The official kick-off ceremony of QIQO – Quantum Information & Quantum Optics hub – took place on 16 July, at Instituto Superior Técnico. QIQO is a new structure dedicated to research and training in the emerging fields of quantum information and optics. The hub is a joint initiative between the Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion (IPFN) and Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), two research units affiliated with Técnico.

The hub integrates two of Técnico’s most advanced labs – the Quantum Matter Lab (QuMatt@GoLP/IPFN) and the Quantum Photonics Lab (QuLab@IT) – and is anchored in more than €1.25 million in infrastructure, with expansion plans already underway. This initiative responds to the growing need for cohesion within Portugal’s quantum research community.

QIQO aims to become a centre of excellence in quantum technologies, focusing on four strategic areas: communications, computing, cryptography, and sensing. It will also provide advanced training in collaboration with the Department of Physics (DF) and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC), thus strengthening the training offered to students and young researchers.

QIQO will be co-led by Técnico professors and researchers Emmanuel Zambrini Cruzeiro and Hugo Terças, combining their expertise in quantum information, quantum optics, and cold atom physics. This dual-leadership model is designed to foster strong interdisciplinary collaboration across theoretical and experimental domains.

According to Emmanuel Zambrini Cruzeiro “with the establishment of QIQO Lab, IST will deliver advanced education in quantum information and quantum optics for years to come”. The collaboration protocol was signed by representatives of the two research units, in the presence of Rogério Colaço, President of Instituto Superior Técnico.

This text was written in collaboration with Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT).