Twinning towards the Russian-Armenian University’s scientific excellence and innovation capacity in nanomaterials for quantum information and quantum optics

Project Information

NanoQIQO

Grant agreement ID: 952335

DOI

10.3030/952335

Project closed

EC signature date 10 June 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 30 June 2024

Funded under

• Twinning of research institutions

Total cost

€ 899 531,25

EU contribution

€ 899 531,25

Coordinated by

STATE EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT OF HIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN (SLAVONIC) UNIVERSITY
Armenia

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NanoQIQO (Twinning towards the Russian-Armenian University’s scientific excellence and innovation capacity in nanomaterials for quantum information and quantum optics)

Reporting period: 2022-04-01 to 2024-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The key objectives of the Twinning call consisted in developing the scientific and technological capacity and raising the research profile of organisations located in Widening Countries. The NanoQIQO project aimed to satisfy these goals for an Armenian organisation, the State educational establishment of higher professional education Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University (RAU), with regard to developing nanomaterials for quantum information and quantum optics. This was accomplished by networking with two internationally-leading research organisations: University of Hamburg (Germany) and University of Patras (Greece). During the 3 project, the partners carried out a comprehensive set of measures to realize the following objectives:

• Objective 1: Stimulate the research and technological capacity of the RAU and its Twinning Partners with regard to nanomaterials for quantum information and quantum optics
• Objective 2: Improve the career prospects of early stage researchers in the RAU
• Objective 3: Raise the research profile of the RAU and its staff
• Objective 4: Enhance the networking activities between the RAU and the Twinning Partners and beyond
• Objective 5: Strengthen the research management and administration skills in the RAU

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The main results achieved during the NanoQIQO project include the following:

WP1 Short term staff exchanges and trainings for established researchers
• 6 joint publications in peer-reviewed journals;
• 2021 ICO-ICTP Gallieno Denardo Award for significant contributions in Optics and Photonics initiated by the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP);
• New Bachelor’s program in Quantum Information launched at RAU;
• Honorary Doctor awarded by RAU to Prof. Sotirios Baskoutas;
• Establishment of Professional Council in Semiconductor Physics in the RAU.

WP2 Research internships and trainings for early stage researchers
• Development of a joint Ph.D. Program between RAU and UPatras;
• Ph.D. defence of early-stage researcher Yuri Bleyan on 29 April 2022 (supervisor: David Hayrapetyan – RAU, reviewer: Iosif Galanakis - UPatras);
• First prize award for the best oral presentation by Grigor Mantashyan at the International School on Frontiers in optics and photonics, August 30 – September 13, 2021;
• First prize award for the best oral presentation by Grigor Mantashyan at the International Conference “Laser Physics – 2021”, September 21-24, 2021;
• International Society of Optics and Photonics Education Scholarship awarded to Grigor Mantashyan, 27 May 2022.

WP3 Research Management and Administration Skill Development
• The strategy of efficient research management and administration in RAU;
• Agreement for a Joint Ph.D. Program between the Department of General Physics and Quantum Nanostructures of RAU and the Material Department of UPatras;
• Memorandum of Understanding between the two Universities for all research directions;
• Approved 3 national research projects, 1 international industrial project; submitted 2 international industrial proposals joint with UPatras (passed 1st stage of the selection procedure).

WP4 Dissemination, Exploitation, Communication and Outreach
• Held workshop on Quantum Information and Quantum Optics in RAU with the established and early-stage researchers from RAU, AANL, IPR, IESL working in the related research field;s
• Launched official project website (www.nanoqiqo.eu) and. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts;
• Produced project poster, leaflet and brochure;
• Participated in 9 international conferences and presented 20 works;
• Organised 3 Open days at RAU.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The NanoQIQO twinning project generated the following impacts:

Impact 1: Increased RAU’s research excellence in the field of nanomaterials for quantum information and quantum optics.
- Based on the obtained experimental results, twenty-six research papers were published in high impact journals that increased the research excellence of RAU.
Impact 2: Enhanced RAU’s reputation, attractiveness and networking channels.
- The conducted workshops, exchanges, summer schools and online trainings helped to improve the research and technical competence of RAU’s researchers so that they could effectively assess experimental results and make good scientific presentations.
Impact 3: Improved RAU’s capability to compete successfully for national, EU and internationally competitive research funding.
- During NanoQIQO RAU managed to win an impressive ten national research projects worth a total of 1,262,400 euro. Meanwhile, RAU plans to submit six EU and international proposals during 2024-2025.

NanoQIQO logo

NanoQIQO summer school 2021