International Society for Relativistic Quantum Information

The International Society for Relativistic Quantum Information (ISRQI) provides a platform for inter-disciplinary research on the interface of relativity, gravity and quantum theory, involving modern concepts of information theory. The goal is to address fundamental questions, such as how quantum theory and gravity work together. Special emphasis is placed on possible experimental verification. ISRQI has a special concern for young people entering the field.

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Conferences

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RQI North 2025 (aka RQI-North-15) (Naples, Italy)

Relativistic Quantum Information North (RQI-N) 2025 conference will be held 23-27 June 2025 in Naples, Italy. The conference is hosted by University of Naples Federico II, and the local organisation is led by Gaetano Fiore.

More information to follow closer to the time.

RQI North 2024 (aka RQI-North-14) (Prague, Czechia)

Relativistic Quantum Information North (RQI-N) 2024 conference will be held on the week of August 5th 2024 in Prague, Czechia. The conference is hosted by Charles University, and sponsored by the QISS project, Perimeter Institute, and CEICO. The organizers are Francesco Di Filippo, Pavel Krtous, David Kubiznak, Marek Liska, Rick Perche, Sebastian Schuster, Constantinos Skordis, Robert Svarc, Ota Svitek, Tayebeh Tahamtan and Alexander Vikman.

Website: https://www.rqi2024prague.org/.

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RQI Circuit

The RQI Circuit is a series of local conferences taking place around the world, which will be broadcast at the ISRQI YouTube channel. The RQI Circuit is a unique opportunity to learn which RQI hub conducts which kind of RQI research and to become aware of the career opportunities worldwide.

The hosts of the RQI Circuit this year will be The University of Waterloo on October 27th, the University of Nottingham on November 3rd, IQOQI Vienna on November 10th, The University of Stockholm and NORDITA on November 17th, The University of Bremen and Leibniz University Hanover on November 24th, and Macquarie University with the RMIT on December 1st.

Additionally, on December 8th and December 15th we will have two non-local editions of the RQI Circuit, with online presentations from all over the world.

Please note that all times displayed on the website are in GMT.

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RQI-North 2023 (aka RQI-North-13) (Chania, Crete, Greece)

Relativistic Quantum Information North (RQI-N) 2023 conference will be held on the week of 17 July 2023 in Chania, Crete, Greece. The conference is hosted by the Technical University of Crete, and the organisation is led by Charis Anastopoulos from the University of Patras.

Website: https://rqi.tuc.gr/.

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RQI-South-14 (Brisbane, Australia)

14th Annual International Workshop on Relativistic Quantum Information

The 14th Relativistic Quantum Information Workshop (RQI14 - also known as RQI South) will be held at Stamford Plaza Hotel in Brisbane (Australia) on the 8th - 9th of February 2023. For further information please contact Tim Ralph.

RQI-N Online 2022 (aka RQI-North-12)

RQI-N conferences have been among the most important platforms in the field of Relativistic Quantum Information, bringing together researchers spanning the fields of general relativity, field theory, quantum optics and quantum information. RQI-N Online 2022 will provide a platform to explore recent breakthroughs in applying the methods of quantum information to fully relativistic field theory and gravity. It will also be a venue to explore how new methods in quantum information science are inspired by tools developed to study the flow of information in relativity.

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Quantum Foundations, Gravity, and Causal Order (online)

The Banff International Research Station will host the "Quantum Foundations, Gravity, and Causal Order" workshop in Banff from May 30 to June 04, 2021.

New experiments are challenging our conventional understanding of past, present, and future in the quantum world. This workshop will, therefore, explore the very foundations of our understanding of space, time, and gravity by looking at new mathematical concepts and methods related to the quantum processes of measuring location, orientation, speed, cause and effect. We expect to forge a path that blends together new ideas on how our description of the structure of space and time must be modified to fully understand how to combine gravity with quantum physics. Go to conference

RQI-Online 2020/21 (aka RQI-North-11)

Online version of the yearly meeting of the Relativistic Quantum Information Society.

