Two researchers in Slovenia get ERC consolidator grants
Ljubljana, 3 December - Matjaž Humar and Andrii Tykhonov, researchers at the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS), have obtained European Research Council (ERC) grants to consolidate their independent research careers. Humar will develop new sources of quantum light in soft and biological matter, while Tykhonov will try to accurately detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.
Humar and Tykhonov have been picked as part of the latest ERC call for applications, the results of which were published by the European Commission on Wednesday.
The sole two projects developed by researchers from Slovenia in the competition are among the 328 projects selected for financing from a total of 2,313 applications from all over the world.
The IJS said on Tuesday that the consolidator grants have been given to Humar and Tykhonov as top-level scientists who had received ERC starting grants in the past.
The two projects will be carried out at the Ljubljana-based research institute, which is now implementing ten ERC research projects as a host institution, and this time also the first in space science.
The approved project by Humar, who is the head of the Laboratory for Biological and Soft Photonics and Quantum Optics at the Condensed Matter Physics Department, is worth over EUR 2.3 million.
The objective of the five-year SoftQuanta project is to develop previously non-existent sources of quantum light in soft and biological matter on the basis of liquid crystals.
Like liquid crystal displays (LCDs) can change the brightness and colour of individual elements of the image, it is now expected that it will also be possible to change the quantum properties of light, i.e. develop a "quantum LCD".
Single-photon light sources in biological materials will also be used for new applications, such as cell labelling and the production of a fully biological single-photon source.
The new light sources expected to be developed will have a major impact on quantum sensing, imaging, communications and even quantum computing, and the project has the potential to radically transform quantum optics, the IJS said.
Tykhonov, a Ukrainian-born astrophysicist who obtained his PhD in Slovenia, will continue his research work in the country with a new five-year ERC project worth EUR 2 million, called PeVGALAXY.
The objective of the project is to accurately detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays for the first time, which would enable scientists to precisely determine the source of the most powerful star explosions in our galaxy.
By using measurements of cosmic rays, the project aims to solve one of the great mysteries of modern science - the nature of dark matter, which makes up most of the mass of the universe, while eluding direct detection, the IJS said.