People, Prizes & Fun

“Last year, I had my go/no-go meeting. This is an important step with large implications for the rest of my PhD track. However, coming up with an idea for my research plan felt pretty difficult during the Covid lockdown. Having far fewer opportunities to meet with colleagues made developing new ideas harder. Even though we all understand the circumstances, it bothered me that I couldn’t come up with great scientific ideas. Fortunately, when I had an opportunity to discuss one of my thoughts with a theorist in our group, we quickly discovered that it could make for a very interesting research plan to make our qubits more robust, and even scale to the third dimension. I’m glad this is done and now I’m looking forward even more to bringing my own research project from conception to its first results. That is my challenge for this year. I’m glad I can do this at QuTech because the environment is really stimulating. There are a lot of intellectually stimulating people around, all with different expertise. In addition, the collaboration with TNO helps: these colleagues usually have a lot of experience and so much knowledge. Finally, there is so much support here to help get equipment or software: I almost feel spoiled.”

“When I moved here, at the start of 2021, there was a curfew in the Netherlands. That was a strange way to get to know my new home, but fortunately, I had enough things at QuTech to keep me busy. My first job after arriving here was to get my lab ready for business. That meant a lot of planning and then acquiring all the equipment needed, or building it from scratch. In 2021, we got most of the equipment, like our cryostat to keep the quantum devices extremely cold. Seeing that impressive and expensive apparatus working properly in our lab felt like a big step. For 2022, we want to get everything else ready. If we get our main device working, everything will come together and we’ll have our first results. What I like about QuTech is that we can really combine science and engineering. I started to collaborate with colleagues from TNO on fabricating quantum devices and they have a much more industrial mindset on working in a cleanroom than most academics. To be able to combine that approach with PhD students working more exploratory, is a great way to bring the field forward.”

“I have always been fascinated by the idea of computability, so when I had to choose a Master’s degree, the quantum track at TU Delft was a logical choice. During my thesis project in the group of Leonardo DiCarlo, I was offered a traineeship at TNO, after which I stayed on as an employee. First, I did some other projects there, but soon I returned to QuTech to work on diamond-based qubits. In 2021, my work shifted from the cleanroom to keeping track of our projects and making sure all the parts come together at the right time; that was an interesting new challenge. This journey has allowed me to experience the collaboration from both sides, and that’s why I am now a member of the Onderdeelcommissie (OdC) that advises management on their policies. I think the collaboration between TU Delft and TNO offers extremely valuable opportunities, but, like any relation, it needs continuous effort from both parties. Together, and with the OdC, we’re continuously getting to know each other and the collaboration better. I like that. At the same time, I’m also looking forward to the ambitious plans we have for the Quantum Internet demonstrator in 2022. For me, these are the projects that showcase the value of the collaboration.”