Welcome

The "Max Planck Gesellschaft – University of British Columbia Center for Quantum Materials" provides a forum for interdisciplinary cooperation between physicists, chemists, and materials scientists working in the field of quantum phenomena in complex materials.

The diverse collaborative projects of research groups within the Max-Planck Society of Germany and the University of British Columbia in Canada include the synthesis and exploration of novel d- and f-electron compounds exhibiting symmetry breaking phenomena such as magnetism, orbital ordering and superconductivity; the investigation of the properties of surfaces and interfaces in correlated materials, ranging from catalytic activity to electronic reconstructions; the refinement and application of advanced spectroscopic methods such as spin-resolved ARPES, resonant x-ray reflectivity and high-resolution RIXS; and the theoretical study of strongly correlated and low-dimensional quantum systems.

A central mission of the Centre is to establish research opportunities at different stages of the scientific career, with flexible appointments between a few months as a visiting scientist and a few years as a postdoctoral fellow or a PhD student. At present, we have an opening for a number of top-tier Max-Planck-UBC fellowships which offer excellent candidates the chance to conduct research in a collaborative project of our international setting. In addition, a number of postdoctoral and PhD student positions are available within individual groups participating in the Centre.

The Center also creates new educational opportunities for students: This includes joint summer and winter schools and undergraduate jobs where students will get to know a different scientific culture and environment at an early stage of their careers.