below. Upon request, Casimir provides the PhD students with an ISBN number for their theses; these theses together form the “Casimir PhD Series”. The two PhD students that did not make use of this arrangement are not mentioned in the list below. Coumou, P.-J.: Electrodynamics of strongly disordered superconductors Promotor: Prof. dr. ir. T. M. Klapwijk February 6th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-01
Renema, J: The Physics of Nanowire Superconducting Single-Photon Detectors Promotor: Prof. Dr. D. Bouwmeester March 5th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-02
Moolman, C: A singular perspective on chromosomal replication: studying live cells by employing a multi-disciplinary approach Promotor: Prof. Dr. N.H. Dekker March 13th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-03
Torrado, J.: A search for transient reductions in the speed of sound of the inflaton in cosmological data, and other topics Promotor: Prof. Dr. A. Achúcarro March 31st, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-04
Ding, D.: Cavity quantum electrodynamics with rare-earth ions in solids Promotor: Prof. dr. D. Bouwmeester March 12th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-05
Perrin, M.: Charge Transport Through Single-Molecule Junctions: Experiments and Theory Promotor: Prof. Dr. Ir. H.S.J. van der Zant Juni 6th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-06
Buscema, M.: Photodetection with Novel Materials: Colloidal Quantum Dots, Nanoribbons and Layered Materials Promotor: Prof. Dr. Ir. H.S.J. van der Zant April 10th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-07
Leeuwen, van R.: Nanoscale mechanical resonators and oscillators Promotor: Prof. Dr. Ir. H.S.J. van der Zant April 8th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-08
Kautz, J.: Low-Energy Electron Microscopy on Two-Dimensional Systems: Growth, Potentiometry and Band Structure Mapping Promotor: Prof. Dr. J.M. van Ruitenbeek April 30th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-09
21
Report 2015
Heck, van B.: Quantum computation with Majorana zero-modes in superconducting circuits Promotor: Prof. Dr. C.W.J. Beenakker May 6th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-10
Visser, E.: Neutrinos From the Milky Way Promotor: Prof. Dr. M. de Jong May 12th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-11
Yalcin, A.O.: Heteronanocrystal Transformations through In-situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Promotor: Prof. Dr. H.W. van Zandbergen September 28th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-12
Spinelli, A.: Quantum magnetism through atomic assembly Promotor: Prof. Dr. Ir. H.S.J. van der Zant July 2nd, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-13
Nourian, Z.: Towards the assembly of a minimal oscillator Promotor: Prof. Dr. C. Dekker June 8th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-14
Bakker, M.: Cavity quantum electrodynamics with quantum dots in microcavities Promotor: Prof. Dr. D. Bouwmeester Jun 17th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-15
Mi, S.: Signatures of Majorana zero-modes in nanowires, quantum spin Hall edges, and quantum dots Promotor: Prof. Dr. C.W.J. Beenakker April 22nd, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-16
Diez , M.: On electronic signatures of topological superconductivity Promotor: Prof. Dr. C.W.J. Beenakker September 8th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-17
Kozlova, T.: In situ transmission electron microscopy investigations of electromigration in metals Promotor: Prof. Dr. H.W. van Zandbergen September 25th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-18
Bagrov, A.: The holographic glass bead game: from superconductivity to time machines Promotor: Prof. Dr. J. Zaanen September 23rd, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-19
22
Report 2015
Wu, F.: Spatial organization in nano-sculptured bacteria, a tale of shape, scale, patterns, and genomes Promotor: Prof. Dr. C. Dekker October 27th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-20
Wang, Q.: Photon detection at subwavelength scales Promotor: Prof. Dr. E.R. Eliel October 27th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-21
Slager, R.-J.: The symmetry of crystals and the topology of electrons Promotor: Prof. Dr. J. Zaanen January 12th, 2016
Casimir PhD series, 2015-22
Jong, de M.: Deposition of luminescent thin films for solar energy applications Promotor: Prof. Dr. P. Dorenbos June 22nd, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-23
Melskens, J.: Hydrogenated amorphous silicon: nanostructure and defects Promotors: Prof. Dr. M. Zeman, Prof. Dr. E.H. BrĂźck, Dr.ir. A.H.M. Smets. February 25th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-24
Devid, E.: Exploring charge transport properties and functionality of molecule-nanoparticle ensembles Promotor: Prof. Dr. J.M. van Ruitenbeek December 17th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-25
Blok, M.: Quantum measurement and real-time feedback with a spin register in diamond Promotor: Prof. Dr. Ir. R. Hanson November 24th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-26
Markesevic, N.: Optical properties of DNA-hosted silver clusters Promotor: Prof. Dr. D. Bouwmeester December 16th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-27
Beletkaia, L.: Mechanisms of ewing sarcoma metastasis Promotor: Prof. Dr. Th. Schmidt December 9th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-28
Zhang, X.: In operando phase transitions and lithium ion transport in lifepo4 Promotor: Prof. dr. F. M. Mulder November 11th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-29
Ivashko, A.: Sterile neutrinos in the early Universe Promotor: Prof. Dr. A. AchĂşcarro December 9th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-30
23
Report 2015
Agundez Mojarro, R.: Quantum transport in strongly interacting one-dimensional nanostructures December 11th, 2015 Promotor: Prof. dr. S. Rogge and Prof. dr. Y. M. Blanter
Casimir PhD series, 2015-31
Schram, R.: Enumeration and Simulation of Lattice Polymers as Models for Compact Biological Macromolecules Promotor: Prof. Dr. H. Schiessel December 15th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-32
Beuman, T.: The Stochastic Geometry of non-Gaussian Fields Promotor: Prof. Dr. M. van Hecke December 8th, 2015
Casimir PhD series, 2015-33
Frisenda, R.: OPE3, a model system for single-molecule transport Promotor: Prof. Dr. Ir. H.S.J. van der Zant January 22nd, 2016
Casimir PhD series, 2015-34
Harkes, R.: Quantitative Super-Resolution Microscopy Promotor: Prof. Dr. Th. Schmidt January 13th, 2016
Casimir PhD series, 2015-35
Bouwes Bavinck, M.: Engineering the optical properties of nanowire quantum dots Promotor: Prof. dr. ir. L. P. Kouwenhoven January 7th, 2016
Casimir PhD series, 2015-36
Haan, den, A.: Nuclear magnetic resonance force microscopy at millikelvin temperatures Promotor: Prof. Dr. ir. T.H. Oosterkamp March 1st, 2016
Casimir PhD series, 2015-37
Scarlino, P.: Spin and valley physics in a Si/SiGe quantum dot Promotor: Prof. Dr. Ir. L.M.K. Vandersypen February 1st, 2016
Casimir PhD series, 2015-38
24
Report 2015