Experimental physicist Rainer Blatt received the Science Award of the Tyrolean provincial government 2014. The prize is worth 14,000 Euros. Christian Roos, his long-time research colleague, was awarded a science grant funded by the provincial government and valued at 4,000 Euro. Bernhard Tilg, member of the provincial government in charge of the science portfolio, presented both awards in the ceremonial room of the provincial government building on Thursday.
Rainer Blatt is Head of the Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck and Director of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information. Together with his scientific colleagues, he has established an outstanding research environment for students and national and international scientists in Innsbruck. “His research group is among the best and most experienced research groups in the field of quantum information worldwide,” said Bernhard Tilg honoring the physicist’s achievements. Rainer Blatt is also well known for successfully mentoring and sponsoring young scientists: Many of his assistants have been appointed to professorships abroad. In 2013 Rainer Blatt was awarded the Order of Merit of the Province of the Tyrol.
Joint achievements
The awardee thanked everyone who contributed to his success, in particular his research team: “It is my team that has done the outstanding work that is now being honored by the provincial government. Therefore, I would like to accept this prize also on behalf of all members of my team whose commitment and enthusiasm in scientific work made this award possible. Our work can only be successful if there is a great network and good environment for colleagues working in physics, particularly in quantum physics and we have now achieved a critical mass here in Innsbruck.” Rainer Blatt then introduced Christian Roos, one of the earliest members of his research team, whom he recommended for receiving the Science Grant of the Province of the Tyrol.
Developing quantum technologies
Rainer Blatt was born in Idar-Oberstein, Germany in 1952. He is highly recognized for his ground-breaking experiments in the field of precision spectroscopy, quantum metrology and quantum information processing. Together with is team he was the first to successfully transfer quantum information from one atom to another in a completely controlled way, also known as teleportation. He was also the first to realize a quantum byte. In 2011 his research team pushed the record to 14 entangled atoms. In addition, he has succeeded in taking important steps towards error correction in quantum computers and building quantum simulators.
Rainer Blatt is a highly awarded researcher, receiving the Stern-Gerlach Medal and the Carl-Zeiss Research Prize to name just a few.