Casimir Research School Delft – Leiden
Report 2013
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Casimir Research School Delft-Leiden Report 2013 Content Casimir in 2013
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1. Introducing the Casimir Research School
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2. Our Casimir community in 2013
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3. Recruitment
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4. Education
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5. Awards and events
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4. Highlights of 2013
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Outlook to 2014
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Appendix - Casimir theses 2013
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Casimir in 2013 We are happy to see that our research community is thriving and continuously growing. In 2013 a record number of 58 new PhD students joined Casimir. Our research school now lists well over 200 PhD students, about 85 postdocs and 90 senior researchers. The NWO-Zwaartekracht funding program “Nanofront�, which was implemented in April 2013, has helped forge stronger ties between our two locations by funding 22 new joint LeidenDelft research projects, and there are many more to come. These research projects offered new opportunities to attract even more talented young researchers from abroad. The year 2013 was a year full of Leiden-Delft activities and festivities. In April, the start of the NanoFront project was celebrated with a festive event in Delft. In June, we convened at the Scheltema Complex in Leiden, for a lively and successful edition of our biannual Science Day. About 120 members of our community were present to listen to Lorentz professor H. Eugene Stanley, who we had invited to give the keynote lecture. In only one hour, he showed us how crashes of financial markets, collapses of networks, and phase flipping in physical systems are all related. New Casimir faculty, Doris Heinrich, Martin Depken and Sander Otte presented their recently started research programs. Leo DiCarlo informed us on the developments towards the first working quantum computer. Interesting results and prospects were presented by Joost Frenken, who recently wrapped up the Nano-Imaging under Industrial Conditions (NIMIC) project. The festivities that day ended with an award ceremony presented by Sytske Casimir, granddaughter of H.B.G. Casimir. She highlighted the extraordinary achievements of four of our Casimir students. A record high number of 41 PhD theses were completed and defended in 2013. Also the median time-to-thesis is back to a level of just over 4 years. Summarizing, we look back at a very successful year and are hoping for many years like this to come! Prof. dr. Jan M. van Ruitenbeek Prof. dr. Nynke H. Dekker
April 2014
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1. Introducing the Casimir Research School 1.1.
Casimir connects
Casimir Research School - Leiden University and Delft University of Technology’s joint
research school in interdisciplinary physics, brings together 232 PhD students, 91 postdocs and 88 senior researchers. Casimir, established in 2004, is named after Professor Hendrik B.G. Casimir (1909-2000), whose involvement in fundamental as well as applied physics left many traces in the Dutch scientific landscape. Our research program - with a strong focus on nanosciences - is developed by groups at the Delft Kavli Institute of Nanoscience and at the Leiden Institute of Physics. Research within Casimir falls with the following six research themes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Molecular Biophysics Physics of Nanostructures Quantum Matter and Functional Materials Quantum Information and quantum optics Universe physics: theory and instrumentation Dynamic Complex Systems
Each of the themes interacts in a different way with neighbouring disciplines and mixes applied research with fundamental research. The Casimir Research School aims at integrating the full scope of research activities, from basic research in theoretical and experimental physics, through applied physics and industrial research. We have the ambition of achieving breakthroughs in our understanding of nature, in pushing the frontiers of experimental techniques, in opening new application perspectives, and in breaking down barriers for improved products and processes in industry. The crossfertilization of the approaches and people working in the different ‘flavours’ of research is seen as being essential for achieving breakthroughs. The Casimir Research School facilitates optimal interaction between the three approaches, often mixing them on the research-group level. In terms of our current scientific publications, the school’s scientific output mixes highprofile fundamental results (in journals such as Physical Review Letters), results of a widely attractive nature (Nature, Science) and patents. Research collaborations are forged equally with leading universities worldwide, as well as with institutes of technology and industrial partners. Research and training are inseparable activities at the school. This means that staff members teach all courses in the MSc and PhD programs and that all education is research-oriented, incorporating the latest research insights. Each PhD student performs an independent research project as full member of one or more research groups, with Casimir providing additional cross-links between groups and to outside stakeholders such as potential employers or industrial research groups. Casimir has been a driving force in further strengthening of the ties between research and education programs in Leiden and Delft. We also operate in a European network, connecting the research schools of Université Joseph Fourier (Grenoble, France), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), the Donostia International Physics Center (Spain) and Ludwig Maximillian Universität (München, Germany).
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1.2.
