The International Conference on Quantum Computing (ICoCQ) took place at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, from the 26th to the 30th of November 2018.

A public evening during the conference, open to the general public was organized on the 27th of November at the Sorbonne University auditorium. About 350 people, including people from all age group, participated in the evening.

In this evening ESR Nilesh Vyas also participated and helped with the organization of the evening. The purpose was to introduce the general public with the idea of the quantum computer, its functionality, how it performs computation and its basic hardware. The evening started with a talk on Quantum computer, given by Professor  Klaus Molmer followed by a roundtable discussion and addressing the questions from the general public.

Let’s talk about science, on 17 Septemebr 2018, was an opportunity for  QCALL ESRs  to improve their scientific communication skills. The workshop was offered by Dr. Debbie Radtke and Knut Hannemann from the University of Düsseldorf.

The workshop was structured in two different sessions: a theoretical one, where the two presenters explained the ESRs how to address different kinds of audiences, and one more practical, where the researchers were asked to give small presentations and writing poster abstracts, applying the guidelines just learned.

During the soft skills training different topics were covered. It was shown to the ESRs how to structure  a scientific presentation effectively to create an impactful and clear message, depending on the different backgrounds of the audience. The ESRs learned also how to structure a poster/paper abstract: it was shown how to summarise the content of a paper where the results are well contextualized and easily understood.

After this theoretical introduction, the researchers were asked to put into practice all the techniques learned, by giving a few minutes presentation. Each exercise was followed by a small session of comments gave by the two instructors as well as the rest of the group.

The workshop was well appreciated by all participants. ESRs found it extremely useful to improve their communication skills and to have the opportunity to receive feedback from the experts in this field.

The Fête de la science is a French scientific mediation event that promotes science to the general public. On this occasion, the researchers from different fields offer exhibitions, conferences, educational workshops, open days in research laboratories and similar events through which they try to increase public awareness of the impact of scientific research and encourage pupils to embark on research careers.

This year, ESR Shouvik Ghorai along with his colleagues at Team QI, LIP6, at Sorbonne Unievsrité, participated in the science festival on helping people decipher the mysteries of quantum information. The team presented three different aspects where quantum methods are superior to the classical counterpart.

The event was held on 12th October 2018 specifically for school students while the event on 13th October 2018 was open to the general public. The program included visits in our experimental laboratory in addition to explanations supported by whiteboard and poster presentations.

The link (in French) describing the event at Sorbonne Université can found here: Fete de la Sciences, Sorbonne Universite 

Games:
We provided an overview of the classical cryptographers dining problem (anonymous transmission), its quantum analog and how the use of quantum strategy help us strengthen the security of this task.

Contextuality:
We gave a pedagogical explanation of the concept of contextuality – a key resource for demonstrating a quantum advantage – based on an analogy with polarizers and the Penrose triangle.

Cryptography:
We presented the famous quantum key distribution protocol, the so-called BB84, explaining that quantum cryptography enables unconditionally secure message exchange together with the idea of the one-time pad.

ESRs at the “VenetoNight 2018 – La notte dei ricercatori” (The night of the researchers)

The European researchers’ night is held every year in many different cities across Europe, aiming to bring researchers closer to the general public. Through interesting and attractive experiments and demonstrations, researchers from many different fields try to increase public awareness of the positive impact of scientific research in the people’s everyday life and, at the same time, encourage pupils to embark on research careers.

This year, 4 QCALL ESRs from Padova (Mujtaba Zahidy and Hamid Tebyanian) and Düsseldorf (Federico Grasselli and Carlo Liorni) participated to the event held in Padova on the 28th of September, alongside other researchers from the Department of Information Engineering (DEI). Every year, this event attracts a considerable crowd, of every age and every level of scientific background.

The ESRs presented to the public, with simple and clear concepts, the main topics of quantum communication and quantum information, together with details about the EU flagship on quantum technologies and the QCALL project. Two simple experiments came along. The first about light interference, used as starting point to explain concepts in quantum physics like the superposition principle. The second consisted in a simple quantum random number generator, accompanied by an interactive interface and explanations about the usefulness of random numbers in our everyday life. The response from the public was exceptionally good and people kept asking questions and discussing until late in the night.

You can check at this link https://ec.europa.eu/…/actions/european-researchers-night_en where is the closest European Researchers’ Night to your place. Whatever your background is, interesting discussions and demonstrations are waiting for you!