Quantum City Prize 2025
The World Quantum Day launched in 2025 – on the occasion of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ) – the Quantum City Prize, a competition aiming at bringing quantum science and technology to the public spaces of cities around the world.
What sets the Quantum City Prize apart from the many activities of the World Quantum Day – Every day in 2025, and of the International Year of Quantum, is the idea that the public should not have to register for an event, or travel to a specific venue, to encounter quantum science. Instead, the Quantum City Prize projects place quantum content directly in the urban landscape, so that people can discover it serendipitously as part of their daily lives.
The winners of the 2025 edition were announced at the Closing Ceremony of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology in Accra, Ghana, on 11 February 2026. Continental Quantum City Prizes were awarded across Africa, Asia, Europe, North & Central America, and South America. The continental winners then competed for the World Quantum City Prize: however, given the quality of the submissions, the jury of six persons decided to award two World prizes:
World Quantum City Prize
Putignano / Italy
“Quantum Paradoxes in Papier-Maché: An Urban Journey Through Science, Art, and Wonder”
Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN) - National Research Council (CNR)
Six papier-mâché sculptures inspired by quantum paradoxes transformed Putignano’s medieval center into an open-air science museum. A collaboration between CNR-IFN and the Putignano Carnival Foundation, the project used the town’s centuries-old carnival tradition to make concepts like entanglement and superposition tangible and accessible, complemented by live performances, expert debates, and children’s workshops.
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Alamein City / Egypt
“Alamein City, the Past and the Future”
Alamein International University (AIU) and Alexandria Quantum Computing Group (AleQCG)
Street interviews, interactive quantum stations, and educational games brought quantum science to New Alamein’s busiest public spaces across a two-day event organized by Alamein International University and the QAIU student community. Around 750 visitors, including international tourists, explored concepts like superposition, entanglement, and teleportation through hands-on activities, making it the city’s first ever student-led public science event and earning invitations to expand across Egypt.
See more →Continental Quantum City Prizes
Alamein City / Egypt
“Alamein City, the Past and the Future”
Alamein International University (AIU) and Alexandria Quantum Computing Group (AleQCG)
Street interviews, interactive quantum stations, and educational games brought quantum science to New Alamein’s busiest public spaces across a two-day event organized by Alamein International University and the QAIU student community. Around 750 visitors, including international tourists, explored concepts like superposition, entanglement, and teleportation through hands-on activities, making it the city’s first ever student-led public science event and earning invitations to expand across Egypt.
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Osaka / Japan
“Osaka Quantum Discovery”
Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Biology (QIQB), University of Osaka
A visually rich educational poster celebrating 100 years of quantum mechanics, distributed to over 1,700 schools across Osaka and reaching an estimated 800,000 students. Created by QIQB at the University of Osaka in collaboration with Japan’s Ministry of Education, the initiative extended to Osaka Expo 2025 where visitors could run programs on a real quantum computer remotely, recording over 20,000 accesses. A dedicated website with explanatory videos has drawn more than 650,000 visits.
See more →Putignano / Italy
“Quantum Paradoxes in Papier-Maché: An Urban Journey Through Science, Art, and Wonder”
Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN) - National Research Council (CNR)
Six papier-mâché sculptures inspired by quantum paradoxes transformed Putignano’s medieval center into an open-air science museum. A collaboration between CNR-IFN and the Putignano Carnival Foundation, the project used the town’s centuries-old carnival tradition to make concepts like entanglement and superposition tangible and accessible, complemented by live performances, expert debates, and children’s workshops.
See more →
Urbana-Champaign (twin cities) / USA
“Public Quantum Network”
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
A public quantum network node installed in the Urbana Free Library gives patrons direct, hands-on access to entangled photons sent via optical fiber from a lab at the University of Illinois. Visitors can perform a Bell test, generate quantum random numbers, or play a two-player entanglement game, all using real quantum technology. With an estimated thousand interactions since its 2023 launch, the project has already inspired plans for similar nodes at Fermilab, in Champaign, and at two locations in California.
Paraty / Brazil
“Perspectivas Emaranhadas (Entangled Perspectives)”
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Six artistic photographs inspired by quantum concepts, created by professional photographers after months of dialogue with physicists, were exhibited alongside hands-on light experiments at Paraty’s Casa da Cultura. Each photograph was paired with dual texts offering both the artist’s and physicist’s perspective on concepts like superposition, entanglement, and wave-particle duality. Building on Paraty’s 18-year history as a quantum city hosting Brazil’s leading quantum information conference, the exposition brought science and art together in a free, open-door setting that drew school classes, tourists, and locals alike.
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