Foreword

Lieven Vandersypen, director of research

One of my highlights of 2023 is that we welcomed three new group leaders. Their arrival means a lot for QuTech. Carlos Errando-Herranz will develop quantum photonic integrated circuits so that we can move our optical experiments from large lab setups to small chips. Nadia Haider will conduct reliable numerical electromagnetic analyzes of our quantum processing units, to ensure that they operate with as little loss as possible. Maximillian Rimbach-Russ will focus on the theory of semiconducting spin qubits, in close connection with our experimental efforts in that area. These new hires are tapping into new research directions, but also fit in seamlessly with our ongoing research. It is wonderful to see the new energy they are bringing with them.
 
In terms of research results, we had a range of breakthroughs in 2023. From a new type of hybrid semiconductor-superconducting qubit to a new bottom-up way of making Majorana particles, from the realization of an array of 16 semiconductor quantum dots to the mapping of the interactions between 50 spins in color centers in diamond, and from advances in cryogenic qubit control to an architecture for connecting users in a metropolitan quantum network. Do check out this annual report, in which all QuTech groups present their scientific highlights.
 
In the field of education, we are extremely proud of the very first cohort of students in the Quantum Information Science & Technology master's program, to which QuTech scientists also contribute. This course, which is offered jointly between the universities of Delft and Leiden, was accredited in March 2023. The first 18 students started in September. I look forward to teaching them in my own course module soon!
 
And before I forget: every time our QuTech band ‘Q2’ plays is a highlight, whether it’s at the summer barbecue or the Christmas party.

Kees Eijkel, director of business development

This year, I feel QuTech really arrived at a powerful way of working within the innovation ecosystem. This way of working is directly related to the fact that, since day one, we have been building a full-stack quantum demonstrator. Full-stack means that many brand-new technologies need to come together and work together. The only way to succeed in this mission, is by ensuring that none of the teams working on specific parts of the full stack is working in isolation. We have to continually go back and forth between the teams, between our researchers and our external partners, and, importantly, between us and our future end-users. As much as the technology is evolving, their activities and needs are evolving too. It’s an ecosystem where everything is connected.

So, as we’re working towards the future of our demonstrator, we’re constantly assessing what next steps are best in view of the full stack: which proposals to write, which partnerships to enter in, which networks to participate in, what patents to apply for. Along the way, we’re shaping the quantum future as much as it is guiding us. I find this mindset very inspiring. It helps us attract the right personnel and the right partners.
 
Speaking of our partners in the quantum technology ecosystem, 2023 marked the year that the number of people working in the spin-offs around QuTech exceeded the number of people working in QuTech itself. That’s a very meaningful milestone! Actually, I should stop calling them ‘our spin-offs’ – they’re successful start-ups in their own right, and some have even grown into the small- or medium-size enterprise category. Another highlight concerns the number of patent applications in 2023. We aimed for at least 15, we got no less than 26.
 
On a more personal note, in 2023 I had the pleasure of inviting Prof. Steven Walsh to come to QuTech. His insights into innovative entrepreneurship have inspired me over the years, and keep inspiring me. I’m hoping to share my own knowledge about this topic with other researchers and students at TU Delft in the future.

Charlotte van Hees, director of operations

2023 saw much effort going into cooperation and standardization of work processes within QuTech. We have a large project portfolio where close coordination between project leaders and colleagues from finance, HR, legal and communications is very important for the planning, monitoring and reporting of projects.
 
At the same time, the QuTech technicians and engineers completed a new cryostat lab, where twelve new dilution fridges will be installed. Here, we can cool down our quantum bits to the extreme low temperature of 0.01 K, which is needed for stable measurements. At the end of 2023 we had no less than 41 working dilution fridges. That is an enormous lab concentration, important for QuTech's global competitive position.
 
My personal highlight was the creation of the QuTech EtiQuette, a set of behavioural guidelines for all employees and students in QuTech, compiled by the people of QuTech themselves. We have worked hard to encourage a safe working environment in which everyone can be themselves. Together with, among others, the personnel committee, Laura Elshove from HR, and our diversity officer Grazia Bastasin, we have had many discussions, developed training courses for all QuTech staff, and looked at the path to be taken if things nevertheless go wrong. The EtiQuette were the result of these conversations, and is now posted as a conversation starter throughout the QuTech building.
 
A pleasant surprise was that there were so many enthusiastic candidates for our personnel committee, that we decided to hold elections at the end of 2023. We were the only one of all departments and faculties in TU Delft to hold elections: an indication of the involvement of our colleagues in the QuTech institute.