The conference will happen on a weekly basis, every Wednesday at two sessions: the Waterloo and Australian sessions.

The Waterloo sessions will happen at 9am EST (2pm UTC) on the following Wednesdays: 27 Jan, 3 Feb, 10 Feb, 17 Feb, 24 Feb, 3 Mar, 10 Mar, 17 Mar, 24 Mar, 31 Mar, 7 Apr, 14 Apr, 21 Apr, 28 Apr, ...

The Australian sessions will happen at 7pm EST (10am AEST) on the following Wednesdays: 27 Jan, 3 Feb, 17 Feb, 24 Feb. (28 Jan, 4 Feb, 18 Feb, 25 Feb in AEST)

The recordings of the sessions above can be found in this playlist.

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RQI-North-10 (Tainan City, Taiwan)

Relativistic Quantum Information - North 2019 (May 29th-June 1st, 2019) at the National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan

The Relativistic Quantum Information – North 2019 Conference at the National Cheng Kung University, in Taiwan is held under the auspices of the International Society for Relativistic Quantum Information and is the tenth in the series of such meetings taking place in the Northern Hemisphere. This workshop series aims to bring together researchers working across quantum information science, quantum field theory in curved spacetime, and quantum gravity.

This year there will also be a Summer school happening right before the conference, May 27-28.

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RQI-South-12 (Brisbane, Australia)

12th Annual International Workshop on Relativistic Quantum Information

The 12th Relativistic Quantum Information Workshop (RQI12) will take place at Customs House in Brisbane (Australia)on the 20th-22nd of February 2019. For more information about the workshop please contact Tim Ralph.

RQI-North-9 (Vienna, Austria)

Relativistic Quantum Information - North 2018 (September 24th-27th, 2018) at the University of Vienna

The Relativistic Quantum Information – North 2018 Conference at the University of Vienna is held under the auspices of the International Society for Relativistic Quantum Information and is the ninth in the series of such meetings taking place in the Northern Hemisphere. This workshop series aims to bring together researchers working across quantum information science, quantum field theory in curved spacetime, and quantum gravity.

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RQI-North-8 (Kyoto, Japan)

Relativistic Quantum Information - North 2017 (July 4th-7th, 2017) Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University

The Relativistic Quantum Information North (RQIN) 2017 workshop is hosted by and held at the Yukawa Institute of Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, Japan. This workshop, under the auspices of the International Society of Relativistic Quantum Information, is the eighth in a series of international workshops held previously in Taiwan in 2010, Spain in 2011, Canada 2012, UK 2013, South Korea 2014, USA 2015 and Canada in 2016. These workshops have been the single most important platform in the field of Relativistic Quantum Information in the Northern Hemisphere. The aim of the 2017 Kyoto workshop is to bring together an interdisciplinary community at the interface of quantum information science and technology on one side and the general relativistic quantum field theory on the other side. The workshop will feature talks and discussions about new mathematical techniques as well as about opportunities for experimental advances, both for finding quantum gravity effects and applications of relativistic quantum information methods for quantum technologies. This conference will provide an ideal setting for the communities of researchers in gravity, quantum field theory, quantum information and even metamaterials to meet and to share their expertise and to develop new collaborations. Topics that will be covered at the workshop include relativistic effects in quantum information theory and quantum information processing, quantum optics, implementations in quantum metrology as well as more fundamental topics.

Organizers:

D. Ahn (University of Seoul), M. Hotta (Tohoku University), S.-Y. Lin (National Changhua University of Education), Y. Nambu (Nagoya University), T. Takayanagi (YITP, Kyoto University), I. Tsutsui (High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, KEK), B. Yoshida (Perimeter Institute),Y. Watanabe (YITP, Kyoto University)

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RQI-South-10 (Brisbane, Australia)

10th Annual International Workshop on Relativistic Quantum Information (RQI10)

The 10th Relativistic Quantum Information Workshop (RQI10) took place at Customs House in Brisbane (Australia) on the 28th-30th of November 2016.