Organization
In 2013, the Casimir organization consisted of the following persons: Scientific director Prof. dr. J.M. van Ruitenbeek Co-director Prof. dr. N.H. Dekker Casimir Board Dr. C. Danelon Prof. dr. E.R. Eliel Prof. dr. J. Zaanen Prof. dr. ir. H.S.J. van der Zant
Casimir Education Committee Dr. C. Danelon Dr. M. van Exter Prof. dr. T. Oosterkamp (until December) Dr. A.F. Otte (as of December) Prof. dr. H. Schiessel (chairman)
Coordinators Casimir pre-PhD MSc-track Sander Otte (until November)/ Christophe Danelon (as of November) (Delft) Hara Papathanassiou / Reyer Jochemsen (Leiden) Casimir coordinator Marije Boonstra Casimir PhD platform Jetty van Ginkel (Bionanoscience, Delft) Hedde van Hoorn (until September) / Elena Beletkaia (as of September) (Biophysics, Leiden) Vincent van Mourik (Quantum Transport, Delft) Jelmer Renema (Quantum Optics, Leiden) Bob van Waarde (Theoretical Physics, Leiden) Mickael Perrin (Mol. Electronics & Devices, Delft) Scientific Advisory Council Prof. Malcolm R. Beasley, Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering and former Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, USA Prof. Jonathan Howard, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology & Genetics and Professor of Biophysics, Dresden University of Technology, Germany Prof. Jörg Peter Kotthaus, Professor of Physics and former Director of the Center for Nanoscience, München, Germany Prof. Peter B. Littlewood, Professor of Physics and Associate Laboratory Director for Physical Sciences and Engineering at Argonne National Laboratory, Professor of Physics in the James Franck Institute at the University of Chicago, USA Prof. dr. Albert Polman, Professor of photovoltaics at the University of Amsterdam, scientific group leader and director of the FOM-Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Prof. Zheng-Yu Weng, Professor of Theoretical Physics, Tsing-Hua University, Beijing, China
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2. Our Casimir community in 2013
2.1. Growing population Our Casimir population is growing. This table shows the number of staff member (senior researchers), postdocs and PhD students that were registered in our research school on December 31st, 2013. It also shows the number of PhD students who - for various reasons ended their contract that year without finishing their research, and the number of PhD theses that were completed in 2013. Staff1
Postdocs
PhD students
Theses
Leiden: Delft:
42 47
40 45
94 119
20 21
PhD abandoned 5 4
Total:
89
85
213
41
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2.2. Successful PhD defenses In total, 41 PhD students published their dissertations in 2013. This is the highest number of theses published since the start of our school in 2004. Moreover, this year’s PhD students succeeded in obtaining the second-best average ‘time to thesis approval’ since 2005: on average, the approval in 2013 was received after 4 years and a bit over one month after the start date of the PhD student’s contract. In the Netherlands, PhD students usually receive a four year contract. In 2013, over 90% of the Casimir theses were accepted within five years after the PhD student had started his/her research project. Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Theses completed 23 28 22 17 25 31 23 39 41
Average time to thesis approval (years) 4.54 4.26 4.49 4.02 4.20 4.15 4.50 4.14
Time to thesis Theses published in 2013 (total = 41) frequency
15 10 5 0 2-2.5 2.5-3 3-3.5 3.5-4 4-4.5 4.5-5 5-5.5 5.5-6 years from start
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Number of Casimir staff members (not fte) including part-time appointments and retired staff members still active in our research community
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The Casimir p-profile in the below is showing the cumulative numbers of theses completed as a function of the time-to-thesis for all completed PhD theses within the Casimir Research School (starting dates since 2001). The median of the distribution - 50% of all dissertations completed within the Casimir Research School - falls at four years and two months.
2.3. Career perspectives Casimir keeps track of the former PhD students’ first jobs. The pie chart diagram below provides an overview of the initial career steps, based on information provided by those who received their PhD degree in 2013. Although in April 2014 some of the young researchers were still in the phase of applying for a job, most of them had found one within a few months after - or even before - their defense had taken place.
Career perspectives PhD�alumni 2013 education finance 2% 3% consultancy 3% unknown 7% applying 10% high-tech industry 24%
postdoc/academia 51%
Figure 2. Pie chart showing the initial career steps of the 41 Casimir Research School PhD alumni of 2013.
