Index

IQST Seminar with Prof. Yasun­obu Nakamura

IQST Seminar with Prof. Yasun­obu Nakamura

We are pleased to invite you to the next IQST Seminar, given by Prof. Yasun­obu Nakamura, on recent advances in super­con­duct­ing quantum computing. 

In his talk, Prof. Nakamura will discuss progress toward scalable, fast, and high-fidelity control and readout of super­con­duct­ing qubits — key techno­lo­gies on the path to fault-tolerant quantum computing. 

High-fidelity control and readout of super­con­duct­ing qubits

Date: Monday, 16 Febru­ary 2026
Time: 16:15 – 17:30
Location: Univer­sity of Stutt­gart, Pfaff­en­wald­ring 57, Room 2.136

We look forward to welcom­ing you! 

Click here to read the abstract

Inside the Lab: IQST Early-Career Train­ing Visit @Heidelberg

Inside the Lab: IQST Early-Career Train­ing Visit @Heidelberg

As part of the Early-Career Train­ing Activ­it­ies suppor­ted by the IQST Gradu­ate School @QuantumBW, the IQST Visit @Heidelberg brought students and early-career research­ers to the European Insti­tute for Neuromorphic Comput­ing (EINC) for an after­noon of scientific exchange, hands-on train­ing, and networking. 

The visit opened with a series of scientific talks highlight­ing current research and innov­a­tion at the inter­face of quantum photonics and techno­logy. Contri­bu­tions included a present­a­tion on fiber-to-chip inter­con­nects and recon­fig­ur­able photonic circuits by J. Brandes, insights into super­con­duct­ing nanowire single-photon detect­ors and their applic­a­tions by S. Ferrari, and a startup-focused talk by R. Bankwitz from Linq Photonics, offer­ing perspect­ives on the trans­ition from academic research to entrepreneurship. 

A central element of the visit was the Pernice Lab tour, during which parti­cipants rotated through five hands-on stations featur­ing live demon­strat­ors. These covered integ­rated photonic device charac­ter­iz­a­tion, fiber taper­ing using a hydro­gen flame, charac­ter­iz­a­tion setups for super­con­duct­ing films and SNSPDs, active fiber-to-chip align­ment using a Finepla­cer system, and a convolution-based neuromorphic edge detec­tion system. The inter­act­ive format enabled direct exchange with research­ers and provided valuable insights into exper­i­mental techniques and infrastructures. 

The visit concluded with informal network­ing over refresh­ments, foster­ing discus­sions across discip­lines and institutions. 

IQST warmly thanks the Pernice Lab and the entire hosting team in Heidel­berg for their openness, excel­lent organ­iz­a­tion, and commit­ment to early-career training. 

IQST Gradu­ate School @QuantumBW: Three Days of Science, Skills, and Industry Insights

IQST Gradu­ate School @QuantumBW: Three Days of Science, Skills, and Industry Insights

The IQST Gradu­ate School @QuantumBW success­fully ran a three-day program from 1–3 Decem­ber 2025, bring­ing together its first inter­na­tional cohort of doctoral research­ers, academic super­visors from across Baden-Württemberg, and repres­ent­at­ives from the regional quantum industry. The event gathered parti­cipants from six countries across four contin­ents and showcased strong links between academic research and local industry.

Day 1 – Project Present­a­tions and Scientific Exchange

The meeting opened with welcome remarks by Prof. Dr. Stefanie Barz, Director of IQST, and contin­ued with a full day of scientific exchange. Academic super­visors from five Baden-Württemberg univer­sit­ies — Univer­sity of Stutt­gart, Ulm Univer­sity, Heidel­berg Univer­sity, Univer­sity of Tübin­gen and Univer­sity of Freiburg — presen­ted the newly funded Gradu­ate School projects.

A highlight of the day was the tutorial talk by Dr. Susanne Baumann (Univer­sity of Stutt­gart), titled “Controlling Individual Magnetic Spins on the Atomic Scale.” Project present­a­tions by the academic super­visors were followed by a lively poster session, where PhD students presen­ted their research plans, early results and intern­ship timelines and engaged directly with super­visors and industry guests. Repres­ent­at­ives from ten industry partners — active across the Baden-Württemberg quantum ecosys­tem and hosting student intern­ships — also parti­cip­ated in the day’s discussions.

