Minister of Science Markus Blume: “He has opened the door to the quantum world—with experiments that turn science fiction into reality. As a founding pioneer of Munich Quantum Valley, Rainer Blatt has put Bavaria on the world map of future technologies. When it comes to quantum, he is a force to be reckoned with!”
With the PRO MERITIS SCIENTIAE ET LITTERARUM award, Minister of State Markus Blume honors Professor Dr. Rainer Blatt for his groundbreaking achievements in the field of quantum optics and quantum information.
“The fact that you have succeeded in making us one of the world's leading centers in the field of quantum research is a science policy success story that could not have been better,” emphasized Science Minister Markus Blume at the award ceremony in Munich. He went on to praise the quantum pioneer: “Professor Rainer Blatt is a pioneer of a new era, a boundary-breaker between basic research and application, an enabler with international appeal. With scientific excellence and strategic perseverance, he represents the best that science can be: curious, relevant, boundless. We owe Munich's status as a hotspot for quantum science today to his extraordinary visionary power.”
Pioneer of quantum information
Born in Idar-Oberstein, the quantum physicist is one of the world's most renowned minds in his field. Since the 1990s, Rainer Blatt has played a key role in shaping international research, including as director of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and as a professor at the University of Innsbruck. Blatt is one of the world's leading minds in quantum research – as a visionary scientist, internationally networked strategist, and co-founder of the Munich Quantum Valley research network. His commitment has played a decisive role in Bavaria's leading role in the quantum age today.
Professor Dr. Rainer Blatt was part of the scientific management team at Munich Quantum Valley (MQV) from 2021 to 2023 and played a key role in shaping the strategic direction of the Bavarian quantum ecosystem during its development phase. Today, he is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board and continues to contribute his expertise to the development of this flagship project.
The PRO MERITIS SCIENTIAE ET LITTERARUM award
Since 2000, the State Ministry of Science and the Arts has awarded the PRO MERITIS SCIENTIAE ET LITTERARUM award to outstanding personalities for their services to science and the arts – since 2008 in the form of a bronze relief. In addition to recognizing individual achievements, the award aims to promote an understanding of culture as a unified whole, with science and the arts seen as two sides of the same coin. A maximum of eight awards are presented each year.
Press release translated and adapted from the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.