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2.4. New Casimir members PhD cohort 2013 PhD Students Cohort 2013 Leiden/Delft and Male/Female 2013
Total Male
Nationality
Female
Dutch
Europe (non-Dutch)
World (non-Europe)
Delft
26
18
8
9
9
8
Leiden
32
31
1
16
10
6
Total
58
49
9
25
19
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Several senior researchers have joined Casimir in 2013, including:
Doris Heinrich Doris Heinrich’s research focus lies on the biophysics of living cell dynamics. Investigated systems include molecular motors in vivo, external stimuli leading to cell signaling, cell adhesion dynamics and lipid membrane organisation. Doris graduated with a Master's in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin (USA). She received her Ph.D. in Semiconductor Physics from the Technische Universität München (Germany). Then, she performed her postdoctoral research in Munich, Los Angeles and Heidelberg, investigating the mechanical properties of the microtubule/actin cross-talk of living cells. After that, she worked as a Business Consultant with McKinsey & Company on several projects in France, the Near-Middle East and the USA. In 2007, she started her own research group at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. Since February of 2013, she is Professor at Leiden University and Head of Fraunhofer Attract Group at the Fraunhofer ISC in Würzburg (Germany).
Daniela Kraft Daniela Kraft’s research is focused on the physics and self-organization of soft matter systems. Her group studies the rational design of anisotropic and patchy particles for use as model systems and self-assembly, particlecovered emulsions and virus particles. Daniela studied at the University of Würzburg (Germany) and holds a Master’s from the University of Texas at Austin (USA). Four years after that, she obtained her PhD degree (cum laude) at the Van 't Hoff Laboratory for Physical and Colloidal Chemistry in Utrecht, where she studied ‘Model Systems for Self-Assembly.’ Before starting at Leiden University, Daniela Kraft worked as a postdoc in the group of dr. David J. Pine at the Center for Soft Matter Research, New York University (USA).
Peter Steeneken Peter Steeneken obtained his PhD degree at Groningen University, where he studied electron spectroscopy of strongly correlated oxide materials. Subsequently, he worked at Philips Research, where he developed electromechanical micro-switches and micro-resonators (MEMS) for mobile phones. Then, Peter switched to the Eindhovenbased company NXP Semiconductors, to become a principal scientist there. Peter still holds this position, which he combines with working at his lab in Delft, where he and his group focus on the integration of 2D nanomaterials with CMOS in order to create novel electromechanical sensors.
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Andrea Caviglia
After obtaining his MSc degree in Genoa (Italy), Andrea Caviglia moved to Geneva (Switzerland), where he conducted his PhD research project on two-dimensional electron gas in functional oxide interfaces. After succesfully defending his research, Andrea became a postdoc at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science in Hamburg (Germany). Since January 2013 Andrea has his own lab in Delft, where he uses high-end thin film deposition technologies to create new quantum nanomaterials. Andrea’s and his team’s focus are on a class of materials known as complex oxides. These display an amazing variety of different electronic properties such as magnetism and superconductivity at much higher temperatures than any other material.
Andreas Engel Before moving to Delft, Andreas Engel worked at Case Western Reserve University, where he helped building up the Cleveland Center for Membrane and Structural Biology. Prior to that, for 25 years, Andreas Engel led a successful group at the Maurice E. Müller Institute of the University of Basel, where he combined the strength of electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy to study membrane proteins. Andreas’ mission is to bring to the TU Delft modern cryo-electron microscopy, including sample preparation tools and powerful image processing facilities this method, where it not only would be applied to all physiological processes that are to be unravelled, but most importantly also be further developed.
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3. Recruitment 3.1. Recruitment of new students In September 2012, our campaign for recruiting excellent PhD-candidates and MSc-students called ‘Join in our footsteps’ was launched. The strategy chosen was a broad one: apart from visits to home universities by current PhD’s, mailings were sent to target universities, posters were spread through the staff’s network and a special website was launched. Prospective PhD candidates contacted the Casimir office after visiting the website. Applicants could upload their documents in a registration form on the Casimir website. Upon receiving the application, an automatic confirmation e-mail was sent to the applicant. The Casimir office regularly checked the incoming applications to ensure that all documents were received in the correct order. After the deadline, all applications were reviewed by the Casimir director (round 1). After the first selection, a number of applications that met the Casimir standards were forwarded to several of our PI’s (round 2); other candidates were informed by the Casimir office that their application was turned down. In the weeks that followed, the Casimir office checked on a regular basis whether or not the PI’s were interested in the candidates. Some of the PI’s invited the candidates for an interview (round 3). After the interviews, a number of candidates were hired. The procedure for the MSc call was mainly done through the existing channels: the application offices of Delft and Leiden University answered the questions of prospective students and took care of the registration of new students.
