In February, Menno Veldhorst received an NWO Vici grant for connecting quantum dots in three dimensions. The grant is aimed at researchers with academic qualities that clearly exceed what is customary and demonstrate the development of leadership and mentorship skills.

In May, Anasua Chatterjee won the IUPAP Early Career Scientist Prize from the Commission on Low Temperature Physics. Her nominators cited her “pioneering work on the scaling and operation of solid-state qubit implementations for quantum information, comprising some of the first two-dimensional arrays of spin qubits, as well as novel and hybrid qubit implementations”.

In June, Stephanie Wehner was awarded the €1 million Körber European Science Prize, one of Europe’s most prestigious scientific awards. The prize recognises Wehner’s groundbreaking research in developing the quantum internet—an ultra-secure, ultra-fast network that that will enable entirely new applications and computing possibilities. With the Körber prize, Wehner and her team will expand their pioneering work. By 2030, Wehner aims to connect metropolitan quantum networks across Europe, strengthening Europe’s leading position in quantum technologies and fostering innovation in digital business models.

In September, two QuTech scientists were awarded ERC Starting Grants to advance quantum technologies. Nadia Haider and Carlos Errando Herranz, both principal investigators at QuTech, received the grants to develop radically new approaches to qubit discovery and stability. Their projects tackle some of the field’s most pressing challenges: how to accelerate the search for novel qubits, and how to make them robust enough for large-scale applications.

In October, new Vidi grants were awarded to Maximilian Rimbach-Russ and Sophie Hermans for scalable quantum chips and a multi-use quantum internet. While quantum technologies promise enormous societal benefits, progress is still limited by fundamental technical barriers. For example, how to interconnect quantum devices into functional networks, or how to scale fragile qubits into reliable processors with a multitude of qubits. The two new Vidi projects at QuTech, led by Sophie Hermans and Maximilian Rimbach-Russ, aim at directly these challenges.

In September, the annual group outing, called 'QuTech Uitje', was once again a great success. On Friday we spent an amazing day at Sing and Swing, singing karaoke, playing mini-golf, and VR games. After an amazing band performance, we made our way to this year’s secret location: Texel.

On Saturday, we started the day at Ecomare, a seal rescue center, where we also had lunch. Luckily, the rain stayed away, so we were able to enjoy some fun beach games before heading to a cozy beach club for a nice dinner.

In June 2025 we celebrated our 10-year anniversary. A lovely event was hosted for all current and many former employees at Lijm&Cultuur in Delft. It was a lovely warm day which was enjoyed by everyone, as they did the delicious food and beverages. Lots of stories and laughs were shared with new and familiar faces.

The wonderful day included great performances by 'Maartje & Kine' and 'DJ Ed the V'. Fun games such as air hockey and table football and the photobooth were also a great addition.

On Sunday 14 December, QuTech was again strongly represented with 25 runners at the Bruggenloop. The route started at Stadion Feijenoord and took the runners across the most iconic bridges of Rotterdam. Along the way, the participants braved headwinds, the typical Dutch autumn weather and faced the main obstacle of the course – the infamous Van Brienenoord bridge at km 12. In the last stretch, our runners pushed for their goal times with the loud support of all QuTech supporters.

This year we had both familiar and new faces amongst the runners, connecting many different groups, and all happily finished the 15 km race. Not just this, but QuTech Team 1 placed 4th out of 355 business run teams! The event was a great success, marked by a strong sense of team spirit. Colleagues encouraged one another before the race, and afterward shared their experiences, making it a memorable event for everyone involved. As said, every QuTech participant finished the full 15K race, but many of them did within their goal time. This was thanks in part to QuTech supporters along the route: the shouting really helped to get the final sprint going.

Becoming somewhat of a tradition, the annual QuTech Christmas party took place at Café X, where everyone enjoyed some nice food and had plenty of drinks. To conclude the evening, our very own Q2 band performed and the dancefloor was full!