Steven Hoekstra

I am an experimental physicist specialised in the development and application of precision measurement techniques to explore the limits of particle physics. In my group we perform experiments with small quantum systems (atoms, ions, molecules) and nanoparticles. The main tools we use to study these particles are lasers, and external electric and magnetic fields. The experiments we do are typically in a very well controlled environment, shielded from all unwanted background. By doing this, the subtle effects of quantum physics become visible, and we can use these atoms, ions, molecules and nanoparticles for a range of exciting experiments. 

More information can be found on my personal webpage.

Steven Hoekstra obtained his PhD in atomic physics working on the lasercooling of atoms at the University of Groningen in 2005. He then moved to the study of cold molecules at the Max-Planck Institut for Physical Chemistry in Berlin, where he was postdoc and group leader. Since 2010 he is back at the University of Groningen, where he leads a group on precision measurements using molecules to probe fundamental physics. He is currently the chair of the board of the Van Swinderen Institute. He has obtained a VIDI grant (2013) and a VICI grant (2022),  and has lead an NWO research program (2016-2022) on precision measurements called NL-eEDM. Currently he is programme leader at the national institute Nikhef representing the precision measurements to probe fundamental physics. In 2022 he received an NWO-M2 grant with Anastasia Borschevsky, and the NL-eEDM team received an NWO-XL grant which he leads.