Oded Zilberberg breaks new ground

Bridging worlds of physics

Zilberberg has invested in this environment. “Oded Zilberberg is an amazing theorist who works closely with experimentalists. His work originates in condensed matter physics but extends into cold-atom systems, nanomechanics and generally complex quantum systems with correlations” says Klaus Ensslin, Professor at the Department of Physics and head of the National Center of Competence in Research Quantum Science and Technology (NCCR QSIT). At ETH Zurich, Zilberberg used this broad approach to build bridges between different fields of physics, not only between different communities but also between experimental and theoretical physics. “Sometimes his considerations led to a different setup of an experiment” explains experimental physicist Alexander Eichler, “Oded Zilberberg was frequently involved before and after an experiment and took time to understand our work in detail. This is an exciting interdisciplinary approach both for research and teaching, and it doesn't draw hard lines between quantum physics and classical physics.”

On the shoulders of giants, you can see further

Today, interdisciplinary lateral thinking is increasingly promoted through new degree programmes. Nevertheless, this is not the conventional career approach that is well established in the current research culture. “I'm interested in fundamental universal concepts, and these can only be recognised with a broad horizon and the knowledge of previous researchers,” says Zilberberg. “It makes little sense to me to do research based only on data-driven science. Building on the summary of findings from researchers that came before us makes us faster.” He illustrates this view by quoting Isaac Newton, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” Today, their insights are even conveniently available via the Internet.  

Great opportunities in a competitive environment

SNSF Assistant Professorships are one way of bringing innovative research to Swiss universities. Such professorships offer assistant professors the opportunity to develop their ideas in a well-established research environment and, at the same time, to acquire concentrated know-how for the next steps in their careers, either at their university or another research institution. When moving to another university, fresh career opportunities arise in a new environment, where another research group needs to be established. Not all assistant professors have a chair available at their universities after completing the programme; this means that they are operating in a highly competitive environment if they want to remain in research – whether at their own or another university.

A new position at the University of Konstanz

In autumn 2021 Zilberberg moved to the University of Konstanz, where he is continuing his research as a professor. For Zilberberg this opens the opportunity to continue pursuing his broadly networked approach, rooted in the history of science, and developed horizontally across many research fields. He is looking forward to this, while he also appreciates that in Konstanz a great deal of groundwork lies ahead of him. His SNSF grant expires in May 2022; Zilberberg is voluntarily supervising five doctoral students and two postdocs at ETH Zurich until the grant ends.

Continued cooperation with ETH Zurich

Many of Zilberberg's team members have already taken up new positions around the world: Tobias Wolf (in the first photo) is at Texas University, others are professors at Aalto University in Finland and Nanjing University or in various research positions at Harvard and Cambridge University. Three of his former doctoral students are conducting research in Switzerland funded by SNSF external page Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowships.

Others work as consultants in international consulting firms and in finance. From Zilberberg they have learned a basic universal concept and a broad, multi-layered research method, which are valuable for future collaborations. Ensslin notes: “During his time in the Department of Physics at ETH Zurich, Oded Zilberberg wrote quite a number of publications jointly with experimental groups mostly from QSIT and this fruitful collaboration is expected to continue.” Because this work is expected to lead to breakthroughs in research, it is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation with external page Sinergia grants for interdisciplinary projects.

Also a “synergy generator” in teaching

Mesoscopic transport, topological photons, entanglement, nonlinear dynamics, Moiré stacks: Zilberberg's research areas are complex, as are his subject matter in teaching. It is best to first divide them to better understand and learn about sub-areas. “I'm interested in the subsequent merging of these sub-areas afterwards,” says Zilberberg, who considers himself a “synergy generator”. “I also want to pass that on in the lecture hall.” That is why the theorist, together with experimental physicist Alexander Eichler, taught courses using the “flipped classroom” method: they first let the students study their material themselves and then discuss together what they have learned means in the real world. Their lecture on “Parametric Phenomena” will continue in the future.