ESSC Members
Kai Bongs
Director of the Quantum Technology Research Institute
DLR, DE
Research Interests
quantum physics, atom interferometry, optical clocks
KAI BONGS is director of the Quantum Technology Research Institute of DLR in Germany. He earned his Ph.D. in experimental physics from the Leibniz University of Hannover and his habilitation from the University of Hamburg, working with cold atom quantum systems. He works in the field of precision measurements with cold atoms using atom interferometry and optical clocks. He is part of consortia developing cold atom Space missions for gravitational wave detection and tests of fundamental physics such as dark matter searchers, universality of free fall, gravitational red shift and Lorentz invariance. He is collaborating with industry with the aim to enable commercial cold atom satellites for Earth Observation missions. His former work included collaboration on demonstrating Bose-Einstein condensation and atom interferometry under microgravity as part of the QUANTUS collaboration funded by the German Space Agency and collaboration on building a Space Optical Clock prototype within the Space Optical Clock consortium funded by ESA and the EU. He is member of the Space Academic Network (SPAN) providing an academic voice to UK Space developments.