Recognizing Excellent Early-Career Research
The MCQST PhD Award annually honors two outstanding PhD theses from the MCQST community. The prize highlights and recognizes excellence in research at an early career stage and encourages awardees to pursue a further career in science.
MCQST acknowledges exceptional theses in Quantum Science and Technology that have received a summa cum laude grade. These theses demonstrate an innovative and cutting-edge approach within the chosen topic or field of study, outstanding personal contributions, and creativity. Consideration is given to theses from various disciplines including physics, mathematics, computer science, electrical engineering, material science, and chemistry. Both LMU and TUM submissions are eligible, provided the thesis defense took place in the year 2024.
Awards are announced at the MCQST 2025 conference, which takes place in Kufstein on June 3rd-6th. The winners are invited to present a brief overview of their work to the MCQST community. The prize money of €2000 is kindly sponsored by
PlanQC and
Qlibri.
How to Apply
To apply, send the following documents in order as a single PDF document to support[at]mcqst.de:
- Abstract of thesis
- PhD certificate
- CV
- List of publications
- PDF of thesis in a separate file (or link)
- And a letter of reference by an MCQST PI. The letter should be sent directly to support[at]mcqst.de by the PI supporting the application.
Applications are now closed. Stay tuned for the next application round.
Questions? Contact support[at]mcqst.de.
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Awardees

Yujie Liu
MCQST PhD Award 2024:
Realization and characterization of topological phases of matter on a digital quantum computer
Affiliation: TUM
Advisor:
Frank Pollmann
Read more in the
MCQST news section.

Philip Thomas
MCQST PhD Award 2024:
Photonic graph state generation from individual atoms in an optical cavity
Affiliation: MPQ
Advisor:
Gerhard Rempe
Read more on the
MCQST news section.

Arthur Christianen
MCQST PhD Award 2023:
Chemistry in a quantum medium
MPI of Quantum Optics & TU Munich
Advisor:
Prof. Ignacio Cirac

David Wei
MCQST PhD Award 2023:
Microscopy of spin hydrodynamics and cooperative light scattering in atomic Hubbard systems
MPI of Quantum Optics & LMU München
Advisor:
Prof. Immanuel Bloch


Johannes Feldmeier
MCQST PhD Award 2022:
Nonequilibrium Dynamics in Constrained Quantum Many-Body Systems
TU Munich
Advisor:
Michael Knap

Annabelle Bohrdt
MCQST PhD Award 2021:
Probing Strongly Correlated Many-Body Systems with Quantum Simulation
TU Munich
Advisor:
Michael Knap

Benjamin Merkel
MCQST PhD Award 2021:
Enhancing the Emission and Coherence of Erbium Dopants
MPI of Quantum Optics & TU Munich
Advisor:
Andreas Reiserer

Johannes Knörzer
MCQST PhD Award 2020:
Semiconductor-Based Electron Lattices for Quantum Information Processing
LMU München & MPI of Quantum Optics
Advisor:
J. Ignacio Cirac

Karen Wintersperger
MCQST PhD Award 2020:
Realization of Floquet Topological Systems with Ultracold Atoms in Optical Honeycomb Lattices
LMU München
Advisor:
Monika Aidelsburger