How can physics help reduce emissions from energy-guzzling data centres? With a Rubicon grant, physicist Remko Fermin will conduct fundamental research on superconducting diodes at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Diodes are like a one-way street for current and therefore crucial for electronic devices.

‘Simply put, I make superconducting materials in geometric shapes to investigate whether that yields special properties,’ Fermin says. During his doctoral research at the Leiden Institute of Physics, he and colleagues discovered that a tiny, elliptical magnet with two superconducting contacts on it could serve as a memory element. ‘The physics in this device is very interesting, but it also has potential for applications.’

Read more about Remko's research here.

Rubicon grants
Research experience abroad is usually a vital aspect of building a career in academia.  Rubicon allows talented scientists and academicians who recently obtained their PhD in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to gain experience at a foreign knowledge institute for a period of 1-2 years. This increases the chance that they can continue working in academia.

Rubicon runs for an indeterminate time. Each year, Rubicon has three funding rounds with deadlines around 1 April, 1 September and 1 December. The remaining deadlines in 2023 are: November 28. Once the call is open, a link appears at the bottom of this NWO/Rubicon page. In 2023, the budget for each round is approximately 2.47 million euros.