QuSoft is delighted to announce that Professor Barbara Terhal has been appointed as the 2026 Turing Chair. A leading researcher in quantum error correction and quantum information, Professor Terhal will be visiting Amsterdam throughout October 2026. Her appointment as Turing Chair promises to bring a range of academic activities, discussions, and collaborations, enriching the QuSoft and Amsterdam’s scientific communities.
The 23rd International Conference on Quantum Physics and Logic (QPL 2026) brought nearly 200 quantum researchers, computer scientists, and mathematicians to the University of Amsterdam, Roeterseiland campus between August 15th and 21st, 2026. This year’s gathering marked the largest QPL conference in its 23 years history, spanning seven days of workshops, a job fair, and three parallel technical tracks.
QuSoft is pleased to announce Freek Witteveen, a senior researcher at QuSoft and CWI, as a recipient of QDNL funding and mentorship through QDNL Top Talent Initiative (TTI). Freek’s work sits at the intersection of physics, mathematics, and computer science – and he effectively aims to move ideas from one domain to another. Through the study of quantum tensor network states, he explores which quantum systems can be examined using a classical computer and which require quantum computation.
Jonas Helsen, a researcher in CWI’s Algorithms & Complexity group, has been awarded a prestigious €1.5 million European grant. Jonas will use the funding to develop methods for reliably analyzing and certifying the performance of fault-tolerant quantum computers. This is one of the major challenges in quantum computing: quantum computers are highly prone to errors, which can make their results unreliable.
Researcher Wessel van Woerden has received a Veni grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to design compact digital ‘locks’ that protect systems against attacks by quantum computers. Van Woerden will join CWI’s Cryptology group in January to carry out the research.
Lorentz Center@Omega, Leiden, from 13 - 17 July 2026
Source: Wolfgang Löffler (LION, Leiden University)
Junqiao Lin (QuSoft, CWI) has won the best student paper award at STOC, a premier conference in theoretical computer science held in Salt Lake City (USA). His paper demonstrates how changing the mathematical rules we use to describe quantum physics completely changes what a computer is capable of discovering.
Source: CWI website
Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard have been awarded the 2025 ACM A.M. Turing Award for “their essential role in establishing the foundations of quantum information science and transforming secure communication and computing.” The award, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Computing,” carries a $1 million prize. It is the first time the 60-year-old prize honours work in the quantum realm.
Christian Schaffner (QuSoft, IvI-UvA) joined Ben Van der Burg and @Mark Beekhuis at their Technoloog podcast of BNR Nieuwsradio to talk about where quantum computing stands right now — and what it means for cybersecurity.
Liam Bond, PhD candidate in the group of Arghavan Safavi-Naini, has been awarded an NWO Rubicon grant. Liam specializes in the research of quantum many-body dynamics, quantum simulations and quantum sensing. The grant allows him to carry out his project “Why not both? Hybrid qubit-oscillator systems for quantum advantage” at the University of Maryland. Congratulations to Liam!
QuSoft is delighted to announce that Professor Barbara Terhal has been appointed as the 2026 Turing Chair. A leading researcher in quantum error correction and quantum information, Professor Terhal will be visiting Amsterdam throughout October 2026. Her appointment as Turing Chair promises to bring a range of academic activities, discussions, and collaborations, enriching the QuSoft and Amsterdam’s scientific communities.
The 23rd International Conference on Quantum Physics and Logic (QPL 2026) brought nearly 200 quantum researchers, computer scientists, and mathematicians to the University of Amsterdam, Roeterseiland campus between August 15th and 21st, 2026. This year’s gathering marked the largest QPL conference in its 23 years history, spanning seven days of workshops, a job fair, and three parallel technical tracks.
QuSoft is pleased to announce Freek Witteveen, a senior researcher at QuSoft and CWI, as a recipient of QDNL funding and mentorship through QDNL Top Talent Initiative (TTI). Freek’s work sits at the intersection of physics, mathematics, and computer science – and he effectively aims to move ideas from one domain to another. Through the study of quantum tensor network states, he explores which quantum systems can be examined using a classical computer and which require quantum computation.
Jonas Helsen, a researcher in CWI’s Algorithms & Complexity group, has been awarded a prestigious €1.5 million European grant. Jonas will use the funding to develop methods for reliably analyzing and certifying the performance of fault-tolerant quantum computers. This is one of the major challenges in quantum computing: quantum computers are highly prone to errors, which can make their results unreliable.
Researcher Wessel van Woerden has received a Veni grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to design compact digital ‘locks’ that protect systems against attacks by quantum computers. Van Woerden will join CWI’s Cryptology group in January to carry out the research.