3.2. Results MSc call
The MSc call did not result in direct applications for the Casimir pre-PhD track. However, in September 2013 the number of students that started in the Casimir MSc track was the highest since the start of the track in 2009: eleven students started, of which three received their BSc degree abroad (China, Germany, Greece).
PhD call
The following facts and figures illustrate the results of PhD call. The majority of the received responses came from people who searched for positions on the internet; the home university visits and correspondence with the target universities resulted in only two applications. Number of applications received by the deadline: Number of applications received in the period January-April:
Total number of application reviewed (round 1):
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Resulted in: 22 applications forwarded to 33 staff members (44% of round 1) 8 candidates interviewed through Skype and/or during an actual visit (16% of round
1, 36% of round 2)
5 candidates hired after 2013 campaign (10% of round 1, 23% of round 2, 63% of
round 3)
Out of the five candidates that received a PhD position in the Casimir Research School as a result of the 2012/2013 join in our footsteps campaign, three have the Dutch nationality. One of these three students has obtained his MSc. at Cambridge (UK), the other two have received their degree at the University of Twente. One of the non-Dutch PhD candidates that were hired originally came from Kazakhstan and lived in Germany at the time the application procedure, the other holds the Indian nationality and was studying in the United States at the time of her application.
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Thirty applications were received in the period between May and September 2013. These were treated separately from the campaign results; the results of these later received applications are not included in this report.
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Origin candidates PhD call 2013
Nationality all responses (round 1) Turkey 3%
Spain Syria Czech Rep. 3% 3% 3% Kazachstan 3% Italy 3% Indonesia 3% Bangladesh 3%
India 43%
Pakistan 6% China 9%
Netherlands 6%
UK 6%
South Korea 6% USA 6% India 25%
Turkey 6% China 6%
Iran 12%
Netherlands 19%
Sweden 13%
Location during application
Germany 13%
Candidates forwarded (round 2) Kazachstan Turkey 6% 6% Iran 6% Bangladesh 6% Netherlands 13%
India 50% China 13% Nationality
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4. Education 4.1. Training of students Training of young researchers
The Casimir Research School organizes workshops and offers special courses on a graduate and an advanced graduate level. Casimir PhD students are required to acquire 15 credits in thematic graduate education during their PhD. Casimir uses the following formats for its educational activities: Graduate courses throughout the year Casimir Summer Schools A bi-annual Casimir Science Day A bi-annual Spring School for PhD students and post-docs only The Casimir course schedule is published on our website. 3 Each PhD student has her/his own educational plan, detailing the workshops and courses to be attended. The PhD supervisors coach the students in drawing up and updating this plan, and monitor progress in an informal and formal way. Fully in the spirit of Hendrik Casimir, the research school aims to provide PhD students with more than just training for a specific subfield of physics. Personal development courses are part of the educational programme, too. These courses are offered by the participating universities and the funding agencies FOM and NWO. A full list of courses can be found on the Casimir website. They cover topics such as presentation skills, scientific integrity, time management and business orientation.
Casimir pre-PhD track for MSc students
For students with an interest in a research career beyond the MSc phase, Casimir has established a special pre-PhD track within the existing MSc programmes Physics (in Leiden) and Applied Physics (in Delft). This Master’s track focuses on educating students, especially for PhD positions at the two institutions or elsewhere and is designed to respond to the increasing mobility of students after completing their BSc. The track leads to a particular set of courses and research experiences in more than one department. A selection takes place for entrance into this track.
4.2. Casimir courses 2013 Casimir PhD Course: “Biology for Physicists” (April-June)
Subject area: The aim of the course is to introduce the participants to the basics of cell and molecular biology. Book: Alberts B., et al., ‘Essential cell biology’, 3rd edition, Garland Science, 2009. Number of participants: 7 participants received the Casimir certificate. Lecturers: Dr. Marie-Eve Aubin-Tam and dr. Bert Hubert. Description: The aim of the course is to introduce you to a selection of basic topics in molecular biology and discuss elated, cutting-edge papers from the literature. The course comprises eleven sessions in which we will cover topics ranging from the molecular mechanisms of a virus attacking a cell to the evolution of complex molecular machines. Each session involved a lecture given by the instructors followed by a paper presentation and group discussion. An excursion to a lab was organized to give an impression of the experimental research done at Bionanoscience. The 2013 topics included: Protein synthesis and quality control; Origins of cellular organelles; Membrane channels; Protein function evolution; intercellular particle transport; Single molecule genome analysis; Cytoskeleton organisation; Evolutionary origin of new genes; Virus-cell interactions; optimal gene regulation.
