Scientific Exchange and Community Build­ing at the IQST Retreat 2026

The IQST Retreat 2026, held from 11–13 May at Schloss Reisens­burg, brought together more than 40 early-career research­ers from across the IQST community for three days of scientific exchange, train­ing, network­ing, and community build­ing. Parti­cipants from seven univer­sit­ies and research insti­tutes across Baden-Württemberg joined the retreat, repres­ent­ing a broad spectrum of research areas within quantum science and techno­logy. Set above the Danube valley near Günzburg, the historic venue offered an ideal envir­on­ment for intens­ive scientific discus­sions, informal inter­ac­tions, and inter­dis­cip­lin­ary exchange through­out the retreat.

The scientific program featured research and tutorial talks by: 

  • Jasmin Meinecke (Technical Univer­sity Berlin) — Quantum Inter­fer­ence in Integ­rated Waveguide Arrays
  • Eva Peters (QuiX Quantum GmbH) — Modern Ways of Management
  • Tobias Huber-Loyola (Karls­ruhe Insti­tute of Techno­logy) — Quantum dots for the gener­a­tion of single and entangled photons
  • Laëti­tia Farin­acci (Univer­sity of Würzburg) — Magnet­ism at the atomic scale: engin­eer­ing inter­ac­tions with the envir­on­ment to achieve coher­ent spin dynamics
  • Patrick Emonts (Ulm Univer­sity) — Intro­duc­tion to Many-Body Certi­fic­a­tion Methods
  • Gláucia Murta (Vienna Univer­sity of Techno­logy) — Secur­ity of quantum key distribution

The final day also featured a workshop on innov­a­tion and entre­pren­eur­ship led by Mia-Celine Zsohár (Univer­sity of Stutt­gart) and Lena Schmid (Ulm Univer­sity), focus­ing on pathways from academic research to innov­a­tion activ­it­ies and startups. 

In addition to the scientific and train­ing sessions, the retreat included two inter­act­ive poster sessions, network­ing activ­it­ies, and community-building events. An inter­act­ive icebreaker game encour­aged parti­cipants to connect with research­ers from other groups and insti­tu­tions, helping to initi­ate discus­sions and new exchanges early in the retreat. The team-building event further strengthened these inter­ac­tions, as parti­cipants were mixed into groups during a black­light minigolf session that combined collab­or­a­tion, friendly compet­i­tion, and informal network­ing in a relaxed atmosphere. 

During the retreat, parti­cipants also elected the new PhD repres­ent­at­ives of the IQST Early-Career Network: Mirko Rossini (Ulm Univer­sity), Annar­ita Ricci (Univer­sity of Freiburg), Qinlin Zhang (Heidel­berg Univer­sity), and Aless­andro Ciorra (Univer­sity of Stutt­gart).

The IQST Retreat 2026 highlighted once again the import­ance of creat­ing spaces for inter­dis­cip­lin­ary exchange, collab­or­a­tion, and community build­ing within the growing quantum ecosys­tem in Baden-Württemberg. 

Photo credits: Cristi­ano Guttà © IQST