Tag: Outreach

BBQLab @ Benasque QI 23

mehulmalik

We just wrapped up a fantastic week at the Benasque Quantum Information workshop in the mountains of Spain! We had intense discussions with theorists from many, many fields in QI, as well as a very productive EDI session addressing several issues in academia, ranging from workers’ rights to the mobility of scientific researchers.

Here’s to deeper dialogues between theory and experiment at venues like the fantastic Centro de Ciencias de Benasque Pedro Pascual! (Yes, their doors are also blackboards)

Optics @ Nether Currie Primary

mehulmalik

Sophie and Mehul had a great time teaching P5 and P6 students at Nether Currie Primary School in Edinburgh about light and optical interference. The students showed an incredible level of engagement and even helped us align a Mach-Zehnder interferometer! We were finally able to answer the question: how loud does a P5 have to yell to change the interferometer phase by pi?

QST: Quantum Research Mobility

mehulmalik

In our new paper titled Quantum researcher mobility: the wonderful wizard of Oz who paid for Dorothy’s visa fees, published in the IOP journal Quantum Science and Technology, we discuss the many hurdles facing international researcher mobility today. We tackle issues such as exorbitant visa fees, short-term contracts, and cultural hurdles to mobility. Most importantly, we discuss many examples of good practice from around the world and propose possible solutions to overcome such hurdles. This work was done in collaboration with Eliza Agudelo from TU Vienna and Ravi Kunjwal from Université libre de Bruxelles.

BBQLab @ BQIT:22

willmccutcheon

BBQLab descended on Bristol for Bristol Quantum Information Technologies Workshop 2022 to enjoy a fantastic week of seminars, poster sessions, networking events and engagement with the scientific community – and beautiful Bristol.

Congratulations to Vatshal Srivastav (left) and Suraj Goel (right) for winning the People’s Choice Poster Prize, gaining over 50% of peoples votes! Brilliant follow-up to Vatshal’s win in BQIT: 2021.

As well as an inspiring Equality, Diveristy and Inclusion session on imposter syndrome in academia and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic featuring our group leader Prof Mehul Malik, and co-chaired by our Sophie Engineer.

All in all, a wonderful opportunity for all nine of our team to step out of the virtual and into real life. Bring on more conferences, workshops and prizes!