Marie Curie Actions: Inspiring Researchers - Imdea

their work on the next generation of atomic clocks. During histime as a Marie Curie Fellow, Dr Alnis established links withnational standardisation and measuring authorities in Germany,France, the UK and the USA.For the time being, he is planning to stay in Garching. ‘SinceProfessor Hänsch received the Nobel Prize, the group has doubledto 30 people,’ Dr Alnis remarks. To him, this makes the MPQwith its current staff of 150 a very special place, because ‘it isvery easy to obtain advice and exchange knowledge’. And hehas already submitted a proposal for a new grant, hoping thathe will be able to continue his work there for another three years.in the European Union,’ he says, adding that this providesopportunities to relocate as necessary.Dr Alnis believes that being committed to excellence is thekey to success when applying for a Marie Curie grant: fi ndinga renowned research group or mentor and developing agood project idea might even be more important than all thesmall technical details of the proposal. With this emphasis onexcellence, he concludes, ‘you know that those years ofyour life are not lost, but have helped you to gain valuableexperience’.Excellence inspires excellenceDr Alnis points out that his mentor worked with Arthur Schawlow,another Nobel Prize laureate, earlier in his career. ‘Historically,it seems that many famous scientists previously workedin the groups of other famous scientists. It’s like a familytree.’ This is something that research in Latvia could not haveoffered him, he believes. ‘The borders between the countriesare not so strict any more and you can really feel that you areProject acronymHydrogen 1S-2SFull project titlePrecision laser spectroscopy of the 1S-2S optical clocktransition in atomic hydrogenType of grantIntra-European FellowshipBudgetc. EUR 96 000Duration of project01-11-2006 - 31-10-2008Scientific disciplinePhysicsHost institutionProf. Theodor HänschMax Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ)DE-85748 GarchingTel. +49 89 3290 5702E-mail: Theodor.Haensch@mpq.mpg.de39