About Casimir

Contact

Welcome to the Delft-Leiden Casimir Research School

E info@casimir.researchschool.nl I http://casimir.researchschool.nl

The School’s qualities Top-ranking researchers and lecturers

In international rankings the cluster of researchers participating in Casimir is identified as belonging to the top of the European research universities, as testified by the publication and citation record of the individual professors. Many professors have won prestigious European and national prizes and grants, and participate in major international programs.

The Delft-Leiden Casimir Research School (Casimir) offers an advanced European scientific atmosphere to ambitious and talented MSc and PhD students. Our school focuses on academic research, which crosses the traditional boundaries between fundamental and applied research and crosses the scientific disciplines.

Mailing address

Casimir Research School Office Lorentzweg 1 2628 CJ Delft T +31 (0)15 27 87 213 F +31 (0)15 27 86 600

Gateway to a research-career

Graduates with a MSc or PhD degree find their way into academic institutions abroad, into many small high-tech companies as well as large international companies of which many are based in the Netherlands such as Philips, Shell, Akzo, DSM, ING, and ABN-AMRO.

The school is initiated by leading physicists from the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION) at Leiden University and from the Kavli Institute of NanoScience at Delft University of Technology.

The School is named after H.B.G. Casimir (1909-2000), professor in Theoretical Physics whose involvement in fundamental as well as applied physics left many traces in the Dutch scientific landscape.

He is best-known for his discovery of the so-called Casimir effect and for his visions on science and research-management.

Prof. Carlo Beenakker

For information on applications & funding for Master and PhD see: http://casimir.researchschool.nl

Co-director: prof. Jan Zaanen

Fields of research and education

Scientific director: prof. Teun Klapwijk,

The Casimir research school offers research-programs and teaching programs in 6 focused areas: • Molecular biophysics • Physics of nanostructures • Quantum matter and functional materials • Quantum information and quantum optics • Universe physics: theory and instrumentation • Dynamic complex systems

in the Netherlands!

MSc and PhD studies

The Casimir research school accepts about 30 PhD students per year and a maximum of a selected group of 30 MSc students per year.

Life in the Netherlands

Some of Casimir’s researchers Prof. Helmut Schiessel

Dr. Sense Jan van der Molen

Prof. Nynke Dekker

Prof. Yuli Nazarov

Dr. Tjerk Oosterkamp

Prof. Michel Orrit

Prof. Gerrit Bauer

Prof. Jeroen van den Brink

The normal duration of the PhD-study is four years, which is strictly monitored to ensure that most PhD students finish their PhD-thesis within this timeframe. The MSc study takes 2 years, although accelerated programs are individually possible based on previously completed studies.

The Dutch language

The national language is Dutch. If you would like to learn Dutch, there is a problem; nearly everyone speaks English – many also speak German and French and tend to reply in this language. Easy in many cases, but not when you try practicing your Dutch. Just be persistent and ask people to speak to you only in Dutch.

Funding opportunities

Funding for PhD positions is usually provided by research-grants to individual professors. A PhD position is a full-time employment position with a salary that is comparable to entrance level salaries in industry.

There is no tuition fee. Through the Casimir Research schools 10 entrancePhD grants are made available to exceptionally gifted PhD candidates. In addition students are accepted who bring their own financial support.

Prof. Martin van Hecke

Prof. Acucharro

Dr. Michiel de Dood

Prof. Cees Dekker

Prof. Serge Lemay

Prof. Jan van Ruitenbeek

Prof. Wim van Saarloos

Prof. Thomas Schmidt

Prof. Herre van der Zant

Dr. Jos Thijssen

Prof. Dirk Bouwmeester

Dr. Koenraad Schalm

For the MSc study scholarships are available through the university, the Erasmus-Mundus program, and for European students through their country’s student-support programs.

International embedding

Research within Casimir benefits from the strong international position of the Lorentz center at Leiden and the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft, leading to a flux of experienced and talented post-docs and visiting scholars. At our universities all lectures, seminars and colloquia are given in English and undergraduate and graduate theses are written in English.

Prof.Joost Frenken

The Netherlands is a relatively small country (sometimes described as the cockpit of Europe), neighbouring Germany, Belgium, close to France and across the North Sea the United Kingdom. With a population over 16 million, it is a densely populated but well-organized country.

Dr. Ronald Hanson

Dr. Juan Keymer

Prof. Lieven Vandersypen

Prof. Henny Zandbergen

Abdulaziz Karimkhodjaev and Yuan Ren

Did you know that..?

• H alf of the country is below the level of a high tide, but perfectly safe • Holland still has around a thousand old-fashioned working windmills?

• Holland is the world’s third largest exporter of agricultural products though only 3% of the population works with agriculture?

• The Dutch are the tallest people in the world?

• There are (estimated to be) twice as many bikes as people?

• Holland has the highest concentration of museums in the world, with 42 in Amsterdam alone?

• Holland was one of the six founding members of the European Community?

• The highest point in Holland is 323 meters above sea level?

• Amsterdam has 1,281 bridges?

• For a small country many Dutch physicists received a Nobel prize: Zeeman, Lorentz, Van der Waals, Kamerlingh Onnes, Zernike, Bloembergen, Van der Meer, ‘t Hooft, and Veltman.

Prof. Leo Kouwenhoven