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http://casimir.researchschool.nl/phd-course-scheme-138.html
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Casimir PhD Course “Electronics for Physicists” (November-December) Subject area: The course is a must-have for PhD students and post-docs interested in experimental physics. Number of participants: 31 participants received the Casimir certificate. Lecturers: Dr. V. Zwiller and R. Schouten. Description: We study electronics with a strong focus on practical applications. After reviewing the basics of passive and active components and their practical limitations, we focus on circuit simulation, systematic troubleshooting and opamp circuits. Signals, noise and interference problems (and solutions!) are also an important topic. We finish with an overview of microwaves and various measurement techniques, and a day on advanced use of electronic measurement equipment. Several case studies from the physics lab are used throughout the course to make the theory come alive.
Casimir PhD Course “Advanced Microscopy” (November-December)
Subject area: This new Casimir course is aimed at providing our PhD students with a solid background on the principles of optical and electron microscopy techniques and their applications to study biological processes from the single‐molecule to the cellular level. Number of participants: 28 participants received the Casimir certificate. Description: During seven course days the following topics were discussed: Fluorescence, microscopy, correlation spectroscopy, application FRET Superresolution fluorescence microscopy Live cell/animal fluorescence/bioluminescence imaging SEM, TEM, AFM Cryo‐ TEM, Electron tomography, correlative light and electron microscopy Lab tours were also part of the course days.
Casimir Course “Hot Topics in Quantum NanoScience” (year-round) Subject area: Exemplary topics are topological insulators, mesoscopic quantum gravity, string theory for condensed matter, measurement-based quantum computing, quantum-limited sensors, Majorana Fermions, fast-light with single photons, etc. Preparation: The tutorial, as a one-hour lecture, is open for everyone to attend. A second hour is reserved as a discussion hour between the registered class of PhD students and postdocs with the lecturer. The course teachers act as moderators. Apart from attending the public lecture, private discussion and reading the research paper, each session is concluded by writing a one-page essay within one week on the subject and preferentially in the context of the participant’s own research. Number of participants: 20 Hosts: Gary Steele, Leo DiCarlo, Leo Kouwenhoven and Tjerk Oosterkamp Description: Speakers from all over the world will be asked to present pedagogical introductions to their field with an emphasis on basic concepts. Besides such an introductory lecture open for everybody, the participants of this course will have an additional discussion with the speaker discussing a recent paper and the holy grails of the field.
Casimir Les Houches (France) Summer School Frontiers of Condensed Matter: Nanosciences and Energy (September)
This summer school aims at offering PhD students a training programme in the area of Condensed Matter Physics. It is jointly organized by the Ecole Doctorale de Physique de Grenoble (France), the Casimir Research School Delft-Leiden (Netherlands), the Ecole Doctorale de Physique et d’Astrophysique (PHAST), Lyon (France) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany). The location for this training session is the city of Les Houches in the French Alps. Each training session consists of six courses of 4.5 to 9 hours each on current topics, presented by leading researchers from the organizing institutions, often complemented by more specialized research seminars. During the summer school there is much time for informal discussions between participants and lecturers. A poster session is organized, preceded by a short oral presentation enabling the participants to present their research interests to each other. 16
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The topics of the courses at the 2013 Les Houches summer school were: 1. Quantum information processing with superconducting circuits, L. Di Carlo (Delft) 2. Spins in semiconductor nanostructures, D. Ferrand (Grenoble) 3. Mesoscopic superconductivity, T.M.Klapwijk (Delft) 4. Topological phases, J. Meyer (Grenoble) 5. Scattering approach to quantum transport, Yu.V. Nazarov (Delft) 6. Dissipation in quantum mechanics, relaxation and decoherence, G. Schön (Karlsruhe) This is how one of the Casimir Pre-PhD students, Oleksiy Onishchenko, experienced the school: “You wake up early, walk in chilly mountain air, and observe the sunlight
