25 August 2026

Photo: Torben Skrzypek / Massimiliano Antonello

Torben Skrzypek (left) presenting at a workshop funded by the Quantum Universe Postdoc Grant, and Massimiliano Antonello (right) with the programmable laser his 2025 grant made possible.

The QU Postdoc Grant, organized by the QU Postdoc Council, supports postdoctoral researchers within the Cluster of Excellence Quantum Universe in pursuing research ideas that fall outside their existing funding. Recipients can receive up to €20,000 to advance a well-defined project within one year — from procuring experimental setups to organizing workshops, funding research stays abroad, or hosting guest scientists.

Applications for this year's round are open until September 15th, 2026.

To provide insight into the grant's impact, last year's two grant recipients, Massimiliano Antonello and Torben Skrzypek share their experience in the following interview:

1.       What are you currently researching?

Massimiliano: My research currently focuses on two main areas. The first is contributing to the production of the future Inner Tracker for the CMS experiment, as part of the Phase-2 upgrade of the HL-LHC (High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider). The second is a systematic study of solid-state photon sensors, with a particular focus on their applications in High Energy Physics and calorimetry.

Torben: I conduct research in the field of string theory, the most promising approach to unifying both gravitational and quantum physics. I study a particular mechanism of breaking supersymmetry called an orbifold projection and extend our currently available technology to models with less supersymmetry.

2.       What made you apply to the QU Postdoc Grant last year?

Massimiliano: I had an idea for a small project, with a clear and time-limited scope, that I found very interesting. To carry it out, though, I needed a fairly expensive custom laser. A friend and colleague made me aware of this call, and I realized it would be a great opportunity to start developing another important skill for my career: writing project proposals and seeking my own funding.

Torben: I have an ongoing collaboration with another young scientist in Budapest who is an expert in computing string interactions in holographic theories. We had an idea to study string interactions in orbifold theories but conducting the project entirely online would have been sub-optimal. We were therefore looking for opportunities which could support our project and the call for the QU Postdoc Grant came just at the right time.

3.       What were the major outcomes of your project achieved through the grant?

Massimiliano: With the new programmable laser, we are developing a new system to systematically characterize photon sensors. A master’s thesis is currently running on this project. We are now in the qualification phase, and we hope to complete the systematic measurements in the coming months with the goal of a possible publication.

Torben: Through the QU Postdoc grant we could organise research visits. Findings from that stay are currently turned into a short letter draft for the prestigious Physical Review Letters journal and a longer paper to give all the details. To both of us, this involved learning an entirely new technology which will be very useful in future projects. In addition, the QU Postdoc grant allowed us to organise a workshop as satellite event to an international conference, which we hosted at DESY this year.

4.       What would you tell postdocs who are hesitant to apply?

Massimiliano: Honestly, I would just say: let the committee be the one to say no, don’t say it to yourself first. Write the proposal, submit it, and see what happens. Worst case, you’ve learned how to write a project, which is useful either way. As young researchers we’re going to face rejection constantly, so it shouldn’t be what stops us from trying.

Torben: The QU grant is administered by your peers who will enjoy reading about your thoughts and listening to your presentation. The application process is comparatively simple and good practice for more challenging grant applications you will likely face in the future. You have nothing to lose and a nice support opportunity to gain, so do give it a shot!