Ignacio Cirac receives the IMPRS & MCQST Supervision Award 2025
Recognizing Outstanding Supervision
Ignacio Cirac, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, has been awarded the IMPRS-MCQST Supervision Award 2025. The IMPRS-MCQST community honours him for his outstanding dedication to mentoring PhD students and postdocs. Johannes Knolle, Professor at TU Munich, is recognised alongside Cirac. The award underlines the importance of excellent supervision for successful research careers and an inclusive academic environment.
Following an anonymous survey of doctoral candidates and postdocs across the IMPRS-QST and MCQST networks at the end of 2025, a selection panel composed of PhD and Postdoc Board representatives and members of the IMPRS-MCQST office selected two outstanding supervisors whose contributions have had a profound impact on their group members’ scientific and professional development. The award was announced at MCQST’s General Assembly on 4 February 2026, held at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, with many members of the MCQST community in attendance.
Ignacio Cirac is Director at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, Honorary Professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and co-Speaker of the MCQST cluster. He is an expert in quantum computation and its applications, with his research focusing on the quantum theory of information. Together with his collaborators, Ignacio Cirac introduced some of the earliest proposals for quantum computers, quantum simulators, and quantum repeaters based on atoms. He also developed the theory of tensor networks, which connects the entanglement structure of many-body quantum systems to their efficient description. Ignacio's approach to supervision is grounded in empathy — putting "myself in my students’ shoes and trying to act as I would have wished my own supervisors to act."
"This award means a great deal to me. I have always been very fortunate to work with not only excellent PhD students, but also truly wonderful people. One of the most rewarding aspects of supervision is seeing them grow from brilliant students into confident and talented researchers. Giving them the freedom to explore and shape their own ideas empowers them to pursue successful careers, whether in academia or in industry." says Ignacio Cirac.
Cirac’s nomination describes him as “a mentor whose exceptional scientific depth, unwavering support, and human-centered leadership create an inspiring, empowering, and truly outstanding supervision experience.”
About the IMPRS-MCQST Supervision Award
The Award was established to honour exceptional supervision within the Munich quantum science and technology community. The IMPRS-MCQST Supervision Award acknowledges group leaders who exemplify transparency, constructive communication, career guidance, and a supportive research environment. Winners are selected based on nominations from the community and evaluated by a diverse panel including doctoral and postdoctoral representatives.
