The official launch ceremony of QIQO – Quantum Information & Quantum Optics hub took place on July 16 at Instituto Superior Técnico. This new structure is dedicated to research and training in the emerging fields of quantum information and quantum optics. The hub is the result of a collaboration between the Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion (IPFN) and the Institute of Telecommunications (IT), two research units affiliated with Técnico.

QIQO brings together two of the School’s key research infrastructures – the Quantum Matter Lab (QuMatt@GoLP/IPFN) and the Quantum Photonics Lab (QuLab@IT) – and is built upon a technological foundation of over 1.25 million euros, with expansion plans already underway. Its creation responds to the growing need for stronger coordination in the national quantum research landscape.

Aiming to position Técnico at the forefront of quantum science and technology, the hub focuses on four strategic areas: communications, computing, cryptography, and sensing. An advanced training program is also planned, in collaboration with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC) and the Department of Physics (DF), to enhance the educational offering available to students and early-career researchers.

The hub operates under a shared leadership model, coordinated by Técnico professors and researchers Emmanuel Zambrini Cruzeiro and Hugo Terças, with the aim of fostering synergies between theoretical and experimental approaches. The structure combines expertise in scientific fields such as ultracold atom physics, quantum information, and quantum optics.

For Emmanuel Zambrini Cruzeiro, the impact of the new hub will be long-lasting: “With the establishment of the QIQO Lab, Técnico will provide advanced training in quantum information and quantum optics for many years to come.”

The ceremony was also marked by the signing of the collaboration protocol between the two institutions, in the presence of Rogério Colaço, President of Instituto Superior Técnico.

Article produced by Técnico in collaboration with the Institute of Telecommunications (IT).

Photo: Institute of Telecommunications