Vanner leads the Quantum Measurement Lab, combining experiment and theory. Key research areas: (1) Cavity quantum optomechanics β developed a theoretical framework capturing nonlinear radiation-pressure beyond the linearised approximation, showing deterministic mechanical Wigner-negativity generation; demonstrated mechanical position-squared measurements in Nature Comms (2016); thermal noise squeezing by 36 dB (Nat. Comms 2013); (2) Brillouin-Mandelstam scattering β demonstrated strong coupling to high-frequency phonons (Optica 2019); single-phonon addition/subtraction via Brillouin (PRL 2021); quantum state tomography with non-Gaussianity; (3) Hybrid quantum systems β 'displacemon' architecture (nanobeam magnetically coupled to superconducting qubit, PRX 2018) for testing objective collapse and dark matter; (4) Quantum gravity tests β proposals for testing the generalised uncertainty principle (GUP) using optomechanical protocols. UKRI QTFP fellowship.
Varnavides leads the Curious Beams Lab, using scanning transmission electron microscopy, 4D-STEM/electron ptychography, and computational phase-retrieval to obtain atomic-resolution, three-dimensional maps of electrostatic and magnetic order (e.g., antiferromagnetic textures, charge/heat/spin transport) in quantum materials β a solid-state, electron-beam analogue to optical quantum-material imaging that similarly pushes spatial resolution past conventional limits. He joined TU Delft ImPhys as Assistant Professor in 2025 after a Miller Fellowship at UC Berkeley and is building out instrumentation for functional imaging of both materials and biological systems.
Vedral leads the Quantum Devices and Biosystems group, working at the intersection of quantum information and biology. Research themes include: (1) quantum effects in living systems β studying entanglement and non-classicality in biological organisms such as tardigrades placed in quantum superposition inside superconducting qubits; (2) BMV-type experiments to test whether gravity is a quantum field by measuring gravity-mediated entanglement between two massive quantum superpositions; (3) theoretical frameworks for witnessing quantum effects in complex macroscopic systems. While primarily theoretical, the group actively collaborates with and directs experiments. Borderline: included as the group formally aims for experimental demonstrations of quantum effects in living systems.
Verlot works on nano-optomechanics and quantum-limited displacement/force sensing with nanowire and levitated resonators, exploring ultrasensitive force detection and fundamental measurement limits. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work is complemented by mechanical quantum sensors at the force-sensitivity frontier.
Observational cosmologist and instrumentalist studying dusty star-forming galaxies and cosmology using ALMA, Hubble, Chandra, JWST, and South Pole Telescope data, and developing millimeter/submillimeter receiver instrumentation.
Builds radio and mm-wave quantum-limited sensing instruments for high-energy astrophysics and cosmology. Directions: (1) PUEO β balloon-borne radio Cherenkov (Askaryan) detector for ultra-high-energy cosmogenic neutrinos; (2) RNO-G β ground-based radio neutrino array at Summit Station, Greenland; (3) UHE cosmic ray radio detection methodology; (4) CMB instrumentation (BICEP/Keck, SPT, CMB-S4). 2025 APS Fellow; 2022 Moore EPII award. Director KICP.
Vijayan leads the Quantum Engineering Lab at Manchester's Photon Science Institute, focusing on levitated optomechanics. Key results: (1) Programmable cavity-mediated long-range interactions between two levitated nanoparticles via coherently scattered photons (Nature Physics 2024, ETH Zurich/Innsbruck collaboration before Manchester); (2) Ground-state cooling of nanospheres and building toward quantum superpositions; (3) Quantum sensing with levitated systems β ultra-sensitive force/acceleration detectors; dark matter searches with nanoparticle momentum transfer detection (QTFP-funded collaboration with Darren Price); (4) Multi-particle quantum arrays. Royal Society University Research Fellow. Currently advertising PhD positions in quantum sensing with levitated optomechanical systems. Collaborates with Novotny (ETH), Romero-Isart (Innsbruck), and Millen (King's College London).
Vuckovic's lab uses inverse-designed nanophotonic cavities and waveguides to couple diamond (NV/SiV) and other solid-state spin defects to light, building integrated quantum photonic devices for quantum sensing, networking, and single-photon sources.
PREFERRED. Vuletic's group generates large-scale spin squeezing and entanglement in cold and ultracold atomic ensembles to push optical atomic clocks and rotation/field sensors below the standard quantum limit, alongside work on cavity QED, Rydberg tweezer arrays, and nonlinear quantum optics at the single-photon level. Recent work includes cavity-feedback spin squeezing for ytterbium clocks and fault-tolerant neutral-atom quantum sensor/processor arrays with collaborators at Harvard.
Waigh's group applies advanced optical and biophysical techniques to study complex biological fluids and single molecules. Research directions: (1) Microrheology β diffusing wave spectroscopy and optical trapping microrheology to measure viscoelastic properties of biopolymer networks and cytoplasm; (2) Antibody / protein dynamics β tracking single-molecule diffusion of antibodies and receptors in complex biological environments using fluorescence; (3) Non-linear flows of antibodies β studying anomalous diffusion and aggregation of therapeutic antibodies; (4) Neutron and X-ray scattering β structural characterization of complex biofluids at PSI facilities. Bridges soft matter physics and single-molecule biosensing.