Letter from the director

On a daily basis any research progress is incremental, sometimes barely visible, but from a yearly perspective it can be conspicuous, and, in our case, indeed it is. There is no doubt that over the last year our joint efforts have created a truly promising research environment at the Centre. We have put in place an impressive research infrastructure, established our own graduate programme, conducted a series of popular colloquia, and organized workshops which have brought the best researchers in the field to Singapore. Our outreach programme, in its noble effort to explain quantum weirdness to public at large, has managed to the engage local media. Many Singaporeans, to be sure, may still have been baffled by quantum physics when reading about the 2008 National Science Award. This was given to our researchers for pioneering work on the foundations of quantum theory, but explaining the importance of quantum technologies is well on its way.

Last, but not least, is our research. I am very happy to say that, despite all the interruptions of moving labs, changing offices and the like, we have produced several remarkable results. Our publications, a not inconsiderable number, have been very well received and even noticed by the popular press. We have an excellent interdisciplinary team of theorists and experimentalists which have acquired international visibility. The community of quantum scientists already knows that something good is brewing in Singapore, not just Tiger beer of course. An increasing number of people have expressed serious interest in joining us. All we need do now is to build upon this. Our long term goal, as I explained to reporters from Nature a couple of months ago, is "To boldly go where no man has gone before, of course, into the quantum world, or worlds" and I hope next year we will make a step in that direction. After this foundational year of hard work I am confident that we can be among the leaders in the field of quantum technologies. Yes we can!

Director's messages from other years: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008

Artur Ekert was CQT's founding Director, leading the Centre from December 2007 to July 2020. He is also the Lee Kong Chian Centennial Professor at the National University of Singapore and the Professor of Quantum Physics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, UK. He is one of the pioneers of quantum cryptography. He has worked, communicated with and advised several companies and government agencies.

His current research extends over most aspects of information processing in quantum-mechanical systems. He is a recipient of several awards, including the 1995 Maxwell Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics and the 2007 Royal Society Hughes Medal. In his non-academic life he is an avid scuba diver.