Comic book authors Mathieu Burniat and Laurent Schafer meet EPFL professor Anna Fontcuberta i Morral to discuss quantum physics in comics, based on their respective books Les Mystères du Monde Quantique and Quantix. Together, the three of them will explore the different principles of quantum physics, between theory and representation.

The second part of the meeting invites the authors to take part in graphic challenges based on science: challenges, traps but also very serious questions, no holds barred.

This event is a collaboration with the comic festival BDFIL in Lausanne, taking place from 15-28th April 2024. It is held in French, and will take place on 27.04.2024 at 14h15 at Plateforme 10 - auditorium MCBA, Lausanne, during the comic festival BDFIL.

Image credit: Book cover of “The Mysteries of the Quantum Universe” by Mathieu Burniat and Thibaut Damour.

Starting a business takes courage! To take this step, it is all the more valuable to learn from the stories of those who already succeeded. 

Join the Role Model Talks on December 6 2023, to hear the stories of entrepreneurs:

• Maria Hahn, Co-Founder & CEO of Nutrix AG

• Stefan Imseng, Co-Founder and CEO at Aukera Therapeutics

At this event you will be inspired and encouraged for your own business endeavors.

Follow this link to learn more about the program and the event location.

NCCR SPIN is partnering with the Lausanne comic festival BDFIL to present an illustrated discussion with Prof. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral (EPFL) and Dr. Pierre Fromholz (University of Basel), on the clichés in scientific research! These clichés will be illustrated live by four artists from the Renens-based SPLOTCH! assoctiation: Oriane Masserey, Carine, Lionel Codak Bourquin and Azriel Malacalico.

The event will take place on Saturday, 23. September 2023 in the Aula of the Palais de Rumine in Lausanne at 17h30 during Museum Night, in French.

More information on the Museum Night page.

The NCCR SPIN is happy to organize its first Women's Retreat on the 18th September 2023. 

The program includes a talk/workshop by Prof. Jamie Gloor from the University of St.-Gallen called "Careering while Female: Naming, reframing, and taming the (un)conscious bias dragons" in the morning, and an outdoor activity in the afternoon. The morning session and lunch will take place in the beautiful castle of Thun. The details of the program are listed below.

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Women’s retreat program

from 8h30 – Welcome coffee at the castle of Thun 

9h-12h30 – Talk/Workshop by Jamie Gloor “Careering while Female: Naming, reframing, and taming the (un)conscious bias dragons” 

12h30-14h – Lunch at the castle of Thun

14h-ca.18h –

In case of sunny day: we take the train to Spiez and canoe from Spiez to Faulensee and back
In case of a rainy day: we take the bus 21 along the Thunersee and visit the St-Beatushölen 

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Prof. Andreas Heinrich, professor at the Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea will give a special seminar in the Department Physics of the University of Basel on July, 19th 2023 in the neuen Hörsaal 1, Foyer EG, from 15:00 to 6:30. The talk will be called Towards Quantum Computing with Spins on Surfaces. A short description is provided below.

Towards Quantum Computing with Spins on Surfaces

There is a strong international research effort in the area of quantum information science. Here, the concepts of quantum coherence, superposition and entanglement of quantum states are exploited. These concepts were originally shown with photons as well as atoms and ions in vacuum traps. Over the past two decades, many advances at studying such quantum coherence in solid-state and molecular architectures have evolved [1].

In this talk we will focus on quantum-coherent experiments in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM). STM enables the study of surfaces with atomic-scale spatial resolution and offers the ability to study individual atoms and molecules on surfaces. Here at Ewha, we have one of the world’s best facilities for such studies. STM can also be used to move atoms with atomic-scale precision, which enables us to build engineered nanostructures where each atom is in the exactly correct place.

In order to study qubits with STM, we recently learned how to combine STM with electron spin resonance [2,3]. Spin resonance gives us the means to quantum-coherently control an individual atomic or molecular spin on a surface. Using short pulses of microwave radiation further enables us to perform qubit rotations and learn about the quantum coherence times of our spins [4]. Finally, we will finish with unpublished results on multi-qubit operations with spins on surfaces.

1. Andreas J. Heinrich, William D. Oliver, Lieven M. K. Vandersypen, Arzhang Ardavan, Roberta Sessoli, Daniel Loss, Ania Bleszynski Jayich, Joaquin Fernandez-Rossier, Arne Laucht, Andrea Morello, “Quantum-coherent nanoscience”, Nature Nanotechnology, 16, 1318-1329 (2021).

2. Susanne Baumann, William Paul, Taeyoung Choi, Christopher P. Lutz, Arzhang Ardavan, Andreas J. Heinrich, “Electron Paramagnetic Resonance of Individual Atoms on a Surface”, Science 350, 417 (2015).

3. Yi Chen, Yujeong Bae, Andreas Heinrich, “Harnessing the Quantum Behavior of Spins on Surfaces”, Advanced Materials 2022, 2107534 (2022).

