Arthur Christianen - Max Planck Institue of Quantum Optics
1. Briefly describe your current position, research focus, and your role within MCQST.
I have been working for the past four years in the theory division at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. I have recently passed my PhD, so I am now a postdoc. My research has mainly focused on ultracold quantum gases, where we study how many-body phenomena emerge in a bottom-up fashion, in a system which we understand and control microscopically. In particular, I am interested in chemical processes such as molecule formation and how these processes are affected by the surrounding quantum medium. I further enjoy developing novel theoretical tools, in particular variational methods, to describe such processes.
© C. Hohmann / MCQST 2. You participated in the Diversity in Leadership program. Could you share your experience with the workshops? What motivated you to participate or why do you think it is important to attend such workshops?
Diversity is very important, especially in academia, because viewing the same problem from different perspectives is guaranteed to lead to new ideas and enhanced creativity. However, diversity also brings challenges, since people with a different character, gender, upbringing, or cultural background may have different ways of communicating and different expectations of each other. The Diversity in Leadership program organized by MCQST provided great insights, first increasing our awareness of these issues, and second also giving tools to address them. I really appreciated the nuanced discussions we had in the program, highlighting that in many cases there is not one right or wrong way of action, but that being considerate and engaging in a respectful dialogue is key to overcoming many issues.
Diversity is very important, especially in academia, because viewing the same problem from different perspectives is guaranteed to lead to new ideas and enhanced creativity.
3. What inspired you to pursue a career in science / in your discipline?
For me there are two key reasons: curiosity and progress. I am naturally a very curious person, and I would like to understand how the world around us works. I am generally interested in all the natural sciences, but physics is my favorite because physicists attempt to understand things really from the ground rules, and to discover what these ground rules are.
However, curiosity is not enough for me: I also want to contribute to the progress of society. As a scientist one has the unique opportunity to really advance the collective knowledge of mankind, and this aspect amazes me. Aside from that, also spreading this knowledge and teaching others is important to me. This is especially true in the current era, where we rely more and more on science and technology, but where people also become more and more skeptical.