Center for Ultracold Atoms and Quantum Gases, IExP and IQOQI, Innsbruck
Sarah Embacher 
Riccardo Donofrio, PhD student in the Treqs Lab, has been awarded with the best poster prize for his poster “A tweezer platform for erbium Rydberg physics” at the Winter School of Ultracold Quantum Many-Body Systems that took place at the Benasque Science Center in the beginning of February. Congrats, Riccardo!
Francesca was invited to sign the Golden Book of the City of Innsbruck — an elegant and historic honorary book in which high-ranking guests and distinguished figures from politics, culture, sport, and science inscribe their names during official receptions at City Hall. Each entry is carefully prepared in advance by a professional calligrapher, highlighting the special significance of this tradition.
The invitation followed her recognition as Austria’s Scientist of the Year. Innsbruck’s mayor Johannes Anzengruber warmly congratulated Francesca and emphasized how proud the city is of her achievement.
The visit marked a meaningful gesture of appreciation from the City of Innsbruck for her outstanding accomplishments.
A warm welcome to Fabio Castañeda-Vopato who is joining our group as a PhD student for the construction of the new Dysprosium lab in Innsbruck!
Fabio completed his Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and his Master’s degree in Physics of Matter at the University of Padova, Italy. His studies focused on quantum technologies on different platforms, as he worked on transmon-based quantum sensors for the axion dark matter candidate in both his master’s thesis at INFN and during a two-month academic internship at SQMS, Fermilab in the USA.
He approached th field of dipolar quantum gases during his Erasmus semester, while working in the Quantum Fluid group of Prof. Lauriane Chomaz at Heidelberg University for a five-months internship.
We are happy to share that Francesca is selected to be part of the “Quantum 100” for UNESCO’s International Year of Quantum Science and Technology!
💡 It’s exciting to see how the Quantum 100 provides a snapshot of the diverse community in quantum science — with career paths spanning academia, industry, education, art, culture, journalism, and policy.
Read Francesca’s story here!
Apply now for the Aurora excellence fellowship program for visiting Master and PhD students! Travel expenses and accommodation will be fully covered. More information in the “Openings 2026” menu.
A warm welcome to Eder Vera-Guzman!
Eder completed his bachelor studies at Yachay Tech University, San Miguel de Urcuquí, Ecuador. FOr his Master studies, he was awarded with a full scholarship to the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master QUARMEN, where he spent one semester at Rome studying physics. He completed his master’s thesis at Thales Research & Technology on laser architectures for the control of quantum systems right across Institut d’Optique Graduate School where he also received lectures.
Eder is joining our group for a collaborative PhD stay for the construction of the new Dysprosium lab in Donostia, San Sebastian.