Who are you?

My name is Lisa Sommer. I am in my third term of the Master of Science program in physics at the University of Münster. The program is research-oriented, in the first year one can choose from a variety of courses, the second year consists of the master’s project. I am currently doing my masters project at IBM Research in Zurich with the help of an NCCR INSPIRE Potentials Fellowship.

In my master studies I specialized in nano- and quantum technology and nonlinear physics. In addition to that, there are interdisciplinary studies, from which I chose molecular biophysics. Through the structure of the program, I have had the opportunity to acquire an extensive know-how in a variety of subjects and to recognize the connections between these. For me, quantum technology was the most interesting subject, since I found it to be very versatile and interdisciplinary. There are all the tools and machines in the cleanroom, as well as the cryogenic measurement setups in the lab that are exciting to work with for my research.

Because the master program is setup to be rather international, I was able to meet people from all over the world. This gave me many opportunities for interesting and diverse discussions due to the broad range of technical backgrounds from their bachelor studies. The master's program lays the groundwork for my future and guides me to find the right research directions for myself.

Have you always been interested in science? Was there a certain moment that you remember when you just knew: This is it!?

I was always curious about how the world works. I remember that I did some experiments in the kitchen with a friend from elementary school. I wanted to see, for example, how sugar changes the density of tap water.

This curiosity was sharpened in school science camps, where I attended courses on nanotechnology and quantum mechanics. From there on I was interested in the world at the microscopic scale. I wanted to understand the reasons beneath the incredible and beyond the obvious – for example how a gecko can walk on ceilings.

How did you come to study physics at university? What do you like about the field?

I have always loved mathematics, physics and music. Combining these three, I decided to study physics, which is based on mathematics and directly connected for example to music as a means to understand waves and interference. After the science camps and an internship at a university, I planned to study nano- and quantum technology for my bachelor studies. However, I did not want to specialize this early on and changed my mind. Physics is so versatile and omnipresent that I wanted to learn about basic physical principles first. I attended a course for one term in an early study program in physics. I immediately liked it a lot especially because everybody was supporting each other in this field, which made it very attractive to me.

What is the topic of your master’s project?

In my master’s project at IBM Research in Zurich, I am fabricating and characterizing different silicides (alloys of metals with silicon) for improved spin qubit contacts and for superconducting resonators. One can think about the spin of an electron as a property, which is similar to the rotation direction of a spinning top. This direction can be to the left or to the right, which in spin terminology is called spin up or spin down. A conventional computer operates with bits, which are either 0 or 1, the quantum version of this bit, a so-called qubit, can be defined in analogy with spin up and down. The important aspect here is that the spin is a quantum property, and a qubit cannot only be either spin up or spin down but it can also be both at the same time. Applying this to computing, such quantum processors enable highly parallel operations and a correspondingly higher computational power. Application examples are the simulation of the behavior of complex quantum systems, e.g. in chemistry and material science.

To be able to control the spin, individual electrons (or holes) need to be confined in a quantum dot which in our case is realized with a small transistor. For these devices we are using silicides for the contacts and in my project, I am working on improving these contacts by characterizing silicides which are expected to give lower contact resistance.

Do women face specific challenges in the sciences?

This question has a lot of aspects to it – there are different challenges at different stages of a scientific career. My decision to take up studies with a strong science focus was met with skepticism by many people who didn’t understand my interest in scientific topics. This led to self-reflection and sometimes even doubting the decision. The same may be true for men, but I think women tend to reflect on social expectations much more. 

As a second point, there are clearly not as many women in physics and other science disciplines as there are in other subjects. This may affect the wellbeing of some women in such male dominated course of studies. However, I myself have had mostly positive experiences in that all my student colleagues were very supportive of each other irrespective of gender. 
During my studies there was a so-called ‘Gender Breakfast Talk’ through which I and other female students were able to have discussions with various female professors. Those discussions were about their personal experiences during their scientific career. One topic that always came up was planning a family. Pregnancy is a big challenge for women in science: it results in an interruption of experimental research since one is usually not allowed to work in the lab during that time. If a woman goes back to work soon after giving birth, there can be expectations that women should stay at home for their children and be good housewives. This social expectation either results in a massive double load for women or is simply incompatible with having a career in science. In contrast to that, there were also discussions about regretting not having a family. The balance between family and work can be hard to figure out for female scientists since the standing of men and women in science is still not fully equal, as a matter of fact it is still not equal in today’s society. Nevertheless, the increasing support for women is the beginning of changing that, for example through the NCCR INSPIRE Potentials Fellowship. This change needs to be continued in order to utilize society’s full potential for the benefit of all. 

Any advice for young girls interested in the field?

Be yourself, leverage your strength and try things out.

If you get an opportunity to go to a school camp, an internship or competition, try it out. Try as much as possible. If you have problems with one task, do not give up – never give up. Discuss the problem so you can reflect on it and try solving it another way. Every challenge overcome will make you stronger. Leverage these opportunities to interact with as many people as possible and don’t be shy to ask all your questions. Often teachers, researchers and other students are or were in the same situation as you are, but maybe with a different point of view. So, you may agree with them or disagree. In either case, you may have gathered your own viewpoint, which will make you more certain about your decision in the end.

What are your plans for the future?

Due to my positive experiences in the research labs that I’ve seen so far, I would like to stay in research and specifically be part of making quantum computing a reality. To follow up on this, my plan is to graduate with my master’s degree and start as a doctoral candidate to be able to contribute further to future achievements in this field.