QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

Our project is part of the European Marie Curie actions ITN (Initial Training Network) and aims at offering early-stage researchers the opportunity to improve their research skills, join established research teams and enhance their career prospects. The network is composed of 10 partners and will support 17 PhD students together with 10 Post Doctoral researchers in the next 4 years.

Over the past year a new research field has emerged: cavity Optomechanics which brings the quantum regime of mechanical oscillators in reach and may allow to explore new fundamental measurements concepts, may lead to novel transducers and test quantum mechanics on a macroscopic scale. In this research field, which utilizes mechanical oscillators coupled to laser fields, Europe has played a pioneering role. The distinguishing feature of this ITN training network is that the partners are active in this research field (cavity Optomechanics), which facilitates and indeed leverages the collaborative effort and will make this ITN highly effective. Cavity optomechanics is moreover a field which is highly faceted in terms of the required and offered training skills that spans quantum optics, nanofabrication, finite element simulation and cryogenic expertise and techniques as well as quantum theory.

Involved in this ITN project are: University of Vienna, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover, University Pierre et Marie Curie Paris, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, University Gent, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen Nürnberg, University Degli Studi di Camerino, IBM Research GmbH, Attocube Systems AG and EPFL (which acts as the coordinator).