RQI-North-7 (Waterloo, Canada)

Relativistic Quantum Information - North 2016 (Jun 21-24, 2016). Institute for Quantum Computing

We are pleased to announce that the yearly international conference RQI-N 2016. The Relativistic Quantum Information North (RQI-N) Conference, hosted by the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), will bring together an interdisciplinary community of researchers at the interface of quantum information science and relativity.

RQI-N conferences have been the single most important platform in the field of relativistic quantum information. This field has recently received much attention for a series of breakthroughs in applying the methods of quantum information to fully relativistic field theory. Conversely, the design of new methods in quantum information science has been inspired by the tools developed to study the flow of information in the context of relativity.

Please keep an eye on the website board for updates. Organizers: Achim Kempf, Robert B. Mann, Eduardo Martin-Martinez

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RQI-South-9 (Brisbane, Australia)

9th Annual International Workshop on Relativistic Quantum Information (RQI9)

The 9th Relativistic Quantum Information Workshop (RQI9) will be held at Customs House in Brisbane (Australia) on the 7th-8th of December 2015..

For more information about the workshop please contact Tim Ralph.

RQI-North-6 (Hanover, USA)

The conference RQI-N 2015 will be held at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA, during the dates July 5-8 2015.

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RQI-South-8 (Brisbane, Australia)

The 8th Relativistic Quantum Information Workshop (RQI8) will be held at the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Brisbane on the 2nd - 3rd of December 2014.

For more information about the workshop please contact Tim Ralph.

RQI-North-5 (Seoul, Korea)

Relativistic Quantum Information North 2014

The yearly Northern Hemisphere International Conference of the Relativistic Quantum information Community will be held this year in Seoul (Korea) from June 30th to July 3rd 2014.

Entanglement in Curved Spacetime (Banff, Canada)

September 22-27, 2013

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RQI-North-4 (Nottingham, UK)

Relativistic Quantum Information - North 2013

June 24-26, 2013

University of Nottingham Nottingham, United Kingdom

RQI-North-3 (Waterloo, Canada)

Relativistic Quantum Information - North 2012

June 25-28, 2012

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Waterloo, Canada

RQI-South-5 (Brisbane, Australia)

5th Annual International Workshop on Relativistic Quantum Information (RQIW5)

28-29 Novemeber 2011

Customs House, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Relativity meets Entanglement and High Energy (London, UK)

13-15 September 2011

Imperial College, London, UK.

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RQI-North-2 (Madrid, Spain)

International Workshop on Relativistic Quantum Information North (RQI-N2)

5-7 September 2011

CSIC, Madrid, Spain.

Madrid Meeting on Relativistic Quantum Information (Madrid, Spain)

20-22 June 2011

Central campus of the Spanish Scientific Research Council. Madrid, Spain.

RQI-South-4 (Brisbane, Australia)

Annual International Workshop on Relativistic Quantum Information (RQIW4)

22-24 Novemeber 2010

Customs House, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

RQI-North-1 (Hualien, Taiwan)

Relativistic Quantum Information North (RQI-N)

28-30 May 2010

National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan

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RQI-South-3 (Brisbane, Australia)

3rd Annual International Workshop on Relativistic Quantum Information

10-11 December 2009

Customs House, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

RQI-South-2 (Brisbane, Australia)

2nd Annual International Workshop on Relativistic Quantum Information

24-25 November 2008

Customs House, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

RQI-South-1 (Brisbane, Australia)

International Workshop on Relativistic Quantum Information (RQIW)

15-16 November 2007

Customs House, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Quantum gravity and Quantum Information Workshop (Cambridge, UK)

14-17 December 2004

Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge, UK

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About Us

369

members

203

institutions

45

countries

5

continents

55

RQI groups

How our society came into being by Bei-Lok Hu

On the tenth anniversary of ISRQI, the chair and co-chair, knowing that I was the chief architect in its design and establishment, asked me to write something about how our society came into being. ISRQI was inaugurated on June 1, 2010 in the first RQI-North conference held in Hualien, Taiwan, organized by S.-Y. Lin. I thought this might be a good thing, using this occasion to refresh our Society’s mission and goals, so younger researchers in this field can carry on to meet them as they scale new heights.

