QUANTUM SUMMER INTERNSHIPS
We are pleased to announce the launch of the EHU Quantum Center Summer Internship Programme, the Quantum Summer Internships for short.
The research groups at the EHU Quantum Center work on a broad range of topics in quantum science, spanning fundamental questions in quantum mechanics and cosmology, as well as practical applications in quantum computing and quantum technologies.
This programme offers 3rd and 4th year UPV/EHU Physics students an excellent opportunity to gain first-hand experience in academic research and to become familiar with the nature of research work in these fields. Through this initiative, selected students will spend two months integrated within one of the EHU Quantum Center research groups.
The internships include a stipend of EUR 750 per month.
Students interested in applying should send an email to ehuqc_internships.fct@ehu.eus with the following application materials:
• Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Academic transcript, including average grade
• Cover letter explaining the student’s motivation for applying to the programme
• Ranked order of preference among the available research proposals (see below)
Applicants may also submit the following optional materials:
• Letters of recommendation, to be sent directly to the email address above, with the student’s name in the subject line.
• English language certificates.
• Any other material.
Application deadline: March 27th 2026
All participants will be supervised by a senior researcher from an EHU Quantum Center research group. Students will be expected to work in person on the assigned project and to adapt to the schedule and working practices of the host group.
Financial support will be provided in the form of a UPV/EHU “Prácticas” stipend (EUR 750 per month); accordingly, the internship will be subject to all rules and regulations applicable to such “Prácticas”.
In September, students will be invited to present the results of their work at a one-day workshop to be held at the Faculty of Science and Technology (Leioa).
RESEARCH PROPOSALS FOR 2026 INTERNSHIPS
For more details on the proposal use the link of each of the proposal’s title
1. Neutrino signals from merging stars
Most of the stars in our Universe are found in binary systems, and many of them should merge. This phase is mysterious, because any signal is shielded by the stellar envelopes. But it is key to understand, among others, supernovae or the observed gravitational-wave sources. If one of the stars is a white dwarf, its strong gravitational field is expected to heat infalling gas to high temperatures where thermonuclear reactions should take place. These reactions can emit neutrinos, feebly-interacting particles that would escape and lead to a direct signal of this important but poorly understood astrophysical phenomenon. In this project, the student will compute the neutrino signal from such a system, and understand if it is detectable or not.
2. Designing robust two-qubit gates
Quantum computers work by carefully controlling small quantum systems called qubits, but these systems are extremely sensitive to noise from their environment. In this project, we will study how to make a key operation in quantum computing — a two-qubit entangling gate — more reliable and resistant to noise. The idea is to couple two qubits through a shared quantum oscillator (such as a resonator or vibrational mode) in a way that reduces unwanted energy loss and protects the qubits from disturbances. We will develop a simplified mathematical model that describes how this interaction works, identify the main sources of error (like random fluctuations and residual motion in the oscillator), and test the gate’s performance using numerical simulations. If time permits, we will discuss how this method could be implemented in real systems such as semiconductor spin qubits or trapped ions. The project combines theoretical modeling and computational work and is well suited for an undergraduate student interested in quantum physics and quantum computing.
3. Understanding the monogamy of qubit entanglement
Entanglement is the primary type of correlation that differentiates quantum from classical systems. In systems with more than two parties there may occur different types of entanglement that often are difficult to quantify. For many-qubit states it is known that entanglement contributions can be added up and fulfill certain inequalities, or even equalities (see the illustration of an equality for three-qubit states above), which are called "monogamy relations". Only few such relations are currently known. Understanding their "inner workings" is essential for quantum information theory and many-body quantum physics alike. In this project we will study the oldest and most famous of these monogamy constraints, the Osborne-Verstraete-Wootters inequality. While there exists a formal proof, there is no intuitive understanding of the structure of the inequality. By numerically investigating the generalized Bloch vector of quantum states of a few qubits we aim to shed new light on this longstanding problem.
4. Anomalous collective modes in Quantum Materials
Quantum materials can host emergent phenomena when electrons collectively behave as new “particle-like” excitations. Remarkably, some of these modes resemble axions or dilatons—hypothetical particles discussed in particle physics and cosmology. The student will study how such modes can arise from violations of classical symmetries by quantum effects, known as quantum anomalies. We will start from simple one-dimensional models, where the key ideas are especially transparent and many results can be obtained analytically. The goal is to identify when these modes appear and what their experimental fingerprints are. This project offers a concrete entry point into modern theory at the crossroads of condensed matter, high-energy, and nuclear physics, setting the stage for extensions to realistic quantum materials.
5. Quantum decay of oscillons
Oscillons are localized, spherically symmetric, long-lived oscillatory solutions of nonlinear classical field equations that can naturally form in the Early Universe. Because their properties may leave observable imprints, they offer a potential window into the physics driving the first few instances of our universe. Although they are quasi-stable at the classical level, quantum effects can significantly alter their decay rates and lifetimes, thereby affecting cosmological predictions. This project aims to investigate the decay and stability of realistic oscillons by combining 3+1 dimensional numerical simulations of classical field theories with an analysis of quantum corrections to their dynamics.
