Jelena Vučković named MPQ Distinguished Scholar

The new MPQ Distinguished Scholar, Professor of Electrical Engineering and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics at Stanford University, is currently a Visiting Scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics

March 28, 2019

The Board of Directors of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics has named Jelena Vučković as an MPQ Distinguished Scholar. The Stanford University (USA) professor receives the award in recognition of her groundbreaking contributions to the field of Nanoscale and Quantum Photonics. She has started her research visit in the beginning of March and will work with the five scientific divisions over the next several months.

The new MPQ Distinguished Scholar devoted her inaugural lecture on 19 March 2019 to “optimized quantum photonics”. In this context, Immanuel Bloch, Deputy Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, presented her with the certificate confirming the conferral of her new honour. "We look forward to working closely with Jelena Vučković, a scientist with outstanding expertise in the field of experimental quantum science and technology and with many connections to the current research at our Institute," says Immanuel Bloch. "As a member of the Scientific Advisory Board, I already know the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and the work of its directors very well. I am looking forward to the intensive scientific exchange in the coming months," says Jelena Vučković.

MPQ Distinguished Scholar Program

The Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics strives for close cooperation with renowned scientists worldwide. Under the MPQ Distinguished Scholar Program, up to two guest researchers can work at the Institute for three to six months within a period of up to three years and receive an honorarium covering living costs and travel expenses. Scholarship holders are exempt from teaching duties and can devote themselves fully to research and scientific exchange. Candidates are nominated by the directors of the institute on the basis of their scientific excellence; direct applications are not possible.

Stanford Professor Jelena Vučković

Jelena Vučković is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and (by courtesy) of Applied Physics at Stanford University, where she heads the Nanoscale and Quantum Photonics Lab. She and her group carry out research on optics and light manipulation at the nanoscale. She is also Director of Q-FARM (Quantum Fundamentals, Architecture and Machines), a facility of the Stanford-SLAC Quantum Initiative, which builds on the theoretical and practical work in quantum science and technology at Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. In Stanford, she is also involved in the Ginzton Lab, the PULSE Institute, the SIMES Institute and Bio-X.

She received her doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering in 2002 from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). She then worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Applied Physics at Stanford University. In 2003 she moved to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, where she has been a professor since 2013. She has also done research in Germany – as a Humboldt Prize Winner (2010) in the Institute of Physics at the Humboldt University in Berlin, and as Hans Fischer Senior Fellow (2013) in the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Other awards include the Marko V. Jaric Prize for Excellence in Physics (2012), the DARPA Young Faculty Award (2008), and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE 2007). Professor Vučković not only serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, but is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), the Optical Society of America (OSA) and the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE).

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