About us
Image: Isolated System, Illustr. Alex Rommel
In the image on the left you see an isolated system. While in physics we like to study isolated systems, it is better not to study like one. To make the most of your student experience, it is important to learn with and from the people around you. This is why we want to give you the opportunity to ask us questions about our study experiences and our work.
We have already gained quite a bit of insight into student life over the years and are happy to share our insights. We are also in close contact with the StV Physik and have curated our current program to the expected needs of young students. We are also very happy to learn from you, what you are interested in and how we can help you make the most of your study experience.
Here for you!
Mirte van der Eyden (Co-President)
Mirte.van-der-Eyden@uibk.ac.atI work in the group of Gemma de les Coves, on the mathematics of tensors in combination with positivity. Quantum states are positive matrices, and the tensor product plays an important role in describing systems with multiple particles. In the interaction between the tensor product and positivity are many intersting mathematical problems to solve. I like teaching and giving talks, and my dream is to give lectures at university and help many students to understand abstract ideas.
As a PhD student in the group of Hans Briegel, I explore the intersection of causal machine learning and quantum information. Causal machine learning is a promising method for improving the generalization capabilities of learning agents. I am particularly interested in investigating the potential advantages of leveraging quantum systems, and measurements thereof, for causal inference, with the end goal of developing the automation of scientific discovery.
Maria Flors Mor Ruiz (Co-President)
I am a PhD student in Wolfgang Dür's group , where I do research on quantum communication. The long-term goal of this topic is to establish a Quantum Internet that will bring new and enhanced functionalities to the field of communication. My research is focused on the effect of imperfections, e.g., asymmetry and noise, on quantum networks, as a crucial step towards building realistic protocols to make the Quantum Internet a reality.
Lea M. Trenkwalder (Co-Founder)
I work in the group of Hans Briegel, where I spend my days designing machine learning algorithms that help us solve complex problems in quantum information. I am especially interested in reinforcement learning algorithms. The central idea of reinforcement learning is that an entity, called agent, learns to solve a task by interacting with its environment and receiving negative and positive feedback for its actions.
Andrea López Incera (Co-Founder)
andrea.lopez-incera@uibk.ac.at
I am a PhD student in Hans Briegel’s group. I model collective behaviour of animals such as locusts or bees using multi-agent reinforcement learning. I also apply artificial intelligence in the context of automated research experiments and collaborate with philosophers to investigate how AI will influence scientific discovery. I am really passionate about outreach and the didactics of physics.
I am a PhD student working in the group of Konstanze Zwintz. My research focuses on early stellar evolution with emphasis on asteroseismology - stellar pulsations. I work with observations from different space telescopes as well as numerical tools to model the earliest evolution of stars.
silvia.casulleras-guardia@uibk.ac.at
I am a PhD student in Oriol Romero-Isart’s group. I work on understanding how electromagnetic and magnetization fields are affected in the presence of micro- or nanoscopic bodies. The unusual properties of fields at the nanoscale can be used for classical information processing or for manipulating quantum systems. Right now, I focus on studying the dynamics of spin-wave pulses propagating inside magnetic materials. These pulses are excitations of the magnetization of the material that have a quantum origin.
I am a PhD student in Oriol Romero-Isart's group. One of the main motivations of our group is to understand the fundamental limits of quantum physics. For that reason, we are currently working together with experimental groups in order to prepare a macroscopic object in a spatial superposition. In this context, my current research focus consists on developing a numerical simulator able to describe the quantum dynamics of such largely delocalized objects.
I work on a quantum simulator in the group of Rudi Grimm at the institute of Experimental Physics. My lab is in the basement where I spend most of my time manipulating ultracold atoms with the aid of lasers. The purpose of our quantum simulator is to shed light on processes (formation of quasiparticles) that cannot be calculated, predicted or observed in any other system.