November was a great month for our Early-Stage Researchers who met at IBM in Zurich for the Complementary Skills Training. The workshop aimed to share their research results and accomplishments of 2023 so during the first day, each ESR had a presentation about their work. Afterward, they had a chance to integrate during the Italian dinner in a restaurant nearby.
The next day was full of lectures. First, Haig A. Peter from IBM explained what exactly research is. As a non-physicist, he could grasp the subject from a different perspective, focusing not only on computing but also on the social aspects. Then, Felix Holzner (UNISERS Ltd) had a lecture titled “What’s required to incorporate and grow a high-tech startup?”. Next, Mirja Richer – a guest from Sensiron – explained why it is profitable to have a patent when you are in a startup and showed how they can reduce your taxes. To wind her lecture up, the ESRs took part in a quiz and the best of them got a reward. After lunch, Gabriele Dobenecker (Emba) took the scene over with a talk about the correlation between institutes and companies highlighting the importance of their close collaboration. Last but not least, Fabio Scafirimuto (IBM) dwelled on the quantum discourse, stating that quantum computing is almost at the peak of its popularity. As the clear benefit of this situation, he recognized the general popularization of science . On the other hand, the visible disadvantage would be the use of quantum terms in the wrong, non-scientific way (Marvel, I’m looking at you).
