Youngest Danish researcher receives ERC grant

A University of Copenhagen academic has been awarded a €2.5m Advanced Grant from the European Research Council for his ‘Scalable Quantum Photonic Networks’ project.

Professor Peter Lodahl, head of the quantum photonics research group, won the funding to help develop technology for quantum communication based on circuits of light, rather than circuits based on electrons. The group has developed the world’s most effective photon gun integrated on an optical chip, meaning they can completely control the photons. This is the ultimate control over the interaction between matter and light and provides new opportunities for fundamental experiments and new technology.

The academic believes quantum information will be the technology of the future: “It is a big challenge in quantum physics today to get the experiments that work on a small scale developed at a larger scale, so that it also works outside the lab and can become a practical reality and work as a quantum network.

“We want to take on this challenge,” adds Lodahl, who is the youngest Danish researcher to receive an ERC Advanced Grant. “Our method is now becoming ripe for the development of quantum photonic networks.”

Only 34 Danish researchers have received an Advanced Grant from the ERC; total applications for this type of grant this year are around 2,250. Lodahl’s grant lasts for five years.