P. Elli Stamatopoulou receives prestigious grant from the Villum Foundation
Villum Foundation awards over 16 million DKK to seven excellent female researchers in technical and natural sciences. One of them is P. Elli Stamatopoulou.
Only one out of seven professors in technical and natural sciences are a woman.
The further one progresses in the typical academic career path; the fewer women there are. In short, society needs to include female research talents. Therefore, the Villum Foundation has awarded 16.7 million DKK to seven ambitious and outstanding female researchers in technical and natural sciences.
One of this year's recipients is P. Elli Stamatopoulou, who has made her mark with her research at POLIMA (Centre for Polariton-driven Light-Matter Interactions), but is now affiliated with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The grants are given at the point in their careers after the PhD, where there is a significant dropout of women in academic career positions at universities.
With the Villum Foundation's support, P. Elli Stamatopoulou will embark on pioneering Nanophotonics Research. She plans to explore the optical properties of unconventional photonic platforms, such as chiral, time-varying, and topological media, uniquely combining fundamental science with practical applications in nanophotonics. This innovative approach is both a challenge and an exciting opportunity for groundbreaking research.
A critical grant for career advancement
The Villum grant will cover Elli's relocation in a new academic environment (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, and the group of Prof. Carsten Rockstuhl), before eventually being reintegrated in the Danish academic environment. This will provide Elli with invaluable experience with different ways of scientific thinking and operating, allow her to expand and complement the expertise acquired during her PhD, expand her research network by establishing new collaborations, and participate in a variety of research and outreach activities like international conferences and department colloquia.
- On a personal level, this grant recognizes all the hard work I have poured into my research. It validates my contribution to nanophotonics and motivates me to keep pushing forward. Professionally, it will allow me to access cutting-edge resources and elevate my scientific activity beyond what base funding can support, Elli states.
Support from POLIMA
Professor N. Asger Mortensen, head of POLIMA, emphasizes the importance of the Villum Foundation's support:
- POLIMA is dedicated to fostering young researchers through comprehensive training, career mentoring, and internationalization initiatives. Our deliberate approach encourages PhD graduates always to continue their further postdoctoral training in new academic environments, strengthening their international experience and broadening their professional networks, he says.
Recognition from the Mads Clausen Institute
Professor Horst-Günter Rubahn, head of the Mads Clausen Institute, highlights the significance of this achievement:
- Combining an outstanding female researcher with an excellent scientific peer group at POLIMA results in national and international recognition.
The grant arrives when retaining women in academia remains a critical challenge. The Villum Foundation is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive research environment where the best talents can thrive regardless of gender.
P. Elli Stamatopoulou's research holds great promise for pushing the boundaries of nanophotonics and contributing to significant technological advancements. Her work could potentially revolutionize the field, developing innovative sensing technologies and other practical applications.
The research project of P. Elli Stamatopoulou
P. Elli Stamatopoulou wants to explore the optical properties of unconventional photonic platforms, such as chiral, time-varying, or topological media. These structures have shown great potential for light modulation in space and/or time as components in photonic circuits, waveguides, nanoantennas, and biosensors and are typically studied with conventional optical spectroscopies. However, electron beams used in electron microscopy are more sensitive probes and can reveal features otherwise invisible to light-based probes. In other words, electron microscopy can capture the most intricate details of these nanostructures, thus unlocking their full potential for applications that we may not have even considered yet.