15 May 2025

Diamonds and quanta

MCQST START Fellow Viviana Villafañe, who leads a research group investigating the fundamental principles of a quantum internet, was recently spotlighted in TUM’s 'Career in Science' series. The physicist came to Munich from Argentina six years ago to work here as a postdoctoral researcher. She now heads a small research group that is investigating the basics of a quantum internet - with the help of diamonds and quantum computers.

Viviana Villafañe works at the Walter Schottky Institute at the chair of Prof. Kai Müller and Prof. Jonathan Finley. In 2023 she received the MCQST START Fellowship, which allowed her to build up her own group. She recently became a TUM Junior Fellow. There were several reasons why she came to Munich in 2019: “I chose TUM because it offers me cutting-edge research in the field of quantum physics as well as an international collaborative environment.”
Her team is well networked and cooperates with many different groups at the university and the Cluster of Excellence “Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology” (MCQST).

With her work, Villafañe also wants to encourage other researchers - especially women - to explore the quantum world: “I would like to inspire more young people to join us. I takes all kinds of minds to make these technologies work.”

Read the entire feature article on the TUM website.