Assist. Prof. Dr Denis Golež, recipient of the prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant for strengthening an independent research career

In the call of the European Research Council, he succeeded with the project Metastability in Quantum Materials and Simulators, for which he was awarded €2 million in funding over a five-year period.

The project addresses a fundamental question of how to create and stabilize states in quantum materials that would not exist without external driving. Much like a bicycle becomes stable only when it is in motion, modern experiments using laser pulses aim to achieve stability of new quantum states that could enable advances in future quantum technologies. Together with his team, Assistant Professor Dr Denis Golež is developing theoretical tools that will allow for the systematic identification and understanding of such metastable phenomena.

“I see the awarding of the ERC project ‘Metastability in Quantum Materials and Simulators’ as an important recognition by the scientific community of our work to date. At the same time, it serves as encouragement that the ideas we have proposed represent a meaningful path toward a better understanding of how to stabilize useful quantum states. The initial idea emerged as a small paradox during a discussion with a scientific colleague, and over the past two years we have already obtained the first guidelines for a systematic understanding of this paradox and identified the theoretical tools required. We look optimistically to the next five years, during which we will develop these initial ideas into a comprehensive theory,” said Assistant Professor Dr Denis Golež.

The project will be carried out at the Jožef Stefan Institute in close partnership with the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Ljubljana. This represents an outstanding achievement for both the researcher and the University of Ljubljana, as ERC projects are among the most prestigious international research schemes supporting top-level scientific ideas.

“The achievement of Assistant Professor Dr Denis Golež is an outstanding example of the excellence in science that we cultivate at the University of Ljubljana. Such successes strengthen the international reputation of Slovenian researchers and demonstrate that we are an equal partner in the global scientific arena. We are proud of his work and sincerely congratulate him,” said the Rector of the University of Ljubljana, Prof. Dr Gregor Majdič.