Micius Quantum Prizes Presented in China's Hefei

The first awarding ceremony for the Micius Quantum Prizes is held in Hefei, capital of Anhui province, on September 18, 2019. (Photo by Wu Wenbing)

12 scientists from across the globe were awarded the Micius Quantum Prizes at a ceremony in Hefei, capital of east China’s Anhui province, on Wednesday.

The prizes for 2018 and 2019 recognize outstanding achievements in quantum computing and quantum communications.

Yang Zhenning, Nobel laureate in physics, and Bai Chunli, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, extended their warm congratulations to the winners in their respective video clips.

The Micius Quantum Prizes 2018 went to Ignacio Cirac, David Deutsch, Peter Shor, and Peter Zoller, in recognition of their seminal theoretical work on quantum algorithms and physical architectures of quantum computers and simulators, and Rainer Blatt and David Wineland for their pioneering experiments that demonstrated fundamental elements of quantum computing with trapped ions.

The Micius Quantum Prizes 2019 were awarded to Charles Bennett, Gilles Brassard, Artur Ekert, and Stephen Wiesner, for their inventions of quantum cryptography, and Pan Jianwei and Anton Zeilinger for their groundbreaking experiments that enabled practically secure and large-scale quantum communications.

Each of the 12 winners got 1 million yuan (about US$141,000) and a gold medal.