Institute News

Simon Vendelbo Bylling Jensen, a postdoctoral researcher in the Theory Department at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD), has been awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship to investigate the cutting-edge field of attoscience in liquid crystals. more

Professors Jie Shan and Kin Fai Mak, world leaders in the characterization and control of two-dimensional quantum materials, have become directors of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) in Hamburg, Germany. more

Angel Rubio, Director of the Theory Department at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) and Managing Director of the Institute, has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher 2024 by Clarivate. Joining him on this prestigious list are Jie Shan and Kin Fai Mak from Cornell University, all three of them are Principal Investigators at the Max Planck - New York Center for Non-Equilibrium Quantum Phenomena. These researchers have demonstrated broad and lasting influence, with their publications ranking in the top 1% for citations over the past decade. more

Mariana Rossi, head of a Lise-Meitner Excellence group in MPSD, has been awarded a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant worth €2 million. The funding will support her project, “Steering the Quantum Dynamics of Confined Molecular Materials” (QUADYMM), over the next five years.  The research aims to uncover how to drive the atomic motion of molecular materials in confinement, in order to modify reaction rates and electronic transport properties with the goal of finding new ways to optimize sustainable technological materials. more

MPSD Director Angel Rubio along with an elite team of world-renowned scientists— Tal Schwartz (Tel Aviv University), Thomas Ebbesen (University of Strasbourg), and Abraham Nitzan (University of Pennsylvania)—has been awarded a highly competitive ERC Synergy Grant valued at €10 million. This funding will support their research into the electromagnetic effects in molecular systems under strong light-matter coupling, a field at the cutting edge of chemistry and quantum physics.
Michael Ruggenthaler and Dominik Sidler, both Group Leaders in Rubio’s team, will play a central role in achieving the ambitious goals of this project. more

MPSD Director Philip Moll has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) for his achievements in the field of microstructured quantum matter. more

The renewed funding comes from Columbia University, the Flatiron Institute, the MPSD and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany. The New York Center will also expand to include Cornell University as a new partner institution. more