A wealth of inspiration

07 July 2024

With a bit of a delay, we look back on our recent IQST retreat for early-career research­ers. Held at the pictur­esque Reisens­burg castle near Ulm, the event once again combined excel­lent science, soft-skills train­ing and plenty of oppor­tun­it­ies for discus­sion and network­ing, to inspire and foster collab­or­a­tion across groups and institutions.

It was a partic­u­lar pleas­ure and privilege that also this year so many leading inter­na­tional research­ers came to share their enthu­si­asm and insights into an excit­ingly broad range of scientific topics:



  • Dr. Sieglinde Pfaend­ler (IBM) on future perspect­ives for quantum technologies
  • Prof. Urbasi Sinha (Raman Research Insti­tute) on secure quantum communication
  • Dr. Gerard McCaul (Tulane Univer­sity) on quantum dynam­ical emulation
  • Prof. Friedemann Reinhard (Universität Rostock) on challenges for quantum sensing
  • Dr. Laeti­tia Farin­acci (Univer­sity of Stutt­gart) on ESR, pump–probe spectro­scopy and STM
  • Prof. Markus Münzen­berg (Universität Greif­swald) on ultra­fast spintronics
  • Prof. Markus Gräfe (Technis­che Universität Darmstadt) on quantum imaging
  • Dr. Philipp Preiss (Max Planck Insti­tute of Quantum Optics) on quantum simula­tion using ultracold atoms

In addition to such enlight­en­ing scientific discourse, the retreat is also a platform for acquir­ing valuable trans­fer­able skills, this year with career coach Dr. Iris Köhler provid­ing advice and guidance on assess­ing one’s own competencies. 

An equally import­ant part of the retreat is the present­a­tion of parti­cipants’ own results in poster sessions. These provided a lively forum for sharing insights and ideas — with a touch of compet­i­tion, as two posters were to be awarded prizes. The prize eventu­ally went to two deserving winners, Dr. Manisha Samanta (Max-Planck Insti­tute for Solid State Research, Stutt­gart, Germany) and Jonathan Körber (Univer­sity of Stutt­gart). The discus­sions contin­ued over coffee breaks and dinners, and during the highlight of the social activ­it­ies — an excit­ing canoe trip.

Once again, our cordial thanks go to every­one who made this retreat a success, first and foremost our esteemed speak­ers, and the PhD Repres­ent­at­ives Niklas Gaiser, Manee­sha Ismail, Takuya Kitamura, Shreya Kumar, Rouven Maier, Jose Manuel Monter­ro­sas Romero and Mirko Rossini as well as IQST Science and Commu­nic­a­tion Manager Dimitra Kanta who organ­ized this inspir­ing event. 

(Photos: Dimitra Kanta)