finding its way thought the clouds and scattering off of the morning mist above the valley. You see the amazing people that you’ve met, you greet them with a smile and together enjoy some baguette and coffee or chocolate at breakfast. And while waiting for the first lecture, you start discussing some physics. You enjoy a nice espresso during the break between the first and the second lectures. The sun is now high in the sky, above the peaks and the valley, and the early morning mist has cleared. It’s a time to share what we learned and think of what we expect next. This is how days start in Les Houches, and they continue with more of the little discoveries that each person makes for herself or himself during the lectures. They also continue with friendly and warm interaction with the excellent professors and wonderful students participating in the school. It is a gathering where ideas are discussed, where research is enthusiastically described and debated. That is especially valuable. You see the beauty of nature in two ways in Les Houches. There’s its very real, objective beauty, which gets written on the blackboard, appears on presentation slides, comes up in countless discussions with the remarkable people that you meet. It is the structure of the world we live in, and it is contained in equations and measurements. This beauty is physics and math, the language of nature, in Richard Feynman’s words. During the intense two weeks in Les Houches, you get to touch the limits of how much we have already discovered and where we stand in our understanding. Personally, those limits really make me tick, because I want to look at what’s further, what wealth of unexplored beauty nature has. In this sense, the summer school is a great opportunity to quickly have a glimpse into current frontiers from multiple facets. That provides the basis from which one can learn further, build connections, and generate new ideas. Then there’s the other kind of nature’s beauty fully present in Les Houches. In very few instances does nature show its intangible aesthetic greatness as much as it does in the Alps. There are the clouds that approach you from the front on a hiking trail, and there’s the damp forest with a narrow path on a steep slope, which leads to a peak, where the white mountaintops come in full view. So, that is what math, the language of nature, says, right? You walk up there with some wonderful people, often talking about the ways in which nature expresses itself and how we understand it, and you catch the sights of what it has already said. It simply confirms the fact: nature is beautiful. In Les Houches, you have two very clear views: of the equations and of the snow-capped peaks. They fully complement each other. They each make the other one more inspiring and more enjoyable. Nature makes us tick, whether it appears on the blackboard or on the hiking trail. In Les Houches, it appears on both!”
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5. Awards and events Casimir PhD positions For a limited number of students within this track, a PhD position is guaranteed. This so-called prize-PhD position is co-funded by NWO, TU Delft and Leiden University independent of specific research funding. Students apply to these positions by writing a research proposal themselves. Other students within the Casimir pre-PhD track will have excellent PhD job prospects. In 2013, Jelmer Wagenaar was awarded with a Casimir PhD position. Jelmer Wagenaar
Hendrik Casimir prize
From left to right: Katy Wei, Tom van der Reep, Jan van Ruitenbeek, and Rommert Casimir
Every year, the Casimir Research School awards the Hendrik Casimir Prize to the best MSc students. The prize is based on the revenues from a donation by the late Josina CasimirJonker, widow of Hendrik Casimir. This year’s award winners were Katy Wei (Delft) and Tom van der Reep (Leiden). Both are excellent MSc students that have been selected because of their exceptional results, in experimental physics as well as in theoretical physics. The certificate and a sum of ₏ 750.- was awarded to Katy and Tom by Rommert Casimir, son of Hendrik Casimir.
Casimir Science Day On Friday 7 June 2013, about 120 Casimir staff members and students convened in Leiden for the biannual Casimir Science Day. The program included a keynote lecture by Lorentz professor H. Eugene Stanley, talks by Doris Heinrich, Sander Otte, and Martin Depken on their research, and updates by Joost Frenken and Leo diCarlo on two largescale research projects. Sytske Casimir, granddaughter of Hendrik Casimir, was present to award the Hendrik Casimir Prize and the Casimir PhD positions to the winners of 2012. For an impression of the Casimir Science Day, you can watch the videos of the symposium lectures on this webpage.
