Colloquia

The MPQ Colloquium is held on Tuesdays at 2:30 pm.
The MCQST Colloquium takes place on Tuesdays at 2:00 pm.

The talks will take place in Herbert Walther Lecture Hall. Details on how to participate online are distributed via the mailing lists [wiss-mpq] and [Mpq-colloquium-stream]. To receive this information, please register using the attached link.

Scientific organization of the talks: Dr. Stephan Dürr and Prof. Thomas Udem

DOUBLE FEATURE Dr. Zhiyuan Wang and Dr. Vitaly Wirthl

Date: Jun 10, 2025
Time: 02:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Dr. Zhiyuan Wang and Dr. Vitaly Wirthl
Theory Division, MPQ and Laser Spectroscopy Division, MPQ
Location: Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Hans-Kopferman-Straße 1, 85748 Garching
Room: Herbert Walther Lecture Hall

DOUBLE FEATURE Dr. Zhiyuan Wang and Dr. Vitaly Wirthl [more]

“Quantum Computers and Raising Schrödinger's Cat” (Prof. David Wineland)

Date: Jun 17, 2025
Time: 02:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Prof. David Wineland
Phillip H. Knight Distinguished Research Chair, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
Location: Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Hans-Kopferman-Straße 1, 85748 Garching
Room: Herbert Walther Lecture Hall
Host: Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics

Two energy levels of an atom can represent a binary bit of information. Quantum systems can also exist in “superposition states”, storing both states of the bit simultaneously - a quantum bit or “qubit.” N qubits could store 2N binary numbers yielding an exponential increase in memory and processing capacity. Qubit operations with trapped atomic ions are described, and could eventually lead to an analog of Schrödinger's famous cat. [more]

DOUBLE FEATURE M.Sc. Simon Karch and M.Sc. Renhao Tao

Date: Jun 24, 2025
Time: 02:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: M.Sc. Simon Karch and M.Sc. Renhao Tao
Quantum Optics Group, LMU and Quantum Many-Body-Systems Division, MPQ
Location: Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Hans-Kopferman-Straße 1, 85748 Garching
Room: Herbert Walther Lecture Hall

DOUBLE FEATURE M.Sc. Simon Karch and M.Sc. Renhao Tao [more]

“tba” (MCQST) (Prof. Markus Aspelmeyer)

Date: Jul 1, 2025
Time: 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Prof. Markus Aspelmeyer
University of Vienna, Austria
Location: Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Hans-Kopferman-Straße 1, 85748 Garching
Room: Herbert Walther Lecture Hall
Host: MCQST

tba [more]

“Restoring Vision Using Optogenetics” (Prof. Botond Roska)

Date: Jul 8, 2025
Time: 02:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Prof. Botond Roska
IOB Basel, Switzerland
Location: Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Hans-Kopferman-Straße 1, 85748 Garching
Room: Herbert Walther Lecture Hall
Host: Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics

I will present our work developing optogenetic vision restoration technologies for blind patients with retinal degenerative diseases. I will discuss how we transform surviving retinal cells into photoreceptor-like cells capable of responding to light stimuli. Our approach has progressed from initial proof-of-concept studies in animal models to clinical applications in blind human patients, demonstrating meaningful visual perception restoration. [more]