ERC Consolidator Grant to Giacomo Scalari
Institute for Quantum Electronics (IQE)
Three ETH Zurich researchers have received ERC Consolidator Grants from the European Research Council (ERC), among them physicist Giacomo Scalari. Their projects will each receive approximately 2 million Swiss francs in funding.
The European Research Council (ERC) offers several funding schemes, such as the ERC Starting Grant for talented young researchers and the ERC Advanced Grant for established leading researchers. The ERC Consolidator Grant provides support to emerging leading researchers with 7 to 12 years of experience since completing their PhDs who can demonstrate a promising track record and a desire to consolidate the successful work of their research group. The projects are selected on the basis of their scientific excellence and are funded with up to 2 million Swiss francs over five years.
Giacomo Scalari (*1972), Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Quantum Electronics, is interested in the terahertz (THz) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. THz builds a bridge between optics and electronics and acts a gate to sensing applications and spectroscopy. Scalari’s research addresses “frequency combs”, which act as rulers in the frequency domain and can measure the frequency of electromagnetic radiation – including light – very precisely. Scalari will use his ERC Consolidator Grant to create on-chip, self-referenced frequency combs operating in the THz spectral range, where there is currently no compact comb source available. These devices will be appealing for metrology and material inspection, non-invasive imaging for medical applications, and wireless communication.