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APR
FEB
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6. Highlights of 2013
Ana Achúcarro receives Leiden University Science Faculty Best Teacher Award NWO-Rubicon grant for Guinevere Mathies
NWO-VICI grants for Koenraad Schalm and Tjerk Oosterkamp
Kick-off event NWO Gravity Program ‘Frontiers of Nanoscience’ (NanoFront) Former Casimir director Teun Klapwijk appointed ‘Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw’ PhD-student Hannes Bernien wins the EPJ Young Speakers contest
AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
Ronald Hanson’s research group (QN/Kavli) manages to bring two electrons, three metres from each other, into a quantum- entangled state NWO ECHO-funding for Michel Orrit’s project ‘Magic wand: Enhancing single weak emitters in the near field of a gold nanorod’
Bi-annual Casimir Science Day with keynote lecture by Lorentz professor Eugene H. Stanley
NWO-VENI grants for Marie-Eve Aubin-Tam (Real-time tracking of toxin invasion), Enrique Burzuri (Graphene and molecules for quantum computation), Tim Taminiau (Rectifying quantum errors), and Daniela Kraft (Spherical mosaics of various tiles) ERC Starting Grant for Grégory Schneider
EU-FET Young Explorers grant for Enrique Burzuri
ERC Advanced Grant for Teun Klapwijk NIH funding for Cees Dekker and Magnus Jonsson (equipping nanopores with ‘plasmonics’) Kavli Delft thesis prize for Martijn van Loenhout
Casimir re-accredited as research school for the coming six years
Shell Young Talent Graduation Prize for Casimir pre-PhD-alumni Christopher Watson and Jelmer Wagenaar Jan van Ruitenbeek was appointed as chair of the Netherlands Physical Society (Nederlandse Natuurkundige Vereniging) and Fellow of the American Physical Society ERC Synergy grant for Marileen Dogterom Joost Frenken appointed director of ARCN Amsterdam NWO-Rubicon for Jörn Venderbos to perform research at MIT
JUL
JUN
MAY
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Outlook to 2014 After such a successful year, what more can we ask for? We hope to enlarge our influx from abroad: Casimir can play a role in attracting talent to Leiden-Delft at all levels. Currently, there are about 20 students enrolled in our MSc-specialization, the Casimir Pre-PhD program, which prepares a student for a PhD. Our alumni all managed to find such PhD positions, either in Delft, Leiden, or elsewhere (Twente, Stanford,…). Our ‘join in our footsteps’ campaign did not go unnoticed: international traffic to our website increased during the period that we actively campaigned and resulted in several promising interviews. In 2014 we hope to receive even more applications for our PhD position openings. In May, our PhD students and postdocs will organize the fifth edition of the Casimir Spring School ‘Sun, Sailing and Science’ in Arnemuiden. This event is one of the reasons we have such a vital and well-connected research community. In 2014, we will celebrate 10 years of Casimir. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to its success in the past ten years. Let us continue in the spirit of these first ten years and aim for at least another ten years of successful Delft-Leiden collaboration in PhD education.
Leiden, April 2014 Prof. dr. Jan M. van Ruitenbeek, Scientific Director
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Appendix - Casimir theses 2013 The PhD theses published in 2013 by Casimir PhD students are listed below. Upon request, Casimir provides the PhD students with an ISBN number for their theses; these theses together form the “Casimir PhD Series”. The four students that did not make use of this arrangement are not mentioned in the list below. Cubrovic, M.: Holography, Fermi Surfaces and Criticality Promotor: Prof.dr. J. Zaanen February 27th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-1
Iakubovskyi, D.: Constraining properties of dark matter particles using astrophysical data Promotor: Prof.dr. A. Achúcarro February 13th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-2
Mubeen, I.: Conductance of Perovskite Oxide thin Films and Interfaces Promotor: Prof. dr. J. Aarts February 6th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-3
Tirumalasetty, G.K.: Mechanics in Steels through Microscopy Promotor: Prof.dr. H.W. Zandbergen February 25th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-4
Padurariu, C.: Spin, Vibrations and Radiation in Superconducting Junctions Promotor: Prof.dr. Y.V. Nazarov February 18th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-5
Hashemi Shabestari, M.: Spin-Label EPR on Disordered and Amyloid Proteins Promotor: Prof.dr. E. Groenen April 16th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-6
Lanzani, G.: DNA mechanics inside plectonemes, nuclesomes and chromatin fiber Promotor: Prof.dr. H. Schiessel October 2nd, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-7
Meerwaldt, H.B.: Carbon nanotubes as electromechanical resonators: Single-electron tunneling, nonlinearity, and high-bandwidth readout Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. H.S.J. van der Zant April 3rd, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-8
Schramm, S.: Imaging with Aberration-Corrected Low Energy Electron Microscopy Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. R.M. Tromp April 25th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-9
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Report 2013
