The first winter school organized entirely by the PhD students of CUI took place in the period December 2-5, 2013, at the Universitätszentrum Obergurgl (Austria). Planned to broaden the scientific knowledge of the participants, six experts, two for each research area of CUI, from CUI as well as from other institutions were invited to hold a lecture. These lectures covered a variety of topics (programme): ultrafast spectroscopy, ultracold quantum gases, non-linear optics, microwave spectroscopy of biomolecules, x-ray and electron spectroscopy, magnetic excitations in nanostructures, and experimental techniques to monitor structure formation at the nanoscale.
Invited speakers:
- Prof. Dr. S. O. Demokritov (University of Münster, Germany)
- Prof. Dr. S. Melandri (University of Bologna, Italy)
- Dr. L. Müller (DESY, Germany)
- Dr. G. Schneider (Bessy m.b.H., Berlin, Germany)
- Dr. J. Simonet (University of Hamburg, Germany)
- Dr. V. Prokhorenko (MPISDM, CFEL, and University of Hamburg, Germany)
Furthermore, the event was an opportunity for the PhD students and the postdoctoral researchers of CUI to learn about the different scientific projects of CUI. Each student had the possibility to present her or his own scientific project in either a talk or a poster. In addition, the winter school allowed for the PhD students to get to know each other, thus facilitating the development of a common interdisciplinary language. This is a crucial step in order to create a cooperative environment among the CUI members, stimulating potential collaborations between the different research groups.
The development towards a cooperative cluster was greatly supported by the chosen location, the “Universitäts Zentrum Obergurgl”. Indeed, the centre in Obergurgl has an integrated lecture hall within the accommodation, enabling a fluent transition from a concentrated learning atmosphere to informal discussion rounds. Besides this, the participants had the chance to enjoy the beautiful and inspiring panorama of the Alps during social events such as skiing, sledding, etc.
All participants were happy to attend the school in particular due to the very pleasant atmosphere, illustrated by the slide show, below.
