Austrian physicist wins Wolf Prize and ERC grant Peter Zoller and Spanish researcher Ignacio Cirac have been honoured with the prestigious Wolf Prize in Physics for pioneering theoretical contributions to quantum information processing, quantum optics and the physics of quantum gases. The winners of the Wolf Prize in Physic... Peter Zoller and Spanish researcher Ignacio Cirac have been honoured with the prestigious Wolf Prize in Physics for pioneering theoretical contributions to quantum information processing, quantum optics and the physics of quantum gases. The winners of the Wolf Prize in Physics are believed to be strong contenders for Nobel Prizes. Between 1978 and 2010, 14 Wolf Prize recipients were also honoured with the Nobel Prize. The Wolf Prizes are split into six categories: agriculture, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, physics, and an arts theme (architecture, music, painting and sculpture). Peter Zoller, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Innsbruck, is a member of the UQUAM ('Ultracold quantum matter') project, that was recently selected for an ERC Synergy Grant. UQUAM will receive EUR 10 million in support to improve our understanding of the complex behaviour of quantum matter. Professor Zoller is working alongside three colleagues from France, Germany and Israel: Jean Dalibard, Immanuel Bloch and Ehud Altman. Commenting on the importance of the Synergy Grants, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, said: 'The new Synergy Grants show that the ERC continues to be innovative in supporting the best researchers to push the boundaries of frontier research, driven by pure curiosity, and often laying the foundations for possible future applications.' The winners of the latest European Research Council (ERC) grant were unveiled recently, with 38 scientists in 11 projects set to receive Synergy Grants worth an average of EUR 11 million each. The funding will cover project activity over a period of six years, and each project brings together two to four principal investigators. The EU launched this grant on a pilot basis in 2011. Over 700 applications were submitted; the Synergy Grants specifically target individual investigators whose complementary skills, knowledge and resources allow them to rise to the challenges they face and deliver groundbreaking results.For more information, please visit: European Research Council (ERC):http://erc.europa.eu/ Countries Austria, Germany, France, Israel
