February 12, 2026 -- The Public Quantum Network (PQN) was awarded the Continental Quantum City Prize for North & Central America at the Closing Ceremony of the United Nations International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ 2025). Created by World Quantum Day, the inaugural prize recognizes initiatives that bring quantum science and technology into the public spaces of cities around the world.

Continental Quantum City Prizes were awarded across Africa, Asia, Europe, North & Central America, and South America. Each recipient was awarded for placing “quantum content directly in the urban landscape so that people can discover it serendipitously as part of their daily lives.”

“It is so exciting to receive an award that recognizes precisely the intention we had in creating PQN: to bring quantum science and technology into the public space! We are wholeheartedly committed to making quantum technology accessible, with the vision that more engagement can lead to greater applications that serve everyone,” said Virginia “Gina” Lorenz, PQN co-PI and Illinois Grainger College of Engineering physics professor.

PQN was introduced in November 2023 at the Urbana Free Library by Lorenz, fellow Illinois Grainger Engineering physics professor Paul Kwiat, and their research teams. The library was linked to Loomis Laboratory of Physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign using the fiber-optic network that spans both cities, creating the world’s first public quantum network.

Since then, library visitors have been able to interact with the network, including completing the experiment that earned researchers the 2022 Nobel Prize in physics, opening a ‘quantum fortune cookie,’ and sending quantum Valentine’s Day messages for the holiday in 2025.

“We are so grateful for the continued support of The Urbana Free Library and Urbana-Champaign Big Broadband in creating and hosting the first node, NSF for funding it, and the participation of so many entities across UIUC and the region!” said Lorenz. “This award highlights the intense efforts of the core research team, comprised of incredible undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and staff – their hard work behind the scenes is what makes PQN possible! The designation also reflects the fact that here in Urbana-Champaign there are so many amazing outreach activities going on in addition to PQN, such as the quantum-themed escape room LabEscape and the arts-science collective CASCaDe, all aimed at bringing quantum science and technology to the public.”

Software and hardware for the library’s node was recently upgraded, but researchers are also planning for the network’s growth. Installation of another PQN node is expected later this year at the Lederman Science Center in Fermilab and a third at the Urbana-Champaign PQN at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. More potential plans may reach out to other locations in Illinois and beyond.

The Public Quantum Network is supported in part by NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute HQAN under Award No. 2016136, Illinois Computes, and by the DOE Grant No. 712869, "Advanced Quantum Networks for Science Discovery."