Thibault Aboud and Emma Huntley are the first PhD researchers at Corpus to be supported by the Capital Fund Management (CFM) Foundation bursary. They are both doing remarkable work at the frontier of quantum science.

Thibault is pushing the boundaries of quantum engineering, working on quantum emitters fabrication in diamonds within the Quantum Engineering Group under Dr Dorian Gangloff. His work is laying the groundwork for quantum computing and networking, advancing research towards a new type of powerful computation. Thanks to his CFM bursary, Thibault says he was able to work on a subject that mattered to him, as well as use travel funds to attend quantum networking summer schools in Okinawa, Japan, London and Manchester, where he presented his research and connected with peers from around the world.

Emma began her PhD at Cambridge in October 2025, joining Professor Mete Atatüre’s Quantum Optical Materials and Systems group, where she has been working on quantum emitters in two-dimensional materials for quantum biosensing. Emma says that the CFM bursary has given her the freedom to focus fully on her research and collaborations - without financial uncertainty standing in the way of her ambitions. As part of the NanoDTC PhD training program, she attended the Autumn School 2025 in collaboration with iNano in Aarhus, Denmark, and travelled in March 2026 with her group to visit collaborators in South Korea. Next up for Emma is the 7th Annual Inter-CDT Conference in Edinburgh in June and the Doctoral School on Photons & Atoms in Les Houches, France, later this summer.

Launched in Michaelmas 2024, the CFM Foundation postgraduate scholarship was created to support a French PhD student during their studies at Corpus, following completion of their undergraduate or postgraduate studies in France. It is an annual award made possible by former Visiting Fellow in Physics, Professor Jean-Philippe Bouchaud, co-founder and chairman of Capital Fund Management.

Thank you to the CFM Foundation for making opportunities like these possible.