4. Kai Yang, William Paul, Soo-Hyon Phark, Philip Willke, Yujeong Bae, Taeyoung Choi, Taner Esat, Arzhang Ardavan, Andreas J. Heinrich, and Christopher P. Lutz, “Coherent spin manipulation of individual atoms on a surface”, Science 366, 509 (2019).

Support from Institute for Basic Science (IBS-R027-D1) is gratefully acknowledged.

NCCR SPIN Research Seminar

Speaker: Arne Laucht (UNSW Sydney)

Title: High temperature operation of electron spin qubits in silicon

Abstract: Silicon is an excellent material for building a commercial quantum computer that allows for the large-scale integration of lithographically defined quantum dot spin qubits. However, the operation of the large number of qubits required for valuable quantum applications will produce a thermal load exceeding the available cooling power of cryostats at millikelvin temperatures. As the scale-up accelerates, it becomes imperative to transition towards fault-tolerant operation above 1 kelvin, where the cooling power of cryostats is orders of magnitude higher. Here, we tune up and operate a two-qubit unit cell in silicon above 1 kelvin, with the combined state preparation, control and measurement fidelity for individual qubits surpassing 95 %. These advancements attest that silicon is a robust platform for quantum computation above 1 kelvin, and further development may readily take place at these temperatures.

Date: Tuesday 4th July

Time: 10:30

Location: In person at the University of Basel (Neue Hörsaal) and online on Zoom.

Prof. Ali Yazdani from the University of Priceton will be giving a SPIN seminar on “Visualizing Many Body Quantum States in Magical Flat Bands”

Strong correlations and novel many body quantum states emerge when electrons live in flat electronic bands, as exemplified by the discovery of wide range of novel phenomena over the last several decades in quantum Hall systems, as well the very recent discoveries in two-dimensional moiré materials systems. I will describe high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy studies that are providing new information to unravel the many body physics of these novel quantum states.

Date: Thursday, June 8, 2023

Time: 2:15 PM - 3: 15 PM

Location: In person at the University of Basel - Neue Hoersaal and  Online on Zoom

For the first time, NCCR SPIN invites industry to its Quantum Industry Chat.

The event intends to gather all companies interested in quantum computing and its related quantum ecosystem, be it to get informed of new advances in the field, how to integrate quantum technology into a line of products, to learn about the supply chain of the quantum industry or to assess the market potential of quantum technology developed in the research groups of NCCR SPIN.

The event will provide an introduction to quantum computing and its required quantum ecosystem and growing supply chain. It will be followed by an apero to promote further discussions between industry and academia in a friendly atmosphere.

The event will take place in IBM Research - Zurich in Rüschlikon on the 7th June 2023 from 15:00 to 18:00. The registrations are open until the 25th May 2023.

NCCR Ventures initiative, NCCRs are co-organizing a series of events on Open Research Data between April and June. These one-day events will take place in Zurich (April 28), Lausanne (May 8) and Basel (June 2), featuring presentations and practical workshops by experts and researchers who have developed methods for practicing various aspects of Open Research Data.

The events are aimed at students and researchers, but all are welcome to register. Members of NCCR SPIN are strongly encouraged to participate. You can register to one or several meetings. 

Program and registration forms are available on https://nccrs.github.io/

NCCR Ventures initiative, NCCRs are co-organizing a series of events on Open Research Data between April and June. These one-day events will take place in Zurich (April 28), Lausanne (May 8) and Basel (June 2), featuring presentations and practical workshops by experts and researchers who have developed methods for practicing various aspects of Open Research Data.

The events are aimed at students and researchers, but all are welcome to register. Members of NCCR SPIN are strongly encouraged to participate. You can register to one or several meetings. 

Program and registration forms are available on https://nccrs.github.io/

The Swiss comic book festival BDFIL’s 17th edition will take place in Lausanne between the 1st and the 14th May 2023. As the theme of this year is science in comics, NCCR SPIN collaborates with the festival to organize a public discussion between Laurent Schafer, author of comic books Quantix and Infinix (ed. Dunod) and NCCR SPIN scientists Prof. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral (EPFL) and Pierre Chevalier Kwon (University of Basel).

The discussion will include the representation of (quantum) physics in comics, scientific communication in comics and the impact of science (especially quantum computers) on our society. It will take place on Sunday, May 7th 2023 from 11:00-12:15 at PLATEFORME 10 – Espace Midi. It will be moderated by Marie Le Dantec and will be held in French.

The comic book Quantix and Infinix by Laurent Schafer, ed. Dunod.

About Laurent Schafer and his work

Laurent Schafer has been a journalist for various Swiss magazines and newspapers. In parallel, he worked as a freelance illustrator. Passionate about science, he wrote and drew his first comic book "Quantix, la physique quantique et la relativité en BD", which will be published in 2019 by Dunod. This comic book for the general public weaves the link between the quantum world and our daily lives through the adventures of an ordinary family. Quantix is postfaced by theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli and has been translated into several languages.