There are always two aspects in any international academic society. One is the discipline, the other is the people. First, the science: RQI has three major components, relativity, quantum and information, all of fundamental importance. We know the history of how impactful any two of these fundamental components come together: Special relativity and quantum mechanics lead to quantum field theory, whose validity is unquestionable and applicability universal. General relativity and quantum field theory lead to quantum field theory in curved spacetimes in the 70s. Information has long been a central issue in black hole quantum physics since the seminal papers of Bekenstein and Hawking in the early 70s. Semiclassical gravity in the 80s is the bedrock for further exploration of gravity, quantum fields and quantum information issues. Quantum information science took great leaps in the 90s both in theory and in experiments. For RQI, by the beginning of 2000 already there were papers exploring the special relativistic aspects of quantum information, notably the review by Peres and Terno. Quantum gravity has been for the past seven decades the holy grail of theoretical physics, drawing in talents from gravitation and mathematical relativity to particles-fields and string theory. It was enriched by new insights in AdS/CFT correspondence, gravity/gauge duality, strings, loops, networks, causets, and many other veins. Advances were brought about by the infusion of quantum information ideas, such as holography in the 90s and the Ryu-Takayanagi entanglement entropy formula in 2006. By mid-2000 it is clear that the confluence of these three fundamental disciplines is a destiny of theoretical physics. Channeling its force to further our understanding of Nature was the scientific motive for establishing an international society of RQI.

The second factor: the people. Seeing the future of where scientific research will go is extremely important, but not enough. We need to bring outstanding people in these three frontier fields together. A society with shared values and common goals, made up of people from different backgrounds and working experiences, can help to amplify each individual’s effort and further the impact of their joint endeavors. Thus, how to round up the right people to form a core group for the germination of an international society became the main task. Two groups are needed, one, the Advisory Board, providing long term scientific guidance, the other, the Council, responsible for legislative and executive functions. With fair geographical, disciplinary and gender representation, the council members elect the chair, co-chair, the secretary and another officer (treasury, membership etc.). My own background being in general relativity and quantum field theory, with some working experience in aspects of quantum information, makes it easy to identify the trusted people to serve in these respective capacities. E.g., Bill Unruh, my old classmate, in gravity and quantum fields, John Preskill and Seth Lloyd in quantum information, Gerard Milburn in quantum optics and Francesco Petruccione in open quantum systems, these are no brainers for the Advisory Board. For the executive branch, knowing Rob Mann’s organizational talent and Tim Ralph’s amazing skill in conducting the RQI workshop series at Queensland University, I know they would lead the society to a brilliant start. These were my thoughts around 2008, I had a design, a wish list. The real challenge was to sell this idea of an international society of RQI to people working on any two of these three disciplines, and get the renowned scientists and able leaders on board.

