Exploring New Horizons: Prof. Ke Zou's Journey as a Humboldt Research Fellow

Prof. Ke Zou earned his PhD at Pennsylvania State University and is an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia. As ​a Humboldt Research Fellow he is visiting our institute. In this interview he speaks about his time in Germany and the advantages of the Humboldt Research Fellowship.  

You've been staying here now for almost two months. How was the stay at the institute so far?
Very pleasant and the institute is really impressive in many aspects. First, the equipment here is really amazing. You don't see that complete set of equipment anywhere else. And here at this institute, you have everything under the same roof. People can really utilize them to do all sorts of measurements and to finish anything they need. So that's a very unique opportunity or capability around the world. I've never seen an institute as such. Certainly, the people here are amazing as well. It's a great team of students, postdocs, and staff members. Everyone is friendly and works passionately to achieve their goals. They talk to me all the time about their individual projects. It's a nice environment for collaborations between everyone. Overall the institute is very impressive. ​

​Have you had a chance to explore the country on a weekend, for example in Berlin? Or is there a particular highlight of your time here?
​I traveled around a little bit in Germany. I found Munich to be a really amazing city. I only explored a little bit, but I'm excited to go back to Munich when it's Oktoberfest.

Yeah, it is. So, what does your joint research work look like, and what is maybe coming up in the future? You work another full year together with Prof. Parkin, what is the goal for the future of this joint research work?
So my expertise in Canada is on the synthesis side. But we don't have as much equipment there as we have here. So using this opportunity, the initial goal is really to bring our synthesis techniques here, to collaborate with the people here, and to measure these samples. We are also doing several different measurements right now with the people here. They are all ongoing. So that's the immediate goal of this idea or proposal. But of course, since it's a whole year, during the next months, we will come up with new projects. So by talking to people here, and to Stuart Parkin we will come up with new projects of research. Hopefully these new ideas will go beyond everything we know for now and give us new projects which may lead to very interesting outcomes. That would be great. 

Do you think there is utilization in the everyday life of people in the research you're doing here?
Yes, of course. Much of the research here is related to SPIN. SPIN is used a lot in the information industry nowadays. So maybe one day we can revolutionize how information is processed, stored, and transferred. I need it to be faster or more energy efficient and even more secure technologies in the near future. So these are the potential applications for the research we've been doing.

What is the main difference between Canada and Germany you explored and what's your impression of Halle so far?
People's attitudes are quite different. Canada is probably more intense. Especially in the summer, I feel like here in Germany it's a little bit more relaxed. Everyone is taking vacations to enjoy the summer a little bit. That's great. Halle is a very peaceful, nice, small city. Not too small, so you still have this concert and beer scene where we can be in the park. By the river, you can swim. I like it here. And you can take the train everywhere.

How is the Humboldt Foundation and the Humboldt Research Fellowship supporting your work here?
So this fellowship provides a very unique opportunity for us to work in a German institute. It basically provides you with everything on top of the host. It's really a great help. There also is a Humboldt database with I think 20,000 or 30,000 people there. It’s great to connect with others.

Anything else you want to add or mention?
Working with Stuart is always great. He’s happy to collaborate. He is open minded, open to new ideas, which is great.

About the Humboldt Research Fellowship

Through the Humboldt Research Fellowship, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation sponsors researchers with above-average qualifications from across the globe. Humboldt Fellows benefit from individual support from the Humboldt Foundation and their diverse sponsorship portfolio. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation aims to achieve a good balance between genders and a high level of diversity among its fellows in all areas. The fellowship enables to conduct research at various stages during a career in collaboration with a host at a German research institution. 

​This interview was conducted by Katja Woldt, text written by Thomas Cartier.