Keynote Speakers

Prof. Malte Gather

University of Cologne

Malte C. Gather is Humboldt Professor and founding director at the Centre for Nano- and Biophotonics at University of Cologne and holds a co-appointment at University of St Andrews. His research interests are at the interface of biophotonics and organic semiconductors, with particular focus on bio-implantable LEDs and lasers, mechanobiology, and strong light-matter coupling. He studied physics and material sciences at RWTH Aachen University and Imperial College London and received his PhD from University of Cologne in 2008. He previously worked at University of Iceland, Harvard University, TU Dresden and University of St Andrews.

Photo for Alfred Leitenstorfer
Image: Privat

Prof. Alfred Leitenstorfer

University of Konstanz

Alfred Leitenstorfer obtained his PhD in Physics from Technical University of Munich in 1996. Subsequently, he worked as a Postdoctoral Member of the Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, NJ. After returning to TUM in 1998, he received his Habilitation degree in Experimental Physics in 2000. From 2001 to 2002, he held a non-tenured position as an Associate Professor at LMU Munich. In 2003, Leitenstorfer was appointed Full Professor of Experimental Physics at University of Konstanz where he also heads the Center for Applied Photonics since 2004. He received the Rudolf Kaiser and Arnold Sommerfeld Prizes in 2000, the Ludwig Genzel Prize in 2010, the Kenneth J Button Prize in 2020 and the DPG Technology Transfer Award in 2023. In 2011, Alfred Leitenstorfer was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant and since 2013, he is a Fellow of the Optical Society (now Optica). His research interests comprise femtosecond technology and optical phase control, ultrafast phenomena in condensed matter as well as fundamental quantum physics at elementary scales of time and space.

Dr. Doris Reiter

TU Dortmund

Doris Reiter focusses on the theory of solid-state nanostructures for quantum technology. She obtained her PhD in 2010 in Münster. As a DAAD P.R.I.M.E. scholar, she worked at Imperial College London in 2014/2015 on nano-plasmonics and light-matter interaction. From 2016 to 2022 she held a Junior-Professorship on Ultrafast Optics in Nanostructured Solids in Münster. In April 2022 she moved to the Condensed Matter Theory at TU Dortmund. Doris Reiter is an active member of the German Physical Society. Her theoretical work shapes the understanding and application of quantum technology in nanostructured systems.

Photo for Tobias Vogl
Image: Uli Benz/ Technische Universität München

Prof. Tobias Vogl

Technical University of Munich

Tobias Vogl studied physics at the University of Munich. For the PhD he moved to the Australian National University, where he developed processes around quantum emitters in the 2D material hexagonal boron nitride. These quantum emitters were further advanced and brought into applications during postdoc positions at the University of Cambridge and the University of Jena. In 2022 he started his own junior research group at the University of Jena and was shortly afterwards appointed as one of the youngest permanent Professors in Germany at the Technical University of Munich. He is also the coordinator of the QUICK3 space mission and received several research prizes.

Prof. Stefanie Kroker

TU Braunschweig

Stefanie Kroker studied Physics at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena/Germany and Universidad de Granada/Spain. She did her PhD with the Institute of applied Physics at Friedrich Schiller University in 2014 and became assistant professor at TU Braunschweig and the German national metrology institute, PTB in 2016. In 2020 Stefanie Kroker received the Science Award Lower Saxony and in 2021 she was appointed to a full professorship at TU Braunschweig. She is a member of the German clusters of excellence QuantumFrontiers and PhoenixD as well as associate editor at APL Quantum.

Prof. Hélène Seiler

Freie Universität Berlin

Hélène Seiler grew up in Lausanne. She completed her physics studies at EPFL. She then did a diplomatic internship at the Swiss Embassy in China and a one-year master's degree in environmental policy. Missing the natural sciences, she completed her PhD at the Chemistry Department of McGill University in Canada from 2013 to 2018. From 2018 to 2022, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin. Since October 2022, she has been a tenure-track professor of experimental physics at Freie Universität Berlin. Her research expertise is in ultrafast dynamics in nanomaterials.

Photo for Andreas Tünnermann
Image: Privat

Prof. Andreas Tünnermann

Fraunhofer-Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering

Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena

Andreas Tünnermann is director of the Fraunhofer-Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering and Chair for the Institute of Applied Physics at Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena. His main research interests include scientific and technical aspects associated with the tailoring of light. Research topics are the design and manufacturing of novel micro- and nano-optical photonic devices using high-end microlithography and its application for generation, amplification, steering and switching of light. In particular, his work on high power diode pumped fiber and waveguide lasers is widely recognized. Since recently he has also been dealing with challenges in the application of phenomena of quantum physics. His special interests here lie in the identification of added value in imaging, communication and computing.

Andreas Tünnermann is member of the German Physical Society, European Physical Society and acatech, fellow of OSA and SPIE. His research activities on applied quantum electronics have been awarded with the Röntgen-Award, WLT-Award, Otto-Schott-Award, Leibinger Innovation Award and the Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Award. 2015 he received the ERC-Advanced Grand of the EU. In 2024 he received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.