The Chicago Quantum Exchange and the University of Chicago held the first Quantum Creators Prize Symposium on September 30, 2021, to recognize the achievements of early-career researchers in the broad areas of quantum information science and engineering. It was held in person at the David Rubenstein Forum in Chicago as part of the 2021 Chicago Quantum Summit.
Meet the 2021 Quantum Creators Prize Winners
Probing many-body noise in a strongly interacting two-dimensional dipolar spin system
Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Bio: Emily Davis's research focuses on characterizing quantum many-body states through the decoherence dynamics of a probe qubit, rather than exponentially expensive single-particle measurements. Using nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers as probe spins and substitutional nitrogen impurities as the many-body system in diamond, she investigates how signatures of dimensionality, dynamics, and disorder are encoded in the NV's decoherence profile. Her work includes directly measuring the two-dimensional nature of a nitrogen delta-doped diamond sample and probing correlation times of strongly-interacting magnetic dipoles.
As of August 2026: Assistant Professor of Physics, New York University
Strongly interacting electrons in synthetic superlattices
Institution: University of Oxford
Bio: Nick Bultinck's research focuses on the theoretical understanding of moiré materials, particularly Magic-Angle Twisted Bilayer Graphene (MATBG). His work explores how the ground state of the interacting MATBG Hamiltonian can be obtained in the strong-coupling limit, framing MATBG as a "generalized quantum Hall ferromagnet," and examines how strain drives the system from strong- to intermediate-coupling regimes.
As of August 2026: Professor, University of Oxford
Probe of Band Structure Singularities with a Lattice-Trapped Quantum Gas
Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Bio: Charles Brown's research uses ultracold atoms in optical honeycomb lattices to experimentally study band-structure singularities. By loading a Bose-Einstein condensate into an optical lattice and transporting atoms through singular points in the band structure, his group identifies topological winding numbers associated with linear and quadratic band-touching points, probing the local geometry and global topology of crystalline solids.
As of August 2026: Assistant Professor of Physics, Yale University
Doping a Chiral Spin liquid towards Topological Superconductivity and critical theories
Institution: Harvard University
Bio: Xue-Yang Song's research develops theories of deconfined transitions from chiral spin liquids (CSLs) to d+id superconductors on triangular and square lattices. Using the Abrikosov fermion representation, his work explores how doping CSLs can produce chiral metals, bosonic integer quantum Hall states, and d+id superconductors, and discusses duality between critical theories and their symmetries.
As of August 2026: Assistant Professor, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Pathways toward unconventional light-induced states in quantum materials
Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Bio: Alfred Zong's research investigates nonequilibrium phase diagrams of quantum materials driven by ultrashort laser pulses, with a focus on three themes: phase competition, electronic correlations, and defect generation. Using charge-density-wave compounds as a model system, his work examines how light can perturb energy balances between ground states, modify Coulomb interactions, and induce topological structures that give rise to novel metastable states on femto- to picosecond timescales.
As of August 2026: Assistant Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, Stanford University
Induced superconductivity in fractional quantum Hall
Institution: Harvard University
Bio: Önder Gül's research pursues topological quantum computing using hybrid superconductor–quantum Hall systems. His group has coupled a graphene-based high-mobility heterostructure to a niobium nitride superconductor in which superconductivity and robust fractional quantum Hall states coexist. Measurements of Andreev hole conversion probability at integer and fractional fillings provide evidence for spin-orbit coupling, a topological superconducting gap, and pairing of fractional charges, offering a route toward universal topological quantum computing.
As of August 2026: Quantum Computing Scientist, TNO
Rare-earth ion qubits in optical resonators: a platform for quantum networks and nuclear spin physics
Institution: California Institute of Technology
As of August 2026: Postdoctoral Researcher, Harvard University
Provably efficient machine learning for quantum many-body problems
Institution: California Institute of Technology
Bio: Hsin-Yuan Huang's research establishes theoretical foundations for using classical machine learning (ML) to predict and classify quantum phases of matter. He has proven that classical ML algorithms can efficiently predict ground state properties of gapped Hamiltonians after training on data from other Hamiltonians in the same quantum phase, leveraging the concept of classical shadows. His work also demonstrates that classical ML can efficiently classify a wide range of quantum phases, with numerical experiments spanning Rydberg atom systems, 2D Heisenberg models, and topologically ordered phases.
