Student - Peter Schaefers
Peter Schaefers
Hi, my name is Peter Schaefers and I started the QIST Master's programme in 2023. I play field hockey, enjoy surfing and snowboarding, and like to hang out with friends and flatmates in my spare time. I completed my Bachelor's degree in Applied Physics (AP) at TU Delft. At the end of the bachelor programme, I was in doubt between the quantum track of AP and QIST. To learn more about the differences between the two, I arranged to meet Miriam Blaauboer, the programme coordinator of QIST. She explained that QIST focused on the application of quantum technology, while the AP track was more theoretical. I was looking for something applied and I'm glad I chose QIST because that's exactly what I got.
Another aspect of the programme that I really like is that we go through the whole computer stack: from physics to hardware, from hardware to low-level programming, and finally to high-level programming. This means that although you eventually specialise in one direction (such as hardware or software), you understand how it all comes together.
I think the most challenging thing for me was the novelty of the programme. All the professors and everyone involved did a great job in organising the courses and everything else related to the programme, but there were some things that made it a bit more difficult. A good example is the mismatch between some of the courses, which resulted in a lack of background knowledge and made the programme more work and difficult. However, everyone is doing their best to improve the programme and the professors are constantly asking for feedback, which makes you feel heard.
I'm not sure yet what I want to do after the Master's. However, I am looking forward to doing my Master's thesis, in which I will develop an algorithm to increase the simultaneous readout fidelity of superconducting qubits.