10 April 2025

Immanuel Bloch receives first Hightech Award of the Bavarian Prime Minister

Immanuel Bloch, MCQST co-Spokesperson, Professor at the LMU München, and Director at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, has received the High-Tech Award of the Bavarian Prime Minister. The prize, endowed with €300.000, recognizes scientific breakthroughs in key future technologies and is Germany’s most highly endowed technology award, according to the announcement by the Free State of Bavaria.

“I am very pleased about this new and significant award from the Bavarian Prime Minister and the Bavarian State Government." says Immanuel Bloch. "This recognition is also a tribute to the many people I have had the pleasure of working with over the past 17 years here in Munich to shape the ‘future of quantum science’ My sincere and heartfelt thanks go tout o all of them!” The prize money will be reinvested into research, teaching, applications, and support for young scientists.

In his tribute, State Minister Blume, representing the Minister President, said of the Munich-based quantum physicist: “Prof. Bloch is a global leader in research and a pioneering figure in the quantum sciences.”

Prof. Dr. Immanuel Bloch is regarded as a pioneer of a new interdisciplinary field of research at the intersection of quantum optics, quantum information processing, and solid-state physics — the study of quantum many-body systems. He earned his PhD at LMU Munich under Nobel laureate Theodor Hänsch. Since 2009, he has been Director at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching and holds the Chair of Experimental Physics and Quantum Optics at LMU Munich. Since 2019, Immanuel Bloch is co-spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence, Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology.

Article adapted from the LMU website.