First RQI-N conference. Two necessary steps in the preparation for ISRQI were 1) to organize the first RQI conference in the northern hemisphere, 2) to coordinate with Tim Ralph, convince him to bring his base into this new international family. For 1) I discussed with S Y Lin (who visited me in 2008 when I spent March-June at the Perimeter Institute) about holding it in Taiwan in 2000. For 2), to consult our Australian colleagues working on quantum information at Queensland and Macquarie, I visited Sydney in late 2008 for the Peres School, then Brisbane in Dec. 2009 for Tim’s workshop. To organize an international meeting on RQI we need to invite as many representative working groups worldwide as possible, in addition to the already well-known researchers, say, in Australia, Canada, UK. So we tried to read up on all the relevant papers and identify whom to invite. That’s how we got to know, e.g., Juan Leon, and his outstanding graduate student Eduardo. The next question was: Where could we get enough funding to invite the key speakers? That’s when I suggested that we overlap one day with the IARD meeting organized by Prof. D. S. Lee at DongHua University, use the same conference site, so we can share the resources. The first RQI-N meeting went smoothly for two days. At the end we held a special session inviting all participants to discuss the plan for the establishment of ISRQI. [photos]. The year following that was occupied by busy work of invitations to the Advisory Board, the induction of research leaders into the Council, the election of the executive committee, the drafting of a constitution (still pending), and the planning of the following RQI-N meetings. The enthusiastic response from researchers worldwide was a clear indication that this interdisciplinary field is in accelerated expansion and it is timely to build an international platform for the advancement of this youthful science and the young scientists.

The two primary missions of ISRQI as I see them are, 1) With the rich prospect of this nascent field of great potential, formation of an international society can galvanize the many talents of researchers from a wide range of disciplines to accentuate the development of RQI; 2) Forming a society can provide a platform and a collective voice for young researchers working in this interdisciplinary field of fundamental value for their scientific and career advancements.

I am very happy to see our Society growing healthily in the last decade, with an expanding base, an increasing number of researchers, postdocs and graduate students actively involved in this field and groups to host the conferences. This is due in large part to the excellent work of the council members and the co-chairs of the successive terms in the last ten years. My heartfelt congratulations!

Prof. Bei-Lok Hu (University of Maryland)

Bei Lok Hu received his B.A. in 1967 from the University of California - Berkeley and his Ph.D. in 1972 from Princeton University. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. His research interest spans gravitation theory, quantum fields and nonequilibrium physics.

ISRQI Board

  • Chair
  • Jorma Louko (University of Nottingham)
  • Co-Chair
  • Eduardo Martin-Martinez (University of Waterloo)
  • Council (Americas)
  • Eduardo Martin-Martinez (University of Waterloo)
  • Flaminia Giacomini (ETH Zürich)
  • Achim Kempf (University of Waterloo)
  • Miles Blencowe (Dartmouth College)
  • Council (Asia-Pacific)
  • Kazuhiro Yamamoto (Kyushu University)
  • Magdalena Zych (Stockholm University)
  • Ling Yan Hung (Fudan University)
  • Fabio Costa (University of Queensland)
  • Council (Europe, Middle-East and Africa)
  • Caslav Brukner (University of Vienna)
  • Ralf Schuetzhold (Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf, TU Dresden)
  • Mercedes Martin-Benito (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
  • Charis Anastopoulos (University of Patras)
  • Advisory Board
  • Gerard Milburn (University of Queensland)
  • Timothy Ralph (University of Queensland)
  • Robert Mann (University of Waterloo)
  • Tadashi Takayanagi (Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics)
  • Bei-Lok Hu (The University of Maryland)
  • William Unruh (The University of British Columbia)
  • Career Development Officer
  • Mercedes Martin-Benito (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
  • Membership Officer
  • Jorma Louko (University of Nottingham)
  • Outreach Officer
  • T. Rick Perche (University of Waterloo, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)
  • Student/Postdoc Representative
  • Cisco Gooding (University of Nottingham)
  • Website Officer
  • Pietro Smaniotto (University of Nottingham)
  • August Geelmuyden (University of Nottingham)
  • Vitor Barroso (University of Nottingham)

