Delft-Leiden Casimir Research School The Delft-Leiden Casimir Research School offers an advanced European scientific atmosphere to ambitious and talented MSc and PhD students interested in physics. The school focuses on academic research, which crosses the traditional boundaries between fundamental and applied research and cooperates between the scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology and astronomy. 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, professor in Theoreti-
MSc and PhD studies
cal Physics, whose involvement in fundamental as well as applied
The Casimir Research School accepts about thirty PhD students
physics left many traces in the Dutch scientific landscape. He is
and a selected group of maximum thirty MSc students per year.
best known for his discovery of the so-called Casimir effect and
The duration of the PhD-study is four years, which is strictly
for his visions on science and research-management.
monitored to ensure that most PhD students finish their thesis within this time frame. The MSc study takes two years, although
Combining research
accelerated programmes are individually possible based on previ-
Casimir aims to help gifted students to become great scientists
ously completed studies.
by giving them extra opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge. One method is combining different branches of research. This challenges the students and results in interesting and cutting-edge science.
Graduate School of Science
Graduate School of Science P.O. Box 9502 2300 RA Leiden www.science.leidenuniv.nl/graduateschool Delft-Leiden Casimir Research School Hugyens Niels Bohrweg 2 2333 CA Leiden www.casimir.researchschool.nl
Fields of research and education
International embedding
The Casimir school offers research programmes and teaching
Research within Casimir benefits from the strong international
programmes in six focus areas:
position of the Lorentz Center at Leiden and the Kavli Institute
- Molecular biophysics
of Nanoscience at Delft, leading to a flux of experienced and
- Physics of nanostructures
talented post-docs and visiting scholars. At both universities all
- Quantum information and quantum optics
lectures, seminars and colloquia are given in English and under-
- Quantum matter and functional materials
graduate and graduate theses are written in English. Joost Frenken heads the Interface Physics Group
- Universe physics: theory and instrumentation
Funding opportunities
that concentrates on a variety of dynamic surface and
Funding for PhD positions is usually provided by research-grants
interface phenomena, such as diffusion and growth,
Gateway to a research career
to individual professors. A PhD position is a full-time employ-
catalysis and nanotribology, with a strong emphasis
Graduates with an MSc or PhD degree find their way for example
ment position with a salary that is comparable to entrance level
on the live observation of atomic-scale processes
to academic institutions abroad and to many small high-tech
salaries in industry. There is no tuition fee. The Casimir Research
under relevant conditions. Frenken is the Scientific
companies. Also large international companies are a possibil-
School makes ten entrance-PhD grants available for exception-
Director of the SmartMix Program on Nano-Imaging
ity, of which many are based in the Netherlands such as Philips,
ally gifted PhD students. In addition students are accepted who
under Industrial Conditions (NIMIC) and Program
Shell, Akzo, DSM, ING and ABN-AMRO.
bring their own financial support.
Director of the NanoNext program on Nanoinspection
- Dynamic complex systems
For the MSc study scholarships are available through the
and Characterization. He has received several presti-
Top-Ranking researchers and lecturers
university, the Erasmus-Mundus programme, and for
gious national and international awards, such as the
In international rankings the cluster of researchers participating
European students through their country’s student
IUVSTA Science Prize in 2004, the Jacob Kistemaker
in Casimir is identified as belonging to the top of the European
support programmes.
Prize in 2006 and an ERC Advanced Research Grant
research universities, as testified by the publication and citation
in 2010. In 2008, Frenken was installed as a member
record of the individual professors. Many professors have won
of the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences. Frenken
prestigious European and national prizes and grants. They also
is co-founder of the spin-off company Leiden Probe
participate in major international programmes.
Microscopy BV.
Graduate School of Science