Research on superconductors earns 10 Mio. EUR grant

ERC Synergy Grant for team headed by CFEL Condensed Matter Dynamics Division leader Andrea Cavalleri

Head of CFEL Condensed Mattter Dynamics Divison Prof. Andrea Cavalleri, speaker of the european research cooperation „Frontiers in Quantum Materials´ Control (Q-MAC)“.

Prof. Dr. Andrea Cavalleri from the University of Hamburg and three scientists from Oxford, Geneva and Paris have been awarded one of the first eleven Synergy Grants conferred by the European Research Council (ERC) for their "Frontiers in Quantum Materials' Control (Q-MAC)" research cooperation. They will receive about ten million euros over the next five years for the research on ultra-high-temperature superconductors. Roughly 2.7 million euros will go to the group of Andrea Cavalleri in Hamburg.

The goal of the Q-MAC cooperation is to reach superconducting states at temperatures higher than -100° C. The leading scientists are addressing this task by new developments in material design, the theory of quantum systems as well as in ultrafast laser- and X-ray physics. Besides Prof. Andrea Cavalleri as speaker of the project the international cooperation is including Prof. Dieter Jaksch from Oxford University, Prof. Jean Marc Trisone from the University of Geneva and Prof. Antoine Georges from the Ecole Polytechnique and University of Geneva.

The EU Synergy Grant is being awarded for the first time. More than 700 applications were submitted. The Q-MAC cooperation succeeded as one of 11 groups in a two-step review process including interview and presentation in Brussels.