Leiden involved in three out of five Physics Vrije Programma grants
NWO has assigned Physics Vrije Programma grants to five collaborations of physicists. Leiden University is involved in three of them.
Chirality-induced spin selectivity in electron transport
Collaboration between TU Delft and Leiden University. Leiden physicists Jan van Ruitenbeek and Sense Jan van der Molen are involved.
This programme will explore a fundamentally new approach to electronics based on the transport of electron spins rather than charges. By means of a fundamental study of spin transport in molecules with a helical structure, the researchers will derive design rules for the construction of more efficient spin-based electronic devices.
The Hidden Universe of Weakly Interacting Particles
Collaboration between UvA, Radboud University, Utrecht University, Nikhef and Leiden University. Leiden physicists Alexey Boyarsky and Dorothea Samtleben are involved.
This programme will investigate the properties of the most elusive particles in our universe—neutrinos and dark matter—by means of the experiments KM3NeT, XENONnT and SHiP combined with theoretical modelling.
Quantum Acoustics (QUAKE)
Collaboration between TU Delft, AMOLF, TU Twente, TU Eindhoven and Leiden University. Leiden physicists Dirk Bouwmeester and Wolfgang Löffler are involved.
While quantum mechanics governs the physics of atoms, the macroscopic world is usually described classically. This programme will investigate the quantum properties of sound waves in solids, involving billions of atoms and propagating over macroscopic distances. Besides its fundamental character, the research will open up new avenues for quantum information processing.