Doctoral training
QUANCOM is a competitive Doctoral Training Unit (DTU) supported by the research funding scheme PRIDE of the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR).

Career development
Training and career development
The QUANCOM doctoral candidates will be trained as quantum physicists with a very solid foundation of condensed matter physics, especially in (i) ab-initio calculations, (ii) quantum optics and quantum information and (iii) statistical mechanics with a specific strength in understanding nonequilibrium quantum properties in different models (integrable, chaotic, low-dimensional, molecular) across the different time scales. The training will be structured among 3 pillars: i) doctoral school training, mainly for transferable skills, ii) DTU in-house tailored training and career development, and iii) DTU tailored training by external partners.
Doctoral schools and doctoral program
The doctoral candidates in the DTU will be enrolled into the Doctoral School in Science and Engineer (DSSE). The DSSE offers 7 programs including the Physics and Material Sciences (DPPM). The program offers specialized modules in disciplinary training, interdisciplinary training and transferable skills, detailed in the table below. The DTU training program will be included in the course program with the corresponding ECTS.
QUANCOM training
Our training strategy aims to provide doctoral candidates with a solid foundation of theory and experiments. In addition to the individual research project, the candidates will have the opportunity to exchange through weekly quantum forums to encourage discussion on the research questions, challenges and approaches. This weekly meeting will gather the QUANCOM doctoral candidates, who will start with a 5-min round table each on their weekly updates, and 1 PI of the DTU (rotating each week). The follow-up discussion will revolve around lectures and workshops featuring prominent experts throughout the duration of the DTU program. A retreat will be held annually for all PIs and doctoral candidates.
Training of multifaceted physicists
The training programme aims to build a framework for the quantum-smart workforce through rigorous training on fundamental theory (non-adiabatic dynamics, quantum transport, control techniques, nonequilibrium phase transition, complexity
of quantum dynamics), computational tools (ab-initial calculations, machine learning, many-body perturbation theory, large deviation techniques, path integral, random matrices theory, etc), and experience on an optical setup (ultrafast laser pulses). The common courses will form the students in modern physics; in addition, a second-phase training will offer demand-driven courses which are tailored to skills needed by the group of students. These will be identified from the weekly meetings and discussed in the midterm retreat before being implemented.
Career development
Luxembourg offers a unique environment for doctoral students to grow as researchers. UniLu offers transferable skills, including career development, lecturing and teaching, proposal writing, presentation and communication skills, project management, academic best practices, open science, IP management, as well as entrepreneurship training. FNR, Luxinnovation and Research Luxembourg offer workshops on grant writing, events for science communication, training on spin-offs and business skills and various opportunities to engage in public outreach (Chercheurs à l’école, Scicom events, etc.). There are also mentor programs for researchers, such as ADVANCE. QUANCOM’s goal is to build competent and resilient researchers who bridge the gap across different physics disciplines, constituting a cohort of solid, creative physicists capable of shaping the second quantum revolution.
Doctoral courses
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Aim & workload
Number of ECTS: 1
In-person course workload (hrs): 12
Homework workload (hrs): 8Introduction of the tools to describe the dynamics of quantum systems interacting with an environment.
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Organiser
AC, ME
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Aim & workload
Number of ECTS: 1
In-person course workload (hrs): 15
Homework workload (hrs): 10This course will give an introduction to quantum optics: quantization of the electromagnetic field,
quantum states of light and their representation, atom-field interaction, cavity QED, Jaynes-Cummings model, squeezed light, optical master equation. -
Organiser
AC + group
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Aim & workload
Number of ECTS: 1
In-person course workload (hrs): 10
Homework workload (hrs): 6Introduction to the different hardwares for quantum platforms, including SC qubits, topological qubits, colored centers.
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Organiser
AdC, DB, AC
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Aim & workload
Number of ECTS: 1
In-person course workload (hrs): 15
Homework workload (hrs): 10This course will introduce the basics of quantum computation and information and its intersection with cryptography. It includes presenting the positive aspect of quantum computation in cryptographic applications (such as quantum key distribution protocols) and presenting the negative aspect of quantum computation to classical cryptographic constructions due to period finding quantum algorithms (Shor’s algorithm).
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Organiser
AdC, ME, SnT
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Aim & workload
Number of ECTS: 1
In-person course workload (hrs): 15
Homework workload (hrs): 10Foundations of the statistical approach to quantum mechanics first for closed systems: full counting statistics, laws of thermodynamics, fluctuation theorems, Jarzynski equality for closed quantum systems, and then for open systems using master equations and path integral approaches (Redfield equation, Keldysh contour techniques). Applications to quantum optics.
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Organiser
ME group
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Aim & workload
Number of ECTS: 1
In-person course workload (hrs): 15
Homework workload (hrs): 10Path integrals for fermionic and bosonic fields, field theoretical approaches for quantum Hall systems and superconductors (Chern-Simons theory, Ginzburg-Landau theory), topological field theory.
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Organiser
TS
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Aim & workload
Number of ECTS: 1
In-person course workload (hrs): 15
Homework workload (hrs): 10The content of the course includes the description of the fundamental concepts necessaries to observe phenomena at the femtosecond scale and beyond. The course will introduce the experimental techniques and what can be observed in experiments.
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Organiser
DB