Main mission of the call
The QSE Innovation Seed Grant (25kCHF max.) is a unique seed funding opportunity to encourage the brightest ideas for cutting-edge applications, technology transfer, and start-up creation in the field of quantum science and engineering, open to master’s students and researchers, including PhD students and post docs, in the initial phase of developing a cutting-edge application, product or service with a real societal impact.
Awardees of this QSE innovation seed grant will have a first opportunity, for example through coaching, workshops or mission trainings (e.g. EPFL Changemakers), to validate their project idea and get ready for future innovation funding programs.
Main requirements
- Only graduate students or researchers hosted or employed at an EPFL lab or unit are eligible to apply and act as Principal Investigator (PI). The head of the host lab has to co-sign the application form, and expressing as such their support of the project proposal.
- QSE innovation seed funding cannot be used for basic research or as general funding for the PI’s host lab. It can only be used for applicable planned projects in the field of quantum science and engineering with high innovation potential for business and society offering concrete solutions to problems. A main driver to determine eligible projects is the attractivity towards industrial partners and the technology transfer traction. We commit to considering all high potential translational projects and ideas, even if they have not yet filed Intellectual Property.
- Projects can be co-sponsored by third parties (e.g., federal government, cantons, foundations, business acting as a potential licensee).
Detailed call information can be found in the Guide for applicants here below.
How to apply
- PIs interested in submitting an application should contact, prior to drafting or submitting an application, the call coordinator Charlotte Vandenberghe ([email protected]).
- Candidates can submit their application on a continuous basis.
- Applications will be reviewed in a timely manner; applicants will be informed about the outcome via email.
- The project should start within the 6 months after approval.
- Please download and use the provided template for your application form here below.
- Proposals should be submitted via email: [email protected]
- Please add “QSE Innovation Seed Grant application_NAME PI” in the title of the email.
Awardees
Aleksei Gaier, HYLAB
Aleksei Gaier is currently a PhD student in the Hybrid Photonics Laboratory (HYLAB) at EPFL, where he works on hybrid terahertz-photonics integrated circuits to advance quantum technologies. He received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Lomonosov Moscow State University, specializing in nonlinear photonics and quantum physics in the Department of Quantum Electronics.
Terahertz waves hold potential for diverse quantum applications, such as quantum communication protocols, control of quantum states separated by meV energy levels (particularly interesting for operating high-temperature and high-speed qubits), and quantum metrology. However, these frequencies are not widely used in the quantum research community due to the Terahertz Quantum gap, which refers to the lack of compact, high-speed, and easily-handled devices (and detectors in particular) operating at these frequencies. The researchers at HYLAB address this problem by utilizing highly scaled, custom-tailored, and power-efficient integrated thin-film lithium niobate photonics circuit technology developed in-house at EPFL’s cleanroom CMi, where the electro-optic effect is employed for the sensitive detection of terahertz radiation. They plan to bring to the market the first compact, efficient, broadband terahertz detector.
The QSE Innovation Seed Grant will provide essential support for the development and fabrication of a working prototype of this novel detector, enabling experimental validation of the concept and laying the groundwork for future technological applications.
Project duration: 1 April 2025 until 30 August 2025
Marcel Mattes, LEM
Chiral semiconductors hold great promise for optoelectronics, spintronics and quantum information processing, but their full potential remains untapped due to limited understanding of their spin and light polarization dynamics. Existing characterization techniques lack the sensitivity and precision needed to study these effects at the relevant scales. Marcel Mattes’ project within the Laboratory of Energy Materials (Feldmann Lab) aims to bridge this gap by developing a high-sensitivity, cryomagnetic microscope to track spin, charge, and light polarization dynamics with unprecedented resolution in space and time. Building on a patented system developed during his Master’s thesis at Harvard, Marcel’s new setup will provide unprecedented insights into electron- and photon-spin-based quantum technologies. The grant will support the acquisition of a key components for achieving the desired resolution. Insights enabled by this technology could help improve coherence times, enhance spin selectivity, and accelerate the development of scalable quantum technologies.
Project duration: 1 January 2025 until 30 June 2025