9 December 2025
ERC Consolidator Grants for Christian Schilling and Roberto Rizzato
Two MCQST researchers, Christian Schilling of the LMU München and Dr. Roberto Rizzato of TUM have each been awarded a Consolidator Grant. Through this award, the European Research Council (ERC) supports excellent researchers with grants of up to two million euros for a period of five years, helping them expand and consolidate their innovative research.
Novel approach for calculating the electronic structure of materials
Dr. Christian Schilling is leading the Theoretical Quantum Physics research group at LMU’s Faculty of Physics since 2019, and is a member of the MCQST Cluster of Excellence and leads the Quantum Algorithms consortium within the Munich Quantum Valley. His research focuses on frontier questions in quantum information, quantum chemistry, mathematical physics, and quantum computing.
Density functional theory (DFT) is a key tool for calculating fundamental properties of molecules and solids, such as their electronic structure. It is important for basic research and for industrial applications alike. However, it has weaknesses: it cannot adequately describe strongly correlated many-body systems, a limitation that results in unreliable predictions of their properties and behavior. This is a major obstacle for developing novel materials in areas such as energy generation and microelectronics.
For his ERC project beyondDFT (Systematic Framework of Functional Theories for Strongly Correlated Electrons), Christian Schilling is taking a different tack by using one-body reduced density-matrix functional theory (1RDMFT). His approach describes the electronic structure of materials in a novel manner. It is based on a theoretical framework he has developed over the past years, which refines existing and constructs new functional theories more efficiently. In particular, it provides a pathway for incorporating electron spin and explains how important excited states can be targeted.
For his model, Schilling uses his own conceptual advances in 1RDMFT and innovative methods from entanglement theory. In this way, he aims first to achieve more accurate functional approximations for ground states and then to develop functional models for excited states. In the course of beyondDFT, he also plans to design a scheme that compresses quantum correlations, significantly accelerating 1RDMFT algorithms and thus reducing computing costs.
“BeyondDFT is preparing the ground for a fundamental transformation in electronic structure theory,” says Schilling. “The framework has the potential to establish itself as a new standard tool for electronic structure calculation in physics, chemistry, and the materials science.”
Quantum nanotubes for hyperpolarization and sub-cellular magnetic resonance
Dr. Roberto Rizzato is a physical chemist and researcher in the group of MCQST Member, Prof. Dr. Dominik Bucher at the TUM School of Natural Sciences.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a fundamental method in chemistry, biology and medicine, but its potential is strongly limited by its well-known poor sensitivity. In NMR-NANOTUBES, Roberto Rizzato combines quantum technology and nanomaterials to overcome this limitation. He develops boron nitride nanotubes hosting optically active spin qubits, an absolute novelty in today’s quantum technologies. These tubes are so small that many of them can enter a single living cell, enabling spatially resolved NMR measurements at the subcellular level for the first time. The project also explores their use as a room temperature hyperpolarization platform to amplify NMR signals for biomedical applications. This approach opens the way to compact, easy to use devices that could one day operate directly in clinical settings, greatly increasing the accessibility of advanced NMR methods.