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Francesca Ferlaino has taken over as managing director of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) and has started her second period in this role.

Francesca previously served as managing director of the IQOQI from 2019 to 2022. After a few years, she is now returning to the position and will lead the institute for the next two years.

At the same time, we would like to warmly thank Gerhard Kirchmair, whose term as managing director recently came to an end. Over the past two years, Gerhard has done a wonderful job and dedicated a great deal of time and effort to leading the institute. We sincerely thank him for his commitment and valuable work.

During Gerhard’s term, Francesca Ferlaino served as his deputy. In her new term as managing director, Hannes Pichler will take over as deputy managing director and will support Francesca in this role.

We look forward to the next two years and wish Francesca and Hannes every success in their new roles!

On September 29, our group enjoyed an exciting canyoning adventure in Achenkirch. Thanks to the beautiful summer-like temperatures, the day was even more enjoyable and full of fun. After many jumps in the waterfalls of the canyon, we relaxed with a picnic by the stunning Achensee, enjoying the sunshine, great company, and beautiful scenery.

It was a fantastic day that combined adventure, nature, and lots of fun together!

Francesca is one of the organizers of SPARK (Advancing Research and Knowledge), a new format for scientific meetings at DIPC. Each year, one or more events will bring together around 30 scientists for a four-week self-organized program focused on a selected research topic.

Participants will engage in small-group collaborations, informal seminars, tutorials, and lectures. They will, in principle, be hosted at DIPC, facilitating active participation of local researchers and fostering exchanges between scientists with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, potentially leading to new ideas and collaborations.

This format has been designed to provide the ideal setting for the exchange of ideas among researchers from different fields and with diverse perspectives, fostering collaboration and the development of new research approaches.

The program will also include a satellite workshop open to the whole scientific community.

Find more information here.

We were delighted to see Francesca at the gala podium at FFG Forum 2026, bringing together leading voices from business, research and innovation to discuss the future of Austria’s economic and technology landscape.

This year’s forum focused on the potential of key technologies and the ecosystems needed to successfully bring innovation into application. The discussions highlighted both the opportunities and challenges ahead — and the importance of creating the right conditions for innovation to thrive.

Each year, Forbes Italia selects its 100 most successful women — executives, scientists, athletes, and artists who are leading and transforming the country. In 2026, Francesca is one of them. Congratulations to Francesca on this well-deserved recognition of her outstanding work! See the full list here.

Over the past few days in Innsbruck, we had the pleasure of welcoming talented bachelor, master, and early PhD students to explore the fascinating world of ultracold quantum matter.

The program featured twelve inspiring lectures by experts from Innsbruck, Vienna, and Trento, covering topics ranging from laser cooling and trapping to Bose–Einstein condensation, ultracold Fermi gases, ultracold molecules, strongly correlated quantum gases, and optical lattices. Participants also had the opportunity to visit the state-of-the-art laboratories at the Universität Innsbruck and the Institut für Quantenoptik und Quanteninformation (IQOQI) in Innsbruck, gaining firsthand insight into cutting-edge research.

A heartfelt thank you to all the lecturers for sharing their expertise, to the students for their enthusiasm, curiosity, and engaging discussions, and to everyone who contributed to making this event a success.

Thanks to my fellow organizers, Grimm Rudolf and Hanns-Christoph Naegerl, and to Silvia Bonazza for her outstanding administrative support in making this Summer School possible.

We hope this experience has inspired the next generation of researchers in quantum science, and we look forward to welcoming you again at future editions!

📸 Image credit: David Jordan / IQOQI