Lorentz Center@Omega, Leiden, from 13 - 17 July 2026
Source: Wolfgang Löffler (LION, Leiden University)
Junqiao Lin (QuSoft, CWI) has won the best student paper award at STOC, a premier conference in theoretical computer science held in Salt Lake City (USA). His paper demonstrates how changing the mathematical rules we use to describe quantum physics completely changes what a computer is capable of discovering.
Source: CWI website
Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard have been awarded the 2025 ACM A.M. Turing Award for “their essential role in establishing the foundations of quantum information science and transforming secure communication and computing.” The award, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Computing,” carries a $1 million prize. It is the first time the 60-year-old prize honours work in the quantum realm.
Christian Schaffner (QuSoft, IvI-UvA) joined Ben Van der Burg and @Mark Beekhuis at their Technoloog podcast of BNR Nieuwsradio to talk about where quantum computing stands right now — and what it means for cybersecurity.
Liam Bond, PhD candidate in the group of Arghavan Safavi-Naini, has been awarded an NWO Rubicon grant. Liam specializes in the research of quantum many-body dynamics, quantum simulations and quantum sensing. The grant allows him to carry out his project “Why not both? Hybrid qubit-oscillator systems for quantum advantage” at the University of Maryland. Congratulations to Liam!
Chinese onderzoekers zijn een stap dichter bij een toekomstig quantuminternet gekomen, een futuristisch netwerk waarmee gebruikers onkraakbare informatie kunnen uitwisselen, flitshandel kunnen bedrijven en datacenters efficiënter kunnen maken. ‘De eerste toepassingen komen steeds dichterbij.’
Organised by Singapore’s Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT), the hackamonth is an innovative approach to hackathons: a month-long, collaborative experience where participants work on quantum computing for meaningful problems. Typical hackathons are short and competitive, ending with prizes. With our hackamonth, we want to have real scientific impact.
We are delighted to invite you to join us for a special Scientific Conference celebrating 10 years of QuSoft. This anniversary event brings together leading thinkers, researchers, and innovators in the field of quantum software to reflect on past achievements and look ahead to the breakthroughs that will shape the next decade. We look forward to welcoming you for a day of inspiring talks, scientific exchange, and community celebration.
The Quantum Quest is an international online course introducing students to the mathematical foundations of quantum computing. With approximately 56 active participants on our Discord server, this year’s cohort represents a wide range of countries. Several Dutch secondary schools have also incorporated the program into their mathematics curriculum, resulting in a balanced mix of Dutch and international students.
Op 25 september vond de vakbijeenkomst Quantum Quest voor VWO-docenten plaats aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam. Medewerkers van het Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica en van de UvA informeerden de aanwezige docenten wiskunde, natuurkunde en informatica over het vakgebied quantumcomputing. Lynn Engelberts (CWI) legde de belangrijkste begrippen uit de quantummechanica uit: superpositie, interferentie en verstrengeling.
Quantum Quest is a five-week web class for high school students, organized by the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and QuSoft. This is the fifth edition, which will last from October 27 to December 15, 2025. In Quantum Quest, you will explore what makes quantum computers so special, solve tricky puzzles in a team and learn the mathematics of real quantum algorithms. The Quantum Quest is a math course for motivated high school students, or early university (STEM) students.
On September 1, 2025, a familiar QuSoft face came to the office in Amsterdam, this time as a senior researcher. Freek Witteveen joined CWI as a permanent researcher, affiliated with the Research Center for Quantum Software through the research collaboration. His appointment marks a new cycle for a young scientist who first joined QuSoft as a PhD student and went on to gain recognition in quantum information theory and many-body physics both in the Netherlands and abroad.
Source: QuSoft
Als onderdeel van het UNESCO International Year of Quantum (IYQ25) is QuTech toegewijd aan het verhogen van het publieke bewustzijn over het belang van de quantumwetenschap en haar toepassingen. We richten ons met name op de jongere generatie om hun ideeën, hoop en zorgen over de toekomst te verkennen. In de hoop een unieke gelegenheid voor dialoog te creëren, openen we de QUANTUTOPIA oproep voor creatief schrijven.
Source: QuTech
Stephanie Wehner, Director of the European Quantum Internet Alliance and Professor at QuTech (TU Delft), has been honoured with the Körber European Science Prize, one of Europe’s most prestigious scientific awards.
The AI system AlphaTensor-Quantum can make quantum computing more efficient. By optimizing quantum circuits, it makes calculations more efficient to save resources and accelerate discoveries.
Originally published on the University of Amsterdam’s Informatics Institute website