February 11 is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. As in any other STEM field, female scientists are giving their contribution in quantum computers as well. Who are some of the well-known names participating in the second quantum revolution?
Image source: aighd.org
A European panorama
I started my quantum journey with online courses offered by TU Delft on the edX platform, explaining a wide range of topics related to quantum computing, starting from elementary concepts such as the qubit, to quantum algorithms, quantum hardware, the quantum internet, etc. Professor Stephanie Wehner of QuTech at the TU Delft is one of the scientists and tutors involved in the successful realization of these activities, aiming to bring the quantum world to every person who wants to learn more, including people with basic knowledge. She has been involved in quantum cryptography and now she is working with a team of experimentalists bringing quantum internet to life.
Another respectable name is professor Barbara Terhal of QuTech, the first person who received a PhD in quantum computing in the Netherlands, with a long-track in quantum error correction and fault-tolerance and a rich international, academic research experience.
A group of excellent women scientists based mainly in the Netherlands have founded the Women in Quantum Development (WIQD) network, an initiative of Julia Kramer, Stacey Jeffery, Karin Poels, Freeke Heijman, Yvonne Smit, Jana Sotáková, Aletta Meinsma and other scientists. WIQD also offers a mentorship program.
France is home to many excellent female quantum scientists as well. Some of the scientists that have impressed me the most are: Eleni Diamanti, a well-known researcher at Sorbonne University and Paris Center for Quantum Computing. Her areas of interest include: Quantum information, Quantum Communications, Quantum Cryptography. Elham Kashefi is another respectable name in the domain of quantum computing. Coming from Tehran, Iran, now she works as a professor and researcher at both the University of Edinburgh and Sorbonne University, two elite institutions in exact sciences and quantum computing. Her areas of research include cloud computing, quantum cryptography and she is the co-founder of the start-up VeriQloud.
France offers a very diverse and international environment of scientists and researchers. While it is impossible to mention all the bright female scientists working in the quantum French institutions, we can mention some of the labs where you can find these scientists, such as Inria, CEA, Irif, CNRS etc, with branches in different French cities, Paris, Grenoble, Bordeaux, Saclay etc.
International quantum personalities
Amira Abbas is a young scientist, Quantum Research Advocate and a PhD student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Abbas is a very active participant and tutor in different trainings for younger students who want to learn about quantum computing, as a matter of fact she is a Qiskit Advocate for IBM, one of the global leaders in quantum computing.
Maria Schuld is a senior researcher at Xanadu, a Canadian quantum technology company. She also works as a part-time researcher at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Schuld is the co-author of the book "Supervised Learning with Quantum Computers", one of the most recommended books in quantum machine learning.
So far, I mentioned only a very short list of some of the great female quantum researchers that I have encountered during my quantum-related activities.
The truth is that there are so many extraordinary female scientists involved in quantum computing that is impossible to mention all of them in this article. I am pretty sure I have left out a lot of great names. There are many of them working in laboratories and universities in Europe, North America and elsewhere, running their own quantum start-ups, leading quantum networks and contributing to the second quantum revolution. We hope that this network of excellent, bright and hard-working female scientists will keep expanding by including many curious young women who will decide to jump on the quantum boat in the near future.
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