The Max Planck-UBC-University of Tokyo Centre for Quantum Materials (CQM) community came together for the Centre’s annual summer school from September 27 to 29 in Dresden, Germany.
The CQM is a world-leading collaborative venture between the Max Planck Society (Germany), The University of British Columbia (Canada), and the University of Tokyo (Japan), featuring internationally recognized scientists and extensive infrastructure for research in quantum materials.
Hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, this year’s event focused on X-rays for the Study of Quantum Materials. Blusson QMI Scientific Director Andrea Damascelli and Professor Emeritus George Sawatzky were among the speakers at this event.
“The summer school is a signature event of the Centre, bringing together students, postdoctoral fellows and thought leaders in quantum materials from across the world to share updates and discuss opportunities for collaboration,” said Damascelli.
“Learning about the new techniques developed for the study of quantum materials from leaders with direct expertise not only enables the students to apply the techniques in their research but also positions them effectively to further develop these techniques,” Damascelli said.
“The unique partnership provides an exceptional training environment for the future quantum workforce by positioning students to engage in cross-institutional projects of international significance geared towards impactful knowledge generation and experimental progress in quantum materials.”
Image: Valentin Zimmermann, PhD Student.
To date, the CQM has supported more than 90 collaborative projects, scholarly exchanges, and annual workshops. In 2022, all three partner organizations signed the extension of the partnership into 2027, marking the first time an international Max Planck Centre has been extended beyond a ten-year period.
“For me, the CQM Summer School was a fantastic event to hear from experts in the field of X-ray spectroscopy and also a great networking opportunity among other students and principal investigators,” said Valentin Zimmermann, a joint PhD student. “I learned a lot about techniques that I hadn’t worked with previously and got a lot of ideas, which I can also apply to my own research projects.”
The Joint International PhD Program in Quantum Materials is an exciting academic program connecting UBC’s Blusson QMI and the University of Stuttgart, with participation from the Max Planck Society of Germany.
The program offers unparalleled opportunities to study in the fields of quantum materials and quantum materials-based devices. Its highly collaborative nature exposes graduate students to a wide variety of topics in materials systems beyond their immediate research projects and will empower students to contribute to a rapidly evolving research frontier.
Damascelli is most grateful to this year’s organizers Prof. Liu Hao Tjeng (MPI CPFS, Dresden), Prof. Bernhard Keimer (MPI FKF, Stuttgart), and Prof. Dirk Manske (MPI FKF, Stuttgart) for an exceptional summer school.
To learn more about the event and view a complete list of speakers, please click here.
To learn more about CQM, please see here.
