A quantum-information physicist whose entanglement-based cryptography proposal connected secure communication with Bell’s theorem, alongside institution-building work at Singapore’s Centre for Quantum Technologies.
Ekert’s work helped make entanglement useful as a resource for communication. His 1991 proposal linked quantum key distribution to Bell’s theorem, giving a new way to reason about the security of shared keys. His role as founding director of the Centre for Quantum Technologies also contributed to the field’s research capacity. The combination illustrates how a foundational idea can shape a technical discipline and the institutions that support its development.
A physicist whose work connects quantum foundations, optical communication and commercial quantum security, including research synthesis and the cofounding of ID Quantique.
Gisin’s career connects optical-fiber engineering with questions about quantum correlations and secure communication. His Geneva group pursued quantum cryptography and long-distance entanglement, and he coauthored a substantial review that brought theoretical and experimental aspects of quantum cryptography together. He also cofounded ID Quantique. The combination makes his contribution relevant to readers exploring how a quantum-information idea moves between foundational research, laboratory systems and a commercial security product.
Works across quantum algorithms and quantum-safe security, combining foundational results in information processing with programs that help organizations prepare cryptographic systems for future quantum capabilities.
Mosca’s work connects the capabilities of quantum computers with the security transition those capabilities motivate. His research on private quantum channels specifies how classical keys can protect quantum information. At Waterloo, he also helped create programs and industry connections for quantum-safe cryptography, including CryptoWorks21 and evolutionQ. That combination matters because technical security results and real-world migration solve different parts of the same problem. Inclusion recognizes both research and institution building, without predicting when encryption-breaking quantum computers will become available.
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Professor; Director, Quantum Internet Alliance
Delft University of Technology / QuTech · Netherlands
Develops the computer-science foundations of quantum networks, linking entanglement distribution and quantum communication to software that can run applications on connected quantum processors.
Wehner works on making quantum networks programmable. Her research extends from communication and cryptography to the operating systems and architectures that coordinate quantum processors, classical messages and limited quantum memory. That systems perspective matters because connecting two devices does not automatically make a usable network. Her contribution combines a research agenda for a quantum internet with demonstrated application software, including collaborative work on an operating system tested on real quantum network nodes.
