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Holly Chik

Chinese quantum scientist Pan Jianwei has won the United Nations’ top fundamental science prize for his work in quantum computation and communications, Unesco has announced.
Pan is a laureate of the third Unesco-Russia Mendeleev International Prize in the Basic Sciences, an award commemorating Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, creator of the periodic table.
The annual award, which is funded by the Russian government, honours two scientists for discoveries and innovations in basic sciences that drive global or regional transformation.
“[Pan] is recognised for his seminal contributions to large-scale secure quantum communications and scalable quantum computation,” Unesco said in a statement on July 10.
“His team developed the Micius satellite, enabling quantum key distribution and quantum teleportation over thousands of kilometres, and has demonstrated quantum computational advantage, bringing the prospect of a global quantum network from theory to reality.”


Pan, a professor of physics at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), shares this year’s honour with Sergei Sheiko, a chemistry professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who is recognised for his polymer physics research which transformed the rational design of soft materials.
Pan leads the USTC team behind Jiuzhang 4.0, the country’s latest photonic quantum computer.
In May, the team said it had completed a task in just 25 microseconds, a calculation they estimated would take the world’s most powerful supercomputer – El Capitan in the United States – more than 10 to the power of 42 years to finish.
In 2016, Pan’s team launched Micius, or Mozi, the world’s first quantum satellite, into low Earth orbit for long-distance quantum transmissions.
Quantum communication offers a secure means of transferring information by using components of quantum mechanics in a way that resists eavesdropping.
Last year, it was used to extend ultra-secure communication into the southern hemisphere using a quantum key distribution link with South Africa, bringing the world a step closer to an intercontinental service that makes the hacking of financial, national defence or other communications nearly impossible.
Pan has said his team is working on the world’s first high-orbit quantum communication satellite to enable more efficient, globally accessible quantum networks and lay the groundwork for redefining the international standard of the second. It is set to launch next year.
USTC said Pan’s latest accolade “highlights China’s international leading position in the cutting-edge fields of quantum communication and quantum computing, and is also a high affirmation of China’s strength in basic scientific research”. It noted that Pan was the first Chinese scientist to receive the honour.
The Permanent Delegation of the Russian Federation to Unesco said Pan’s work was “a brilliant example of the interconnection between fundamental scientific research and large-scale technological innovation”.
“He received the prize for his pioneering contributions to experimental quantum teleportation and for developing the world’s first secure satellite-based quantum communication technology, ushering in a new era of global quantum communications.”
Academician Aslan Tsivadze, president of the Mendeleev Russian Chemical Society, said it was “especially gratifying that [professors Jianwei Pan] and Sergei Sheiko now join the distinguished history of this award as pioneers whose fundamental discoveries have the potential to change the world”.
Also this month, Pan was declared a recipient of the IEEE Photonics Society Quantum Electronics Award.
The IEEE – the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – is the world’s largest technical professional organisation and recognised Pan’s “pioneering work on single photon sources and optical quantum computing”.


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China

Father of quantum recognised for ‘seminal contributions to large-scale secure quantum communications and scalable quantum computation’


Father of quantum recognised for ‘seminal contributions to large-scale secure quantum communications and scalable quantum computation’.


Pan Jianwei becomes first Chinese scientist to win the top UN basic science prize

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Father of quantum recognised for ‘seminal contributions to large-scale secure quantum communications and scalable quantum computation’

Father of quantum recognised for ‘seminal contributions to large-scale secure quantum communications and scalable quantum computation’