Workshop HEX-SIGE

Biography Michele Amato

Michele Amato is Associate Professor at the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Université Paris-Saclay. He received his PhD in Physics from the Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia in 2011. After research stays at the Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona and at LPS in Orsay, he was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship at École Polytechnique in Paris. From 2013 to 2019, he was Assistant Professor at Université Paris-Sud. His research focuses on first-principles simulations of semiconductors and nanostructures, particularly defects, doping, and optical properties in group-IV materials and related semiconductor systems for electronic, photonic, and quantum device applications.

Biography Stefano Bosco 

Stefano Bosco leads a research group focused on the theory of semiconducting quantum computing, with particular emphasis on spin qubits and quantum devices. His work combines microscopic modeling with hardware-oriented approaches to improve scalable quantum information processing in close collaboration with experimental teams. Bosco studied nanoelectronics engineering at Politecnico di Milano and completed graduate studies at KU Leuven and Chalmers University of Technology. He earned his PhD with distinction at RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich under David DiVincenzo. After postdoctoral and staff scientist positions at University of Basel with Daniel Loss, he continues developing next-generation quantum device architectures.

Biography Christopher Broderick

Chris received his Ph.D. in Physics from University College Cork in Ireland, after which he held postdoctoral appointments at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and Tyndall National Institute in Ireland.

From 2021 – 2023 he was a Marie Curie Global Fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S.A. and in 2024 he was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship.

Since 2025 he has been a Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Quantum & Photonics at the School of Physics at University College Cork.

Biography Giovanni Isella

Giovanni Isella is Full Professor of Semiconductor Physics at the Politecnico di Milano, where he leads the SiGe epitaxy team. Since 2001 he has exploited strain and band‑gap engineering of SiGe heterostructures, in several applications including, near‑ and mid‑infrared integrated photonics (SiGe waveguides and MQW modulators), thermoelectric energy conversion in low‑dimensional systems, spintronics in Ge heterostructures, and hole‑based qubits.

Biography Bernardette Kunert

Bernardette Kunert received her Dr. rer. nat. degree in Physics from the University of Marburg, Germany, in 2005. After working as a project manager in a start-up company beginning in 2006, she joined imec, Belgium, as a Principal Scientist in 2013. Since 2023, she has been serving as Scientific Director.

She has a strong background in the epitaxial growth and characterization of III-V heterostructures and related (opto)electronic devices. A central theme of her research has been the integration of III-V-based functionalities onto large-diameter silicon or germanium substrates, enabling the development of novel device integration concepts. In her current role, she is jointly responsible for defining the III-V technology strategies at imec.

Biography Caspar van der Wal

Caspar van der Wal obtained his PhD degree in 2001, with Prof. Hans Mooij at Delft University of Technology for research on quantum coherent dynamics of superconducting circuits. He continued his career as a postdoc at Harvard University, with research on quantum optical memories in atomic vapours. He is currently full professor in Physics of Quantum Devices at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials in Groningen. The research of his team focuses on exploring spintronic and quantum information functionalities with electron spins and nuclear spins in semiconductor devices, using quantum optical methods and electron transport methods. Since 2009 he has been acting as education director or scientific director at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials.