NEWS

We're delighted to share insights from the practical workshop on implementing Horizon Europe projects, where Anna Raiter-Smiljanic from our team participated alongside practitioners and experts from Poland's research and business sectors. The event, organised by the Branżowy Punkt Kontaktowy Przemysł 4.0 in collaboration with Branżowy Punkt Kontaktowy BGK Energia, brought together a diverse group of institutions committed to European-funded research and innovation.

For the EUCENTRAL Project funded under hasztag#HorizonEurope, this workshop proved particularly relevant. Building and maintaining effective cross-border partnerships, managing communication in dispersed teams, handling project amendments, and ensuring financial compliance from implementation through audit are all challenges we are actively dealing with in our project, making them particularly relevant to discuss. Anna shared our experiences alongside colleagues from across Polish academia and industry.

The discussions covered essential themes - from consortium building and partner verification, through strategic communication and change management, to budget planning and financial governance. These aren't abstract principles for us; they're practical realities we address daily. What struck us most was how universal these challenges are across different sectors and project types, and how valuable peer-to-peer learning becomes when navigating complex, multi-partner European initiatives.

To colleagues considering or currently managing Horizon Europe projects: if you're building consortia or scaling research collaborations, this type of knowledge exchange is invaluable. We're grateful to have contributed our perspective.

An incredibly intensive and, above all, inspiring few days are behind us!

At the end of May, a delegation from the Center for Theoretical Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CTP PAS), as part of the Eucentral Project, had the great pleasure of visiting ICFO in Castelldefels near Barcelona.

It was an engaging time, filled with high-level substantive discussions. We would like to sincerely thank the entire ICFO team for their time and exceptional hospitality.

A series of meetings dedicated to talent management, onboarding processes, as well as science communication and outreach activities, provided us with a wealth of valuable knowledge. We highly appreciate our partners' openness and willingness to share practical, proven solutions.

Additionally, on the final day, we had the opportunity to attend the official kick-off of the PixEurope Connect project. We are delighted that our visit coincided with such an important event. The launch of the project brought together many distinguished guests, including representatives of the Government of Catalonia, and the inauguration itself was not only professionally organized but also a highly inspiring gathering.

We thank the entire ICFO team for the collaborative atmosphere, valuable discussions, and time spent together. This visit has been a tremendous inspiration for the further development of our own structures.

We're looking for quantum physics enthusiasts to join the international EUCENTRAL Project. This is an opportunity for scientific development at a research institute and international collaboration.

We've opened recruitment for 4 positions:

2 x Research Assistant / PhD Candidate (R1)

Requirements: Master's degree in physics or related field, strong background in quantum statistical mechanics and many-body theory, programming skills

Salary: 8,000–8,900 PLN gross

2 x Postdoc / Adiunkt (R2)

Requirements: PhD in quantum physics, condensed matter physics or related field, experience in numerical computations

Salary: 10,000–10,500 PLN gross

Responsibilities:

Conducting original research on many-body open quantum systems, developing theoretical and computational tools, preparing publications, participating in international conferences. Work in the Modelling

Centre for Quantum Technologies group led by Dr Federico Balducci, in collaboration with Prof. Marzena Szymańska from University College London.

What we offer:

A scientifically stimulating research environment, flexible working hours, career development support, diverse and inclusive culture where mutual support, teamwork and respect are highly valued, benefits (Multisport card subsidy, holiday subsidy, nursery and kindergarten subsidy).

Applications accepted until 30 June 2026.

Full details: [link1] [link2]

We invite you to explore our latest research papers, now available on our website:

"Efficient Time Evolution of 2D Open-Quantum Lattice Models with Long-Range Interactions using Tensor Networks"

This paper describes how large two-dimensional arrays of long-range interacting quantum mechanical objects can be simulated using tensor network techniques, a powerful class of numerical methods. The method described is then applied to systems similar to those used in state-of-the-art atomic quantum computers.

"Antibunching in locally driven dissipative Lieb lattices"

We demonstrate how engineering specifically localised driving in dissipative Bose-Hubbard Lieb lattices can generate enhanced antibunching through a mechanism analogous to unconventional photon blockade. Our stochastic simulation results open new possibilities for engineering non-trivial quantum correlations in open lattice systems.

Find publications and details on our website. We encourage you to read the full papers!

https://eucentral.cft.edu.pl/outcomes/publications/

In November, our delegation (HR & Administration Specialist - Paulina Miziołek-Ambrożek and Administration Specialist - Katarzyna Rajewska) from the Center for Theoretical Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences visited University College London, where we met with teams from the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the London Centre for Nanotechnology.

During our programme, we discussed recruitment procedures, best practices, work organisation, support for international staff, and onboarding processes. Thanks to the openness and hospitality of our hosts, we were able to learn about solutions implemented at one of Europe's leading research institutions and compare them with our own practices.

This was a valuable opportunity to exchange experiences that will help us better support our team and candidates applying to CTP PAS.

We thank our colleagues at UCL for the inspiring discussions and their willingness to share their expertise.

Who owns your research results? Can you commercialise your inventions?

Yesterday, Nikodem Bończa-Tomaszewski led a training session on intellectual property rights for researchers, covering the rules at CTP PAS and in Poland, illustrated with real-life examples.

The session was particularly valuable for anyone working on projects with a valorisation component, helping our team navigate the practical aspects of turning research into impact.

Our Director Prof. Krzysztof Pawłowski recently visited the 5th Physics Institute at the University of Stuttgart - one of Europe's leading quantum research centres.

During the study visit, he had the opportunity to see how the institute works,  and explore how Prof. Tilman Pfau combines cutting-edge science with effective management and engagement in education. The programme included meetings with research group leaders Prof. Florian Meinert, Dr Stephan Welte, Dr Ralph Klemt, Dr Harald Kuebler, and the IonMicroscope team, as well as discussions on administrative operations with Karin Otter and outreach strategies with Dr Robert Low.

These exchanges of experience help us continuously improve how we do science and share it with the world.

Another member joins our team. Alex Ferrier joined in November as a researcher, focusing on the development of positive P and truncated Wigner methods for spin lattices, as well as on preparing and adjusting our codes for broader use.