Career Development

ISRQI training: opportunities for PhD and postdoc training

Institution Group First name Last name Position
University of Nottingham Black hole laboratory Silke Weinfurtner Professor
University of Waterloo Barrio RQI Eduardo Martin-Martinez Professor
University of Nottingham Relativistic quantum fields Jorma Louko Professor
Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Atominstitut, TU Wien Brukner Group Caslav Brukner Professor
University of Waterloo Physics of Information Lab Achim Kempf Professor
Dartmouth College Miles Blencowe Group Miles Blencowe Professor
SISSA Stefano Liberati's Group Stefano Liberati Professor
University of Waterloo Robert Mann's Group Robert Mann Professor
University of Patras Charis Anastopoulos' Group Charis Anastopoulos Professor
University of Queensland Tim Ralph's Group Timothy Ralph Professor
The University of British Columbia Bill Unruh's Group William Unruh Professor
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf Ralf Schuetzhold Ralf Schuetzhold Professor
Stockholm University Magdalena Zych's Group Magdalena Zych Professor
The University of Maryland Bei-Lok Hu's Group Bei-Lok Hu Professor
Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics Tadashi Takayanagi's Group Tadashi Takayanagi Professor
Fudan University Ling-Yan Hung's Group Ling Yan Hung Professor
Kyushu University Kazuhiro Yamamoto's Group Kazuhiro Yamamoto Professor
University of Queensland Gerard Milburn's Group Gerard Milburn Professor
Università degli studi di Napoli "Federico II" Gaetano Fiore's Group Gaetano Fiore Professor
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Robert Oeckl's Group Robert Oeckl Professor
University of York Kasia Rejzner's Group Kasia Rejzner Professor
Universidad Complutense de Madrid Luis Garay's Group luis j. garay Professor
Imperial College London Fay Dowker's Group Fay Dowker Professor
Macquarie University, Sydney Gavin Brennen's Group Gavin Brennen Professor
University of Trieste Bassi Group Angelo Bassi Professor
Tohoku University Masahiro Hotta's Group Masahiro Hotta Professor
Tohoku University Go Yusa's Group Go Yusa Professor
Saint Anselm College Ian Durham's Group Ian Durham Professor
Macquarie University, Sydney Daniel Terno's Group Daniel Terno Professor
Stockholm University Igor Pikovski's Group Igor Pikovski Professor
Charles University, Prague David Kubiznak's Group David Kubiznak Professor
University of Cambridge Adrian Kent's Group Adrian Kent Professor
Leipzig University Marc Casals' Group Marc Casals Professor
Institute of Quantum Technologies, German Aerospace Center (DLR) Albert Roura's Group Albert Roura Professor
National Changhua University of Education Shin-Yuin's Group Shih-Yuin Lin Professor
Victoria University of Wellington Matt Visser's Group Matt Visser Professor
Seoul National University Uwe Fischer's Group Uwe R. Fischer Professor
University of Camerino Stefano Mancini's Group Stefano Mancini Professor
University College Dublin Adrian Ottewill's Group Adrian Ottewill Professor
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Nick Menicucci's Group Nicolas Menicucci Professor
CNRS Germain Rousseaux's Group Germain Rousseaux Professor
University of Seoul Doyeoul Ahn's Group Doyeol (David) Ahn Professor
Nazarbayev University Michael Good's Group Michael Good Professor
Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Atominstitut, TU Wien Joerg Schmiedmayer's Group Joerg Schmiedmayer Professor
Stockholm University Fabio Costa's Group Fabio Costa Postdoc
University of Trento Valter Moretti's Group Valter Moretti Professor
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Philipp Hoehn's Group Philipp Hoehn Professor
University of Warsaw Andrzej Dragan's Group Andrzej Dragan Professor
Universidad Complutense de Madrid Mercedes Martin-Benito's Group Mercedes Martin-Benito Professor
Louisiana State University Ivan Agullo's Group Ivan Agullo Professor
ETH Zürich Flaminia Giacomini's Group Flaminia Giacomini Lecturer
Paris Sorbonne University Alberto Bramati's Group Maxime Jacquet Professor
University of York Benito Juárez-Aubry's Group Benito A. Juárez-Aubry EPSRC Fellow
Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics Robert Jonsson's Group Robert Jonsson Postdoc
Universidad Complutense de Madrid Quantum Fields and Gravity Daniele Oriti Faculty Member

ISRQI jobs: open positions in areas relevant for the society

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