Paderborn's scientist receives millions in funding for quantum research

Paderborn's scientist receives millions in funding for quantum research

On September 26, 2025, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Nicholas A. Güsken, a renowned physicist and nanotechnologist at the University of Paderborn, received significant funding of around 1.2 million euros from the Wübben Foundation. This funding is part of the Tenure Track Professorship program that supports German universities in recruiting international talent. Güsken is also supported by the NRW returnees program, which specifically supports young scientists who returned to North Rhine-Westphalia from abroad.

Güsken's research focuses on optical interfaces for quantum networks. He had turned down an offer from the USA to come to Germany. His appointment to the University of Paderborn was made possible through the close cooperation between the university, the Wübben Foundation and the NRW returnees program. Before that, Güsken worked as a postdoc at the “Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials” at Stanford University.

Academic career and contributions

Güsken studied at RWTH Aachen and Sorbonne University in Paris and received his doctorate from Imperial College London in 2020. Not only is he an excellent scientist, but he was also recently elected a member of the Young Academy of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences.

At the University of Paderborn he leads a working group in experimental physics that specializes in quantum photonics and optoelectronics. The focus of his research group includes the manipulation of quantum emitters and active light-matter interaction. He also researches active component interfaces in photonic integrated circuits and networks. His group is part of the Paderborn Institute for Photonic Quantum Systems (PhoQS) and the “Center for Optoelectronics and Photonics Paderborn” (CeOPP).

The tenure track program in Germany

The tenure track program was launched in 2016 with the aim of recruiting the best young scientists from home and abroad. The initiative by the federal government and the states aims to create transparent career paths in science. So far, 971 professorships have been filled at 75 German universities, which corresponds to 97% of the goal of 1,000 additional professorships. A monitoring report from the Joint Science Conference (GWK) from 2023 and a report on the first accompanying assessment from 2024 will examine the effectiveness of the program.

Tenure-track professorships offer young scientists a predictable career that, after a successful probationary period of a maximum of six years, leads to a lifetime professorship. Currently, 25% of new tenure-track professors worked abroad before being hired. In addition, the proportion of women in applications for tenure-track professorships up to July 2023 was remarkable: around 32% of the 34,915 applications came from women, and almost half of the tenure-track professorships were awarded to female applicants.

The program is designed to run for a total of 15 years and provides up to 1 billion euros for the period from 2017 to 2032. By creating clear structures and procedures, a cultural change should be initiated at universities and personnel structures should be sustainably improved.