2026 Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award Winner
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Optica Names Tommaso Calarco the 2026 Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award Recipient
Optica is pleased to announce that Tommaso Calarco, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Germany, has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award. Calarco is honored for key contributions in setting up a coordinated research program and for fostering international cooperation in quantum technologies.
Calarco is Director of the Peter Grünberg Institute for Quantum Control (PGI-8) at Forschungszentrum Jülich and Professor of Quantum Information at the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the University of Cologne and the University of Bologna. Calarco earned his PhD at the University of Ferrara and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Peter Zoller at the University of Innsbruck. Previously, he was a Senior Researcher at the BEC Centre in Trento and Professor of Physics at the University of Ulm, where he later became Director of the Institute for Complex Quantum Systems and of the Centre for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology. He has also conducted research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and at Harvard University. He has pioneered the application of quantum optimal control methods to quantum computation and many-body quantum systems.
Calarco authored the Quantum Manifesto that initiated the European Commission’s Quantum Flagship, where he currently serves as Co-chair of the Quantum Community Network (QCN). He is Secretary of the European Commission expert group of Top-Level Specialists in Quantum Technologies, chaired by European Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen, and a co-founder of the European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC).
Established in 1997 to help strengthen the link between the optics community and the public, the Hopkins Leadership Award recognizes an individual or group who has had a significant impact on the global optics and photonics community, or on society as a whole stemming from non-research oriented activities. The award was named in honor of Robert E. Hopkins in 2012, and is endowed by Milton Chang and New Focus.
About Optica
Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, is the society dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in the field. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica's renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement.
