News & Events

Marked by a new focus on dynamics and a distinctive quantum vibe, the Würzburg–Dresden Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat — Complexity, Topology and Dynamics in Quantum Matter — is entering the second funding period of the German Excellence Strategy of the Federal and State Governments.

The European Research Council (ERC) is supporting a feasibility study led by Professor Yana Vaynzof, Principal Investigator at ctd.qmat, with a Proof of Concept Grant. The €150,000 award will be used to explore a new, high-speed production process for efficient photovoltaic technologies.

A new study by researchers at IFW Dresden and the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat shows that although PtBi₂ looks like an ordinary shiny gray crystal, the electrons moving across its surfaces behave in ways never seen before. Intriguingly, the edges of the superconducting surfaces host long-sought Majorana particles — promising candidates for fault-tolerant quantum bits (qubits) in future quantum computers.

Professor Roderich Moessner, director of the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden and a Principal Investigator of the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, will be awarded the 2026 Max Born Prize in recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions to physics.

At ct.qmat, five esteemed members have been named among the world’s most frequently cited scientists.

Topological insulators could form the basis for revolutionary electronic components. However, as they generally only function at very low temperatures, their practical application has been severely limited to date. Researchers at the University of Würzburg have now developed a topological insulator that also works at higher temperatures.

In keeping with the international quantum year "Quantum 2025", around 600 children experienced the fascinating phenomena of quantum physics live at the Würzburg children's university.

An international research team, including scientists from the IFW Dresden and the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, has discovered a new transport phenomenon in the material platinum-bismuth (PtBi₂).