Day 2 – Early Career Train­ing: Scientific Present­a­tions Workshop

Day 2 launched the Gradu­ate School’s Early Career Train­ing series (open to IQST students and early career research­ers across the region) with an inter­act­ive workshop led by Prof. Dr. Matt Carter (Willi­ams College): “Scientific Present­a­tions: How to Optim­ize Posters and Talks.”

  • Core principles of effect­ive scientific communication
  • Craft­ing a compel­ling narrative
  • Design­ing clear, impact­ful visual slides
  • Present­ing with confidence
  • Poster formats and practical alternatives

Parti­cipants worked through practical exercises, received peer feedback, and refined their present­a­tion and poster skills in hands-on sessions.

Day 3 – Industry Visit: Swabian Instruments

The final day featured a visit to Swabian Instru­ments in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. The program included a company present­a­tion and an intro­duc­tion to time-tagging techno­logy, followed by a network­ing lunch with company staff where students and employ­ees exchanged views on careers and industry trans­itions. The visit contin­ued with a guided tour of R&D and produc­tion areas and concluded with a practical, hands-on session using the Time Tagger API.

Thanks & Next Steps

We warmly thank all students, super­visors, speak­ers and industry partners for their contri­bu­tions to a success­ful kickoff program. The IQST Gradu­ate School @QuantumBW is funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts of Baden-Württemberg (MWK) via QuantumBW. Stay tuned for further train­ing activ­it­ies and collab­or­at­ive events across the IQST network.

Photo credits: Day 1 – Gabriel Parsyak © IQST; Day 2 and 3 – Cristi­ano Guttà © IQST

Join Us for IQST Day 2026

IQST Day 2026 — Program

We are happy to announce IQST Day 2026, taking place on 23 Febru­ary 2026 at the Karls­ruhe Insti­tute of Techno­logy (KIT). We look forward to inspir­ing talks, scientific exchange, and lively poster sessions.

You’ll find the prelim­in­ary sched­ule below — this page will be updated regularly.

Sched­ule — 23 Febru­ary 2026

Karls­ruhe Insti­tute of Techno­logy (KIT), Gaede-Lecture Hall, Engess­er­str. 7, 76131 Karlsruhe

09:00 – 09:30: Regis­tra­tion and Welcome Coffee

09:30 – 09:45: Event Kick-Off : Stefanie Barz, Fedor Jelezko (IQST Direct­ors) and Ina Schae­fer (Vice Provost Research, KIT)

Session 1 — Chair: Stefanie Barz

09:45 – 10:30: Invited talk (40+5): Costanza Toninelli (INO-CNR, LENS, Italy) — Quantum Inter­faces with Single Molecules

10:30 – 11:15: Invited talk (40+5): Julian Schmitt (Heidel­berg Univer­sity, Germany) — Quantum Matter Made of Light: Unlock­ing Funda­ment­als and Technology

11:15 – 11:45: Coffee Break

Session 2 — Chair: David Hunger

11:45 – 12:30: Invited talk (40+5): Ian Walms­ley (Univer­sity of Oxford, United Kingdom) — Light­ing the Quantum Future

12:30 – 13:00: IQST talk (25+5): Carsten Rockstuhl (Karls­ruhe Insti­tute of Techno­logy, Germany) — Designed and Inversely Designed Quantum Nanophotonic Systems

13:00 – 14:00: Lunch break and posters

Session 3 — Chair: Tilman Pfau

14:00 – 14:45: Invited talk (40+5): Klaus Blaum (Max Planck Insti­tute for Nuclear Physics, Germany) — Trapped and Measured: Quantum Metro­logy in a Penning Trap

14:45 – 15:30: Invited talk (40+5): Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop (Univer­sity of Queens­land, Australia) — Catch, Move and Twist Using Optic­ally Controlled Quantum Sensors

15:30 – 16:00: Group Picture and Coffee Break

Session 4 — Chair: Fedor Jelezko

16:00 – 16:30: IQST talk (25+5): Alexan­der Kühne (Ulm Univer­sity, Germany) — How to Achieve High Lumin­es­cence in Organic (Di)-Radicals for Molecu­lar Quantum Applications

16:30 – 17:00: IQST talk (25+5): Patrick Emonts (Ulm Univer­sity, Germany) — Enhanced Adiabatic State Prepar­a­tion for Tensor Networks

17:00 – 17:30: IQST talk (25+5): Julian Berberich (Univer­sity of Stutt­gart, Germany) — Robust­ness of Quantum Algorithms

