Thomas Schäfer
Main Focus
Materials with strong electronic correlations are amongst the most intriguing topics at the forefront of research in condensed matter physics. On the one hand, they exhibit fascinating phenomena like quantum criticality and high-temperature superconductivity, bearing a high potential for applications. On the other hand, they are theoretically very appealing due to their limited understanding, even on the very fundamental level. Within the research group “Theory of Strongly Correlated Quantum Matter”, starting from September 2020, the frontier of this fundamental understanding is pushed by applying cutting-edge numerical quantum field theoretical methods to quantum critical systems, high-temperature superconductors, Mott insulators and magnetically frustrated systems, both in the purely model (Hubbard model, periodic Anderson model) as well as material oriented (heavy fermions, cuprates, organics) context.
Curriculum Vitae
From October 2026: Full Professor of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical and Computational Physics, TU Graz, Austria
September 2025 - September 2026: Tenure-Track Professor at the University of Trieste (UniTS), Italy
September 2020 - August 2026: Research group leader "Theory of Strongly Correlated Quantum Matter" at MPI-FKF
2017-2020: Postdoc and Erwin-Schrödinger Fellow with Prof. Antoine Georges (Collège de France and École Polytechnique, Paris), regular visits of the Center for Computational Quantum Physics, Flatiron Institute, New York City
2016-2017: Postdoc with Prof. Alessandro Toschi, TU Wien
2013-2016: PhD under the supervision of Prof. Karsten Held and Prof. Alessandro Toschi, TU Wien, completed "sub auspiciis praesidentis rei publicae"
2007-2012: Bachelor and Master studies TU Wien, completed "with distinction", Master Thesis (under the supervision of Prof. Alessandro Toschi) awarded with the Award for an outstanding and excellent thesis of the City of Vienna