The European Physical Society (EPS), the Fondazione Alessandro Volta and Edison S.p.A. have awarded the 2018 European Physical Society Edison Volta Prize to:

• Alain Brillet (Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur, CNRS, Université de la Côte d’Azur, Nice, France)
• Karsten Danzmann (Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik and Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany)
• Adalberto Giazotto † (INFN, Pisa, Italy) and
• Jim Hough (University of Glasgow, UK)

“for the development, in their respective countries, of key technologies and innovative experimental solutions, that enabled the advanced interferometric gravitational wave detectors LIGO and Virgo to detect the first gravitational wave signals from mergers of Black Holes and of Neutron Stars.”

The EPS Edison Volta Prize promotes excellence in research and is given in recognition of outstanding research and achievements in physics. The Prize is given biennially to individuals or groups of up to three people. The laureates receive a medal, which is a faithful reproduction of the Medaglia Premio dell’ Associazione per l’Incremento del Commercio in Como: a portrait of Alessandro Volta together with the saying: Alexandro Voltae Novocomensi, i.e. (dedicated) to Alessandro Volta from Novum Comum, which was the old name given to the city of Como by Julius Caesar.

The Prize was established in 2011 and was awarded for the first time in 2012 to R. D. Heuer, S. Bertolucci and S. Myers from CERN, Geneva and in 2014 to J.-M. Raimond from the Laboratory Kastler Brossel at the Collège de France, Paris. It was also given to three principal scientific leaders of the ESA’s Max Planck Mission in 2015 in the frame of the International Year of Light 2015: N. Mandolesi, University of Ferrara, J.-L. Puget, Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, Université Paris Sud & CNRS, and J. Tauber, Directorate of Science and Robotic ESA (NL).

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It is our pleasure to announce the first meeting centered around the GNU Radio framework held in France (Lyon). This workshop targets Frenchand European GNU Radio users and developpers. Contributions are sought in French or (preferably) English. The workshop will take place on the 2nd and 3rd of July, 2018, at INSA Lyon (France).

GNU Radio is an increasingly popular framework for Software Defined Radio components and Digital Signal Processing prototyping. As such our goals are as follows:

• Bring together active French and European
• GNU Radio users, coming from a scientific, technical, amateur or hacker backgroundF
• oster interaction between GNU Radio usersShare knowledge about GNU Radio developpement through tutorials, seminars and demos
• Bridge the gap between technical/engineering and scientific/research points of view on topics related to applied research with GNU Radio.

Such topics include:

• Software
• Defined Radio, radio prototyping,RF design,
• RADAR design
• Signal processing in embedded systems,
• GNU Radio development environment,
• New platforms

Contributions might for instance address the following topics (but not limited to):

• Cognitive Radio, Digital Communication and Agile SpectrumSharing
• RADAR systems and specifically passive radar
• Front-end analog characterization
• Design of Signal Processing algorithms as GNU Radio blocks
• Identification and decoding of signals, including satellite communication systems
• Security aspects of Radiocommunications
• Coupling GNURadio to Soc FPGA
• Various physical measurements (GNSS, Radioastronomy)
• … Your own favorite field here

GNU Radio users and developers are invited to present their experiments and activities. The first day (2nd of July) will be devoted to oral presentations, posters and demonstrations. The second day (3rd of July) will be dedicated to tutorials and hands-on sessions.

Contributions will be selected according to:

• Originality
• Quality of the experimental process
• Reproducibility of the experiments and learning potential for other users
• A live demonstration or video is highly appreciated

Submissions of contributions:

• One page extended abstract (PDF format), describing the contribution itself and the desired presentation format (oral, poster and/or demo).
• Deadline: 20 of May
• Submission via the website: https://gnuradio-fr-18.sciencesconf.org/

Enrico Rubiola (FEMTO-ST Institute) has received the 2018 W.G. Cady Award “for ground-breaking contributions to noise analysis and signal-source theory, and experimental achievements in the electronic and photonic domains.”

The W. G. Cady Award is to recognize outstanding contributions related to the fields of piezoelectric or other classical frequency control, selection and measurement; and resonant sensor devices.

=> Announcement.

Namneet Kaur will defend her thesis on 20th of April 2018 at 2:00 pm on the subject “Long range time transfer using optical fiber links and cross comparison with satellite based methods”, realized in SYRTE under the direction of Philip Tuckey and the supervision of Paul-Eric Pottie.