Laurent Schafer's second comic book, Infinix, de l'infini cosmique à l'infini quantique, was published at the end of 2021. Michel Mayor, Nobel Prize in Physics, has written the preface. An independent sequel to Quantix, Infinix takes the reader to the farthest reaches of the Universe and to the strange quantum vacuum. Laurent Schafer is currently working on a third volume. As with the first two volumes, Claude-Alain Pillet, professor at the Centre de Physique Théorique de Marseille-Luminy, is the scientific advisor.

About BDFIL

The Lausanne International Comics Festival (BDFIL) is a comics festival organised every year since 2005. Each year it welcomes an average of 80 artists (Swiss and international) and 30,000 visitors. BDFIL takes over the urban wastelands and cultural hotspots of Lausanne, under the magnificent vaults of the Rasude, on the bustling station square, between the illustrious walls of Plateforme 10 and in the lively echoes of the Maison de quartier sous gare.

This year’s guest of honour is comic author Pénélope Bagieu, who famously illustrated the comic book Culottées (in its English version: Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World), a series of surprising and lesser-known portraits of courageous women rejecting cultural norms through the ages and from all over the world.

In the exhibition “Do you have a minute to talk about science?”, 25 artists try to answer the question posed by EPFL and UNIL scientists “What would animals do if they suddenly could control the building materials used by humans?”

The full program of the festival can be downloaded in pdf format.

Asser Elsayed from IMEC, Belgium, will give a talk at our SPIN Seminar on May 4th, 2023 at 15:15. The title is “Characterization of ultra-low charge noise Silicon MOS quantum dots fabricated in a full 300mm CMOS platform “ and will take place online.

For the World Quantum Day on the 14th April, QuantumBasel organises a live broadcast to look behind the scenes of Quantum Computing! What are the future developments in Quantum-Computing? How do the new systems look like? What do research intitutes use Quantum-computing for?

The live broadcast will be divided in two sessions covering Europe and the US:

• Session Europe: April 14th, 10 am (CET) featuring live streaming from NCCR SPIN: Spin Qubits in Silicon , University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW, Weizmann Institute of Science, Università di Bologna. At 10:15, Prof. Dominik Zumbühl from NCCR SPIN will give a short talk from our quantum lab at the University of Basel to introduce you to some quantum experiments!

• Session US/CAN: April 14th, 4 pm (CET) with live streaming from "the holy grail" at IBM in Yorktown NY, Cleveland Clinic, from the datacenter of D-Wave in Canada, from a Quantum-VC in Silicon Valley Plug and Play Tech Center.

This event is open to anyone who would like to know more about Quantum Computing. To watch the live broadcast, please register through this form.

More info on the dedicated page.

NCCR SPIN is organizing an outreach event called “Tinguely Entangled” aimed at the broad public, bringing together visual arts, music and quantum computing. It will take place in the Tinguely Museum in Basel on the 25th March, 2023. It is an audio-visual music performance of about 60 min duration involving music and quantum physics concepts such as entanglement and superposition. NCCR SPIN is partnering with the Basel Infinity Festival to organize the event.

The project brings together some of the intricate Tinguely machines , with a small ensemble of about a dozen musicians positioned all around the machines. The music will be especially composed for this event by the leading contemporary Latvian composer Linda Leimane, around topics that are highly suitable for being 'transformed' into musical language such as Entanglement/Superposition, Coherence, Noise/Sweetspots, Fidelity/Error correction, Echo/Reflectometry, Nanowires/Layers. Five young scientists from the NCCR SPIN will give short interventions around such topics. Visual arts will be designed by Latvian artist Arturs Punte and Italian designer Luca Scarzella. The music event will be followed by an apero where scientists from the NCCR SPIN will interact and engage with interested members of the audience and explain their research individually.

Tickets are already available for purchase via this link.

“Saturday morning physics" is an exciting series of events for people interested in physics - especially for young people aged 14 and over, organized by the University of Basel. The next "Saturday morning physics" event will take place on January 28, 2023 at 10:00 at the Department of Physics, Grosser Hörsaal, entrance St. Johannsring 25, 4056 Basel. Prof. Dr. Andrea Hofmann from NCCR SPIN will talk about "Sand, solar cells and supercomputers". Those who attend this Saturday will receive a "Saturday Morning Physics" diploma and will also participate in a competition. There are T-shirts to be won and an iPad as the grand prize.

Check out the flyer to see the details of the program. If you are interested in attending the event, you can register until 28/01/2023. 

Deividas Sabonis from IBM Research Zurich will give a talk at our SPIN Seminar on January 24th, 2023. The title is to be announced and more information will follow in the coming days.

Chair: TBA

Wolfgang Tittel from the University of Geneva will give a talk for our SPIN Seminar series on January 10, 2023 at 12:15. The title is Towards networked quantum computing with single rare-earth ions and will be given on Zoom.

Zoe Holmes from EPFL will give a talk at our SPIN Seminar on December 20th, 2022 at 12:15. The title is Quantum machine learning for quantum process learning and dynamical simulation, and can be attended via Zoom.

Chair: TBA