Revisiting QURS Days 5-8 Feb 2024

Lectures on Research Areas & Skill Development

The first three days comprised lecture courses at both introductory and advanced levels on the key research areas of the Quantum Universe: Dark Matter (Hyungjin Kim), Gravitational Waves (Gudrun Wanner & Andrea Mitridate), Higgs Physics (Sarah Heim & Johanes Braathen), and Quantum Theories (Carlos Shahbazi Alonso).  
 
Participants not only got to deepen their knowledge in these areas but also got an opportunity to develop their skills in other courses on Leadership (Nelly Nguyen), Time Management (Matthias Mayer), Markov-chain Monte Carlo methods (Steffen Schumann), High-Performance Computing (Martin Stieben) and Quantum Computing (Frank Schlawin). 
 
Other topics also presented and discussed during the QURS Days included mental health resources, MINGZ (MIN Graduate Center) news, individual development plans for researchers and the role of the Ph.D. student and postdoc councils. 
 

Poster Session and Pitches

There was a poster session showcasing the research being done by twenty-four PhD students belonging to the Quantum Universe cluster, visualizing their research topics/findings. It was preceded by a one and a half minute pitch for each poster. The audience’s fascination with these concise and powerful presentations was quite visible. During the lunch break, students had time to go through all the posters hanging in the public area and chat about them with their colleagues. Prizes for the best pitch and best posters were decided by a ballot. Both prizes this year - a trophy certificate and prize money of 100 Euros - went to a poster by Margherita Putti based on her paper Gravitational Axiverse Spectroscopy: Seeing the Forest for the Axions. 
 
A dinner on the evening of the first day saw much warm and lively exchange among the participants. The coffee and tea breaks accompanied by tasty treats served to refresh the attention of the participants and provide a perfect setting for stimulating conversations and interaction between cluster members working in diverse areas across separate institutes.  
 

Alumni Panel Discussion

Another highlight was the alumni panel on the third day of the QURS Days, moderated by Anna Bartling. Four UHH alumni with a physics background who have steered their careers towards industry talked about their journeys and answered the audience's questions: Bijan Chokoufe Nejad, Nelly Nguyen, Lars Wacker, Thomas Wulf. They shared interesting experiences with the audience about how a background in theoretical physics was an advantage in their company or, for another alumnus, it made their employer hesitant about their fitness for the position! Useful and inspiring experiences were shared and discussed spanning careers in software engineering, management and consulting, optics and laser industry and coaching.  

The last day of the Graduate Week was filled with excitement with several prizes to be awarded. With the goal of promoting early career scientists and highlighting contributions of young scientists to the Quantum Universe cluster research activities, the Best Paper Awards went to three Ph.D.s, two postdocs and a young group leader.

For their excellent publications, the award winners received a certificate, a personal prize money of 100 Euros as well as a research budget of 1000 Euros.

The lively ending to the week has already set the mood for next year's QURS Days and provided motivation for the organizing team. Thanks to everyone who participated and special thanks to the lecturers and resource persons and to the Early Career Council, QURS Management and Quantum Universe Office for making this week full of learning and invaluable exchanges possible.

See you at the QURS Days next year!