17:30 – 19:30: Poster session and Network­ing (Refresh­ments)

Regis­tra­tions are now closed. If you would still like to attend the IQST Day 2026, please get in touch with us directly at the follow­ing email address: office@iqst.org

Some impres­sions from previ­ous IQST Days:

IQST at Quantum Effects 2025: Showcas­ing Quantum Innov­a­tion and Collaboration

IQST at Quantum Effects 2025: Showcas­ing Quantum Innov­a­tion and Collaboration

The IQST team success­fully took part in Quantum Effects 2025 in Stutt­gart, present­ing a broad spectrum of quantum research and techno­logy integ­ra­tion from its partner insti­tu­tions. At the IQST booth, research­ers and gradu­ate students engaged with visit­ors, demon­strat­ing hands-on setups and sharing insights into ongoing projects in quantum sensing, quantum comput­ing, quantum networks, and quantum techno­logy integ­ra­tion.

A special highlight was the present­a­tion delivered by Jan Pusskeiler and Dennis Rieger, showcas­ing a collab­or­at­ive project between the IQST Gradu­ate School @QuantumBW and Qinu, an industry partner based in Karls­ruhe. Their demon­stra­tion attrac­ted great interest from visit­ors and exempli­fied the strong link between academic research and indus­trial innov­a­tion fostered within IQST. 

In addition, the booth was visited by the Region­alräte, who had time to learn how IQST advances the quantum ecosys­tem of Baden-Württemberg both locally and internationally. 

The booth also featured a social area, where visit­ors and parti­cipants could meet over an espresso, exchange ideas, and connect with members of the quantum community. All students of the newly estab­lished IQST Gradu­ate School @QuantumBW actively contrib­uted to the booth, present­ing their research and engaging with the public through­out the event. 

Through­out the two days, IQST members fostered exchange across discip­lines and insti­tu­tions, strength­en­ing connec­tions within the quantum ecosys­tem and raising visib­il­ity for the vibrant research community in Baden-Württemberg. 

A warm thank-you goes to all contrib­ut­ors — research­ers, students, and staff — and to the visit­ors who took the time to engage with our team and explore the excit­ing work being done at IQST. 

Foto: Ludmilla Parsyak © IQST

New Direct­ors and Execut­ive Board Appoin­ted at IQST

New Direct­ors and Execut­ive Board Appoin­ted at IQST

New Direct­ors and Execut­ive Board at IQST

IQST is pleased to announce the re-election of Stefanie Barz (UStutt) and Fedor Jelezko (UUlm) as Direct­ors. We also warmly welcome the newly appoin­ted members of the Execut­ive Board:

  • Stefanie Barz (UStutt)
  • Ilia Polian (UStutt)
  • Fedor Jelezko (UUlm)
  • Martin Plenio (UUlm)
  • David Hunger (KIT)
  • Philip Willke (KIT)
  • Chris­tian Ast (MPI)

This leader­ship team will continue to guide IQST’s mission of advan­cing the under­stand­ing of nature and devel­op­ing innov­at­ive techno­lo­gies from funda­mental quantum physics. By foster­ing syner­gies between physi­cists, chemists, engin­eers, and life scient­ists, IQST supports inter­dis­cip­lin­ary collab­or­a­tion, scientific excel­lence, and the growth of its research programs.

The newly formed board will play a central role in shaping strategic initi­at­ives, support­ing research networks, and promot­ing outreach activ­it­ies that connect quantum science with society.

IQST thanks all fellows who parti­cip­ated in the recent meeting and voting process, whose engage­ment is essen­tial to shaping the center’s future.

Stay connec­ted for updates on IQST’s research, programs, and events.

“Die Forschenden” – IQST-Funded Film to Premiere in Stuttgart

“Die Forschenden” – IQST-Funded Film to Premiere in Stuttgart

We are pleased to announce the premiere of the film Die Forschenden, developed with the support of IQST. Members of the IQST community are warmly invited to attend this special event in Stuttgart.

In Die Forschenden, an impend­ing retire­ment professor and his doctoral candid­ate strive to achieve the discov­ery of the century—a room-temperature super­con­ductor. The short film explores themes of ambition, scientific passion, and gener­a­tional perspect­ives in research.