The defense will take place in the amphitheater of the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris (IAP).

=> Abstract.

François Tricot will defend his thesis on 27th of March 2018 at 1:30 pm on the subject “Analysis and reduction of the frequency instability noise sources in a compact CPT clock”, realized in SYRTE under the direction of Stéphane Guérandel.

The defense will take place in the amphitheater of the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris (IAP), in front of the jury: Agnès Maître, Frédéric Du Burck, Vincent Giordano, Virgile Hermann and Jean-Marc Lesage.

Abstract: This thesis work has been granted by a CIFRE-Défense contract to study the frequency stabilities of an atomic clock based on coherent population trapping. The objective is to demonstrate a frequency stability in the range of 10^-13τ^-1/2 up to 10 000 s. A caesium vapour cell is used with a high-contrast excitation scheme using cross linear polarisations and a Ramsey interrogation. The short-term frequency stability is presented with the reduction of the phase and the laser power noise, both limiting clock performance at 1 s integration time. The optimisation of the microwave chain with a new local oscillator, and the implementation of a very low noise power lock loop have improved the frequency stability down to 2,3×10^-13 at 1 s integration time. The fluctuations analysis of the operating parameters (laser intensity, magnetic field, temperature, etc.) and the measurement of the clock frequency show that the medium-term frequency instability is mostly limited by laser power and magnetic field fluctuations at the level of 2×10^-14 at 2 000 s integration time. These analyses also show that laser power fluctuations, despite servo loop control, are related to polarisation fluctuations through temperature fluctuations inside the experiment isolation box. Finally, the studies of a dual-frequency and dual-polarisation laser for a compact CPT clock are presented, paving the way to industrialisation by reducing the optical bench.

Key words: atomic clock, vapour cell, coherent population trapping, Ramsey fringes, Dick effect, intensity noise, frequency stability.

Two laboratories are searching candidates for a Ph-D theses cofunded by CNES:

•  SYRTE (Franck Pereira) on the subject: New atom interferometry techniques for space gravimetry ⇒ More information: https://cnes.fr/fr/les-ressources-humaines-du-cnes/nouvelles-techniques-dinterferometrie-atomique-pour-la-gravimetrie
• LAAS (Olivier Llopis) on the subject: Application of miniaturized optical frequency combs to the generation of high spectral purity microwave signals ⇒ More information: https://cnes.fr/fr/les-ressources-humaines-du-cnes/application-des-peignes-de-frequence-optiques-miniatures-la

The EFTS is intended to provide education and training, including laboratory practice in a full-week seminar, and targets the broadest audience: Engineers, Ph.D. students, post-docs, young scientists, newcomers, etc.

This seminar is original in the following:

• Broad spectrum of topics related to time and frequency
• Broad target audience, yet keeping high level education
• Balance between academic and applied issues
• Laboratory sessions (not only demos, the attendees are expected to practice on a wide range of instruments made available)

⇒ Information and Registration

JST and the French National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche; “ANR”) concluded a Framework Agreement in December 2017.

The purpose of this Agreement is to foster Japanese-French collaboration in scientific research and to fund joint research projects conducted by Japanese and French partners eligible for funding from each agenc on:
Quantum technology: Creation of an innovative quantum technology platform based on the advanced control of quantum states

The full description of the two areas is appended to the document on the national regulations for French applicants.

The proposals should be led by a Japanese PI and a French PI and will be evaluated via a peer-review procedure by JST and ANR. The call is open to public and private partners.

The average ANR funding will be around 500 k€ per project depending on the number of partners and the ambition of the project, for a 5-year duration.

The JST-CREST call will be launched at a later date for non-joint proposals but the Japanese-French consortia must have submitted their proposals to ANR website before April 16th, 10AM CET.

⇒ More information: http://anr.fr/CREST-2018

Mehdi Langlois will defend his thesis on 21st of December at 15:00 on the subject “Design and realisation of a cold atom gravity gradiometer”, realized in SYRTE under the direction of Franck Pereira dos Santos and the supervision of Sébastien Merlet.

The defense will take place in the amphitheater of the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris (IAP), in front of a jury composed of Christophe Daussy, Laurence Pruvost, Saïda Guellati-Khélifa, Philippe Bouyer and Bruno Desruelle. The entrance will be at 77 avenue Denfer-Rochereau, 75014 Paris.

⇒ More information