Alos Palop, M.: Adiabatic quantum pumping via Dirac fermions Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. G.E.W. Bauer April 26th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-10
Beijnum, F. van: Scattering, loss, and gain of surface plasmons Promotor: Prof.dr. G.W. ‘t Hooft April 15th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-11
Haverkate, L.: Charge carrier transport on the nanoscale Promotor: Prof.dr. F.M. Mulder February 2nd, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-12
Grzech, A.: Hydrogen Storage in Porous Materials and Magnesium Hydrides Promotor: Prof.dr. F.M. Mulder February 26th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-13
Chimento, P.: Two-dimensional Optics: Diffraction and dispersion of surface plasmons Promotores: Prof. dr. E.R. Eliel and prof.dr. G.W. ‘t Hooft May 22nd, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-14
Goossens, S.: Confinement of charge carriers in bilayer graphene Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. L.M.K. Vandersypen May 17th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-15
Akkilic, N.: Fluorescent Electrochemistry: Towards Controlled-Redox Switching of a single Metalloprotein Promotoren: Prof.dr. T.J. Aartsma, Prof.dr. G.W. Canters June 20th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-16
Yorulmaz, M.: Absorption, luminescence and scattering of single nano-objects Promotor: Prof.dr. M.A.G.J. Orrit June 26th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-17
Vercruyssen, N.: Non-equilibrium electron transport in mesoscale superconducting hybrids Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. T.M. Klapwijk June 4th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-18
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Report 2013
Tabak, F.: Towards high-speed scanning tunneling microscopy Promotor: Prof.dr. J.W.M. Frenken June 5th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-19
Braakman, F.: Coherrent Coupling of Qubits in Small Quantum Dot Arrays Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. L.M.K. Vandersypen June 21st, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-20
Siemens, A.: Elasticity and Plasticity: Foams near Jamming Promotor: Prof.dr. M.L. van Hecke September 12th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-21
Calado, V.E.: Graphene Nanodevices Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. L.M.K. Vandersypen September 13th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-22
Yuan, H.: Single Molecules in Soft Matter: A study of Biomolecular Conformation, Heterogeneity and Plasmon Enhanced Fluorescence Promotor: Prof.dr. M.A.G.J. Orrit October 29th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-23
Wijts, G.: Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy at milliKelvin Temperatures Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. T.H. Oosterkamp November 12th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-24
Rademaker, L.: Fermions and Bosons: Excitons in strongly correlated materials Promotores: Prof.dr. J. Zaanen and prof.dr.ir. H. Hilgenkamp September 19th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-25
Dukalski, M.: On Quantum Entanglement, Measurement and Decoherence in Nanosystems Promotor: Prof.dr. Y.M. Blanter October 15th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-26
Fulga, I.C.: Scattering theory of topological phase transitions Promotor: Prof.dr. C.W.J. Beenakker November 21st, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-27
Upadhyaya, N.: Solitary waves and fluctuations in fragile matter Promotor: Prof.dr. M.L. van Hecke May 11th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-28
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Report 2013
Pikulin, D.: On topological properties of superconducting nanowires Promotores: Prof.dr. C.W.J. Beenakker and prof.dr. Yu.V. Nazarov (TU Delft) November 26th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-29
Verbiest, G.: Unravelling Heterodyne Force Microscopy Promotor: Prof.dr. T.H. Oosterkamp November 19th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-30
Godschalk, F.: The half-Josephson laser: essentials and applications Promotor: Prof.dr. Y.V. Nazarov January 9th, 2014
Casimir PhD series, 2013-31
Leitao, J.: Thermomagnetic studies on transition metal pnictides Promotor: Prof.dr. E.H. Br端ck January 17th, 2014
Casimir PhD series, 2013-32
Woldhuis, E.: Foam Rheology near the Jamming Transition Promotor: Prof.dr. M.L. van Hecke December 11th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-33
Pfaff, W.: Quantum measurement and entanglement of spin quantum bits in diamond Promotores: Prof.dr.ir. L.P. Kouwenhoven and prof.dr.ir. R. Hanson December 20th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-34
Shafiei, M.: Electrical Control, Read-out and Initialization of Single Electron Spins Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. L.M.K. Vandersypen December 17th, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-35
Bernien, H: Control, measurement and entanglement of remote quantum spin registers in diamond Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. R. Hanson October 2nd, 2013
Casimir PhD series, 2013-36
Verhagen, T.: Magnetism and magnetization dynamics in thin film ferromagnets Promotores: Prof.dr. J. Aarts and prof.dr. J.M. van Ruitenbeek February 26th, 2014
Casimir PhD series, 2013-37
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Report 2013