The evening will begin with a recep­tion featur­ing compli­ment­ary drinks in the foyer, followed by the screen­ing of the film in Room 17.01 at Kepler­straße 17, Stutt­gart. The event takes place on August 15 and starts at 19:00, running until approx­im­ately 20:30. After the screen­ing, the audience will have the oppor­tun­ity to take part in a Q&A session with the cast and crew. To ensure that IQST research­ers can sit together in a reserved area, we are offer­ing free seat reser­va­tions for those who register by August 11. After this date, attend­ance is still possible, but seating will be open on a first-come, first-served basis. We look forward to seeing many of you there and celeb­rat­ing this excit­ing collaboration!

Register for the premiere
Watch the official trailer

Screen­shots © Uni Film e.V.

IQST Workshop at KIT Marks a Milestone in Network Expansion

IQST Workshop at KIT Marks a Milestone in Network Expansion

On July 11, 2025, the IQST community gathered at the Karls­ruhe Insti­tute of Techno­logy (KIT) for the first IQST workshop hosted at our partner insti­tu­tion. The event celeb­rated the growing collab­or­a­tion with KIT, which officially joined IQST in 2024.

The workshop featured present­a­tions from prospect­ive IQST Fellows, cover­ing topics such as super­con­duct­ing quantum circuits, quantum mater­i­als, nanophoton­ics, and quantum commu­nic­a­tion. It was a vibrant day of scientific exchange, network­ing, and discus­sions on future initi­at­ives within the IQST framework.

With KIT now fully integ­rated into the IQST network, our shared mission to drive quantum science forward through inter­dis­cip­lin­ary collab­or­a­tion gains even more momentum. “This will strengthen network­ing within the academic quantum community in Baden-Württemberg,” said IQST Director Prof. Stefanie Barz. We’re excited about what lies ahead with KIT as an active contrib­utor to IQST’s vision and scientific excellence

Quantum Science for Every­one: IQST at the Final Evening of “Physik – Die Wissen schafft”

Quantum Science for Every­one: IQST at the Final Evening of “Physik – Die Wissen schafft”

On Monday, July 7, the Depart­ment of Physics at the Univer­sity of Stutt­gart concluded its public lecture series “Physik – Die Wissen schafft” with a well-attended and engaging evening focused on quantum techno­lo­gies — proudly suppor­ted by IQST.

The event featured a public lecture by Prof. Dr. Stefanie Barz, Director of IQST and Professor at the Insti­tute for Functional Matter and Quantum Techno­lo­gies. In her talk, “Licht & Quanten: Von abhör­sicherer Kommunika­tion bis zum Quanten­com­puter”, she guided the audience through the fascin­at­ing poten­tial of quantum physics, from secure commu­nic­a­tion to the possib­il­it­ies of quantum computing.

Follow­ing the lecture, visit­ors gathered in the foyer of lecture hall 47.02 for a quantum-themed exhib­i­tion and informal get-together. At the IQST booth, members of our community presen­ted selec­ted highlights from current research and chatted with guests over pretzels and drinks. With over 170 registered parti­cipants and an enthu­si­astic atmosphere, the event marked a lively and memor­able close to this success­ful lecture series — and highlighted the growing public interest in quantum science.

Pictures: Gabriel Parsyak © Uni Stuttgart

IQST Visit to the IBM Quantum Data Center in Ehningen

IQST Visit to the IBM Quantum Data Center in Ehningen

On July 10, 2025, a group of 40 IQST students and research­ers had the unique oppor­tun­ity to visit the IBM Quantum Data Center in Ehnin­gen. The full-day event provided an in-depth look into IBM’s quantum comput­ing activ­it­ies and infra­struc­ture, offer­ing parti­cipants the chance to engage directly with experts from the IBM Quantum team.

The visit featured a series of technical present­a­tions cover­ing a range of topics includ­ing super­con­duct­ing qubits, error correc­tion and mitig­a­tion, hardware and software infra­struc­ture, and near-term quantum algorithms. A highlight of the day was a live virtual session with IBM research­ers from Zurich, contrib­ut­ing to the inter­na­tional scope of the discussions.

In addition to the scientific program, the group was intro­duced to IBM’s broader quantum roadmap and had the chance to network with members of the team. Through­out the day, parti­cipants also enjoyed informal discus­sions over refresh­ments provided on site. The event was a valuable occasion to explore cutting-edge devel­op­ments in the field and foster stronger connec­tions between academic research and indus­trial innovation.