Planqc plans to design the first fully programmable quantum computers in collaboration with the DLR and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre by 2027, with the goal of miniaturizing them. The company has access to EUR 87 million in funding for this project. Research is currently underway to determine which computations quantum computers can perform faster than conventional computers. At the moment, applications are being explored in fluid dynamics, such as turbine optimization, materials development, and climate research.

When world-leading teams join forces, new findings are bound to be made. This is what happened when quantum physicists from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) in Heidelberg combined atomic and nuclear physics with unprecedented accuracy using two different methods of measurement. Together with new calculations of the structure of atomic nuclei, theoretical physicists from the Technical University of Darmstadt and Leibniz University Hannover were able to show that measurements on the electron shell of an atom can provide information about the deformation of the atomic nucleus. At the same time, the precision measurements have set new limits regarding the strength of a potential dark force between neutrons and electrons. The results have been published in the current issue of the scientific journal “Physical Review Letters”.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funds research into controlled quantum states of individual or coupled systems with its ongoing emerging talent program “Quantum Future”. Among the first selected projects, which kicked off in January 2025, is “qHPC-GREEN”, proposed by junior research group leader Dr. Werner Dobrautz, who began building his research team at the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS), an institute of Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), only in late 2024. The computational chemist aims to model quantum mechanical systems at the heart of certain biochemical and physical phenomena that are relevant to environmental and energy challenges. The project running until the end of 2029 will combine quantum and high-performance computing to achieve this goal.

Researchers have developed a novel method to trace light fields directly inside cavities, providing in-situ measurement where future field-resolved studies of light-matter interactions will happen.

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (“D-Wave” or the “Company”), a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services, and the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, and the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) at Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) announced today that FZJ has purchased a D-Wave quantum computer, becoming the first high-performance computing (HPC) center in the world to own a D-Wave Advantage annealing quantum computing system.

When world-leading teams join forces, new findings are bound to be made. This is what happened when quantum physicists from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig combined atomic and nuclear physics with unprecedented accuracy using two different methods of measurement. Together with new calculations of the structure of atomic nuclei, theoretical physicists from the Technical University of Darmstadt and Leibniz University Hannover were able to show that measurements on the electron shell of an atom can provide information about the deformation of the atomic nucleus.

Two researchers from the Leibniz University Hannover demonstrate a dynamically adaptable, resource-minimised quantum key distribution exploiting the photon colours for the first time.

Photosynthesis - mainly carried out by plants - is based on a remarkably efficient energy conversion process. To generate chemical energy, sunlight must first be captured and transported further. This happens practically loss-free and extremely quickly. A new study by the Chair of Dynamic Spectroscopy at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) shows that quantum mechanical effects play a key role in this process. A team led by Erika Keil and Prof. Jürgen Hauer discovered this through measurements and simulations.

To promote the use of quantum sensors in industry, Fraunhofer IAF has developed a virtual application laboratory for quantum sensing. This innovative information platform provides comprehensive technical knowledge about quantum magnetometers, applications, and measurement scenarios. It also allows interested parties from industry and research to interactively perform sample measurements and assess the potential of this groundbreaking technology for their needs.

The new Emmy Noether junior research group “Quantum Network Nodes” was launched at the beginning of the year. It focuses on research in the fields of quantum computing and quantum communication and is headed by physicist Dr. Stephan Welte, who has acquired funding of 1.9 million euros for the project.