As of August 2026: Chief Technology Officer at Oratomic; Assistant Professor of Theoretical Physics, California Institute of Technology
Designing molecular color centers for quantum information science
Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Bio: Dan Laorenza's research uses synthetic chemistry to design optically addressable molecular spin qubits. Targeting pseudo-tetrahedral chromium(IV) organometallic compounds in strong ligand field environments, his work demonstrates optical initialization, coherent spin manipulation, and optical readout for Cr⁴⁺ compounds. Through ligand functionalization and substitution, he explores how minor environmental modifications affect spin and optical properties, establishing a platform for bespoke molecular color centers relevant to quantum information science.
As of August 2026: Assistant Professor in Chemistry, University of Chicago
Imaging clock shifts in a Fermi-degenerate gas of strontium
Institution: University of Colorado, Boulder
Bio: Ross Hutson's research develops optical lattice clocks using Fermi-degenerate gases of strontium to achieve state-of-the-art coherence times exceeding 10 seconds at unprecedented atomic densities. His work reports the creation of a spin-polarized quantum gas of fermions in 2.5 seconds through efficient laser and evaporative cooling, and spatially resolves atomic responses to measure novel clock shifts arising from multi-body collisional processes and long-range electric-dipole interactions.
Line-graph-lattice models and materials
Institution: Princeton University
Bio: Christie Chiu's research investigates the geometric and topological properties of line-graph lattices, showing that their flat bands can host fragile topology. Her theoretical work informs experimental studies with superconducting circuit microwave resonator arrays and motivates a high-throughput materials search for line-graph-lattice crystalline structures within databases of inorganic stoichiometric materials.
As of August 2026: Managing Director, Sutter Hill Ventures
Toric code topological order in Rydberg atom arrays: a BEC of quantum strings
Institution: Harvard University
Bio: Ruben Verresen's research demonstrates how Rydberg atoms placed on a two-dimensional ruby lattice can naturally realize toric code topological order. By mapping the long-range Ising model to an effective dimer model on the kagome lattice, his work identifies nonlocal order parameters—measurable as a Bose-Einstein condensate of string operators—that directly probe topological order in cold atom experiments.
As of August 2026: Assistant Professor of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago
Ultracold Complex Polyatomic Molecules
Institution: Harvard University
Bio: Benjamin Augenbraun's research extends laser cooling and trapping techniques to complex polyatomic molecules, including linear, symmetric nonlinear, and asymmetric species. His experimental work establishes tools blending photon cycling with Sisyphus-type forces, and his theoretical results show these methods can be extended to chiral molecules and aromatic-ring-containing species. His group works with molecules including CaOH, YbOH, CaOCH₃, CaSH, and SrOC₁₀H₇, aiming to enable "designer" molecules tailored for specific quantum tasks.
As of August 2026: Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Williams College
Design and synthesis of new nickelate superconductors using molecular beam epitaxy
Institution: Harvard University
Bio: Grace Pan's research uses reactive oxide molecular beam epitaxy to design and synthesize novel layered nickelate superconductors. Her work reports the synthesis of the quintuple-layer nickelate Nd₆Ni₅O₁₂, which achieves optimal cuprate-like electron filling without chemical doping and exhibits a superconducting transition beginning at approximately 13 K. Electronic structure calculations and spectroscopic measurements suggest this material interpolates between cuprate-like and infinite-layer nickelate behavior, establishing square-planar nickelates as a new tunable family of superconductors.
As of August 2026: Visiting Scientist at Periodic Labs; Incoming Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
Transition from an atomic to a molecular Bose–Einstein condensate and quantum many-body chemistry
Institution: University of Chicago
Bio: Zhengdong Zhang's research prepares two-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates of spinning molecules by inducing pairing interactions near a g-wave Feshbach resonance in an atomic condensate. His work demonstrates the long-sought atomic-to-molecular condensate transition—the bosonic analogue of the BEC-to-BCS crossover—and investigates collective coherent oscillations in chemical reaction dynamics at ultralow temperatures, where atoms participate collectively in molecule formation.
As of August 2026: Assistant Professor, University of Hong Kong