Prof. Joachim Ullrich received the award last week during a state reception at the Munich Residenz on the occasion of the Bavarian Quantum Day “100 Years of Quantum: From theory to transformation” and was thus honored in particular as a shaper of Munich Quantum Valley.
“The fact that you have succeeded in making Bavaria an international center of excellence in the field of quantum research is a science policy success story that one could only wish for,” emphasized Science Minister Markus Blume at the award ceremony in Munich. He further praised the award winner: “Joachim Ullrich is both a visionary and a networker. As one of the architects of Bavaria's quantum success, he has made Munich Quantum Valley a globally visible quantum ecosystem. He shows that scientific precision and political will can go hand in hand – for the benefit of research, the economy, and society.”
Prof. Rudolf Gross has also had a lasting impact on the Bavarian quantum landscape and was honored for his achievements this week at the Gärtnerplatztheater by Science Minister Blume.
Gross was honored by Blume as follows: "Prof. Dr. Rudolf Gross is a true quantum visionary. As a professor at the Technical University of Munich and long-time director of the Walther Meißner Institute of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, he laid the foundations for the institute's international leadership position. With his deep technical expertise and strategic acumen, he has made the Bavarian quantum ecosystem what it is today—one of Europe's most important centers for quantum research—through the first Collaborative Research Center for Solid-State-Based Quantum Information Processing and the two Munich quantum clusters of excellence. It is thanks to his vision and drive that the idea of building the Bavarian quantum computer was born in 2018. Professor Gross is both an outstanding scientist and a clever strategist. Thank you very much for your tireless commitment to quantum science in Bavaria and congratulations on receiving the PRO MERITIS award."
Content taken and adapted from press releases issued by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.