AMBER Centre (Trinity College Dublin) & NTAA STEM Animation Commission

AMBER in partnership with the National Talent Academy for Animation is delighted to offer a new opportunity to collaborate with ASPECTS researchers on a short animation.

 

This is a paid commission. 

Project Overview

The objective is to create an animated video that presents scientific concepts related to the research of an EU-funded project, ASPECTS (see below for background on ASPECTS). This can build on a recent illustrated children's book Quantum Quest, which was written through a collaboration between ASPECTS researchers and the creative-writing charity Fighting Words. The book centers on the adventures of two young protagonists, Alice and Bob, who are transported to the microscopic world where they personally experience some of the bizarre predictions of quantum physics, with hilarious and terrifying consequences! We welcome project proposals that build directly on the source material of Quantum Quest, but would also be interested in other proposals that explore the themes of ASPECTS' research in a different direction.

 

Project Details:

The individual short will:

• Have a budget of €8,000.
• Be a minimum of 60 seconds in length.
• Target a lay/public audience.
• Provide a platform to explain fundamental scientific concepts used to develop next-generation digital technologies based on quantum physics.
• Give audiences the opportunity to gain a better understanding of these concepts.
• Provide a tool for scientists to engage with the public on the core concepts involved in their research and its relevance to future treatments.
• The concept will be developed in collaboration with ASPECTS researchers.

 

Candidates can avail of NTAA mentorship in key areas.

 

Application Requirements:

1. A cover letter explaining why you are the best candidate for this project.

2. A project outline.

3. CVs and showreels of core creative team/individual.

4. Proposed production budget breakdown.

5. Notes (including any producer/director notes, project vision, style, tone, animation bible etc).

Application Deadline: December 9th at 5pm

Delivery Date: Late May 2025

 

APPLY HERE

 

ASPECTS background:

ASPECTS is a Horizon Europe project and part of the EU’s Quantum Flagship. The research topic is quantum physics, which describes the behaviour of tiny particles like atoms, electrons, and photons. ASPECTS aims to make measuring devices that exploit quantum physics to be more precise and energy efficient. These devices will be realised using tiny electrical circuits at extremely low temperature, i.e. milli-Kelvin (about 100-1000 times colder than anything in outer space). 

 

Our work combines two different areas of quantum physics. Quantum metrology is the science of precision measurement using quantum systems like atoms. This has interesting applications for fundamental science experiments, but also many real-world applications:

• atomic clocks: satellite navigation, timestamping financial transactions, etc.

• magnetometers: blood tests, nanoscale MRI, etc.

• gravimeters: geodesy (mapping out Earth’s surface), detecting mineral deposits, etc.

• accelerometers: seismology (detecting earthquakes), inertial navigation, etc.

Quantum thermodynamics is the study of how energy flows at the microscopic level. It is mainly pursued as fundamental, curiosity-driven physics research. There are a few possible practical applications, however:

• helping to make future technologies (e.g. quantum computers) more energy efficient

• designing better ways to harvest energy from waste heat (thermoelectricity), e.g. in the chemical industry

Our consortium is working on questions at the intersection of quantum metrology and thermodynamics, such as: How much energy would it cost to make quantum clocks more precise? Does better measurement precision necessarily require more energy? How does timing precision affect other technologies like quantum computation?

 

Our consortium comprises 6 partners in total: 

• 2 experimental nodes: 

  • University of Oxford, pursuing experiments with small semiconductor samples

  • Chalmers University of Technology, pursuing experiments with superconducting quantum bits

• 4 theoretical nodes: 

  • TCD – coordinator

  • University of Murcia

  • Technical University of Vienna

  • University of Malta – they joined the consortium after 1 year, funded by an extra grant called a Hop On Facility, which aims to support “Widening Countries” within the EU, i.e. countries that historically have less well developed scientific infrastructure and receive less funding