CQT Experts Guide

Welcome to the CQT experts guide. If you are a member of the print, online or broadcast media and need some advice or comment on an area of our expertise, feel free to get in touch with these experts directly by phone or email.

If you need further help, please contact Outreach & Media Relations Manager Jenny Hogan.

Alexander Ling

Quantum cryptography, entanglement, satellite systems, experimental tests of fundamental physics

Alex gained his PhD from the National University of Singapore, then worked at a joint venture between the University of Maryland and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In 2010, Alex returned to Singapore to work on experiments that explore foundational questions in quantum theory and the practical implementation of quantum cryptography. He speaks English and Malay.

Phone: +65 6516 2985
Email: cqtalej@nus.edu.sg
Homepage: http://www.quantumlah.org/people/Alexander

Artur Ekert

Quantum cryptography, foundations of quantum mechanics, quantum computing

Artur is a physicist, mathematician and cryptologist, and the director of CQT. In 1991 he pulled together concepts of entanglement and secure cryptographic key distribution to create the first quantum cryptographic protocol. He holds a professorial chair at Oxford University as well as at the National University of Singapore. He regularly gives public talks and lectures and has written a number of popular-level articles for newspapers and magazines.

Phone: +65 6516 5102
Email: cqteak@nus.edu.sg
Homepage: http://www.arturekert.org

Bjorn Hessmo

Quantum optics, quantum properties of ultracold gases

Bjorn Hessmo gained his PhD in Uppsala, and has worked in Vienna, Heidelberg and Stockholm since. He joined CQT in 2009 to set up a lab running investigations into the properties of cold atoms, and is a world leader in the development of traps for neutral atoms. He speaks Swedish and English.

Phone: +65 9770 5790
Email: bjorn.hessmo@gmail.com Homepage: http://coldatom.quantumlah.org/?page_id=40

Christian Kurtsiefer

Practical quantum cryptography, entanglement, quantum hacking, Bell inequalities, atom-photon interactions

Christian gained his PhD from the University of Konstanz in Germany, and worked at various universities and at IBM Almaden before coming to Singapore. He has built a variety of quantum cryptography experiments, transported them all over the world and is an expert at testing and demonstrating the limits of the technology. He is experienced in public engagement, and regularly takes part in science festivals and similar events. He speaks English and German.

Phone: +65 6516 1250
Email: christian_kurtsiefer@nus.edu.sg
Homepage: http://www.physics.nus.edu.sg/~phyck/

Dagomir Kaszlikowski

Quantum correlations, foundations of quantum theory, quantum measurement, quantum-classical boundary

Dagomir’s PhD was awarded by the University of Gdansk. He is actively involved in a diverse range of topics in the field of quantum information, including the development of potential new computing resources and exploring the fundamental laws of the quantum world in an effort to improve the acquisition, transmission and processing of information. He speaks Polish and English.

Phone: +65 6516 6758
Email: phykd@nus.edu.sg
Homepage: http://www.quantumlah.org/people/dagomir

Kai Dieckmann

Experiments on cold atomic Bose and Fermi (quantum) gases, ultracold molecules, atom optics

Kai obtained his doctoral degree as a Marie Curie fellow at the Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He has since worked in Nobel laureate Wolfgang Ketterle’s group at MIT and with another Nobel laureate, Ted Hänsch of the University of Munich. He joined CQT in 2009. Kai, who has been interviewed many times by press and broadcast media, is a native German speaker as well as speaking English and Dutch.

Phone: +65 6516 6585 (office), +65 6516 5635 (lab1), +65 6516 5637 (lab2)
E-mail: phydk@nus.edu.sg
Homepage: http://qmatter.quantumlah.org/lattice/personal/DIECKMANN/

Stephanie Wehner

Foundations of quantum mechanics, uncertainty principle, entanglement, quantum cryptography, information theory

Stephanie is a computer scientist who made the transition to physics. Her PhD is from the University of Amsterdam, where she investigated the security of quantum cryptography. She worked as a postdoc at Caltech for two years before coming to CQT in 2010. In what she calls her previous life, she worked as a hacker analysing the security of corporate computer networks. Much of her work now involves hacking the universe to expose the foundations of physics. She speaks German, English and Dutch.

Phone: +65 6601 1478
Email: wehner@comp.nus.edu.sg
Homepage: http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~wehner/

Troy Lee

Computational complexity and P=NP problems, Quantum computing, Randomness

Troy received his PhD in computer science from the University of Amsterdam, then came to CQT after postdoctoral stints at Rutgers and Columbia universities. He is interested in public engagement, and has taught computing courses as part of a summer program for high school students. He is a native English speaker and fluent in Portuguese.

Phone: +65 8112 5107
Email: cqttjl@nus.edu.sg
Homepage: http://www.quantumlah.org/people/Troy

Valerio Scarani

Foundations of quantum physics - causality, information, entanglement

Valerio is at home discussing philosophy, theory and experiment – or all three together. Originally from Milan, Valerio studied at Lausanne and gained his PhD in the lab of Nicolas Gisin at the University of Geneva. He has written two popular-level books about the quantum world - Quantum Physics: a first encounter and Six Quantum Pieces: a first course in quantum physics, which he co-wrote with two high-school students. He has research experience in theoretical and experimental physics, and holds a patent for a quantum cryptography key distribution scheme. He is fluent in Italian, French, English and Spanish, though his German, he says, is only “average”.

Phone: +65 6516 2813
E-mail: physv@nus.edu.sg
Homepage: http://www.physics.nus.edu.sg/~physv/

Vlatko Vedral

Nature of reality, quantum effects in biology; entropy of quantum systems; entanglement, information theory

Vlatko gained his PhD from Imperial College, London and has held positions at Oxford, Imperial, Leeds and the National University of Singapore. He blogs for The Foundational Questions Institute (fxQi), and his most recent popular-level book, Decoding Reality, was described by New Scientist as “a ripping good read”. Vlatko has plenty of experience in explaining difficult scientific concepts for a lay audience, including giving many public lectures and hosting a weekly science show on BBC radio.

Phone: +65 6516 5874
Email: phyvv@nus.edu.sg
Homepage: http://www.vlatkovedral.org