QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

REQUEST FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE JOHN STEWART BELL PRIZE 2011 FOR RESEARCH ON FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES IN QUANTUM MECHANICS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS

Dear friends and colleagues:

We are pleased to announce John Stewart Bell Prize 2011, and ask for your assistance in identifying candidates for the award.

The John Stewart Bell Prize for Research on Fundamental Issues in Quantum Mechanics and their Applications (short form: "Bell Prize") will be awarded every other year, in particular again in 2011, for significant contributions first published in the 6 years preceding January 1st of the award year. The award is meant to recognize major advances relating to the foundations of quantum mechanics and to the applications of these principles – this covers, but is not limited to, quantum information theory, quantum computation, quantum foundations, quantum cryptography, and quantum control. The award is not intended as a "lifetime achievement" award, but rather to highlight the continuing rapid pace of research in these areas. It is intended to cover even-handedly theoretical and experimental research, both fundamental and applied.

The award is funded and managed by the University of Toronto, Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control (CQIQC), but the award selection will be handled by an arms-length selection committee. The membership of the 2011 committee is

• Alain Aspect
• Nicolas Gisin (winner of the inaugural Bell Prize 2009)
• Aephraim Steinberg, ex officio vice-chair
• John Preskill
• Peter Zoller chair

The award will be presented as part of the biennial CQIQC conference, during which the awardee will be invited to deliver a prize lecture.

To nominate a candidate for this award, please email your nomination to Anna Ho, CQIQC administrative assistant, at aho [at] chem [dot] utoronto [dot] ca. The nomination should include the name and affiliation of the nominee, a 1-2 paragraph statement of the importance of the contribution on the basis of which you are making the nomination and the principal literature citations to this work (which must have been published between January 2005 and December 2010). Self-nomination is prohibited.

All nominations received prior to December 25, 2010 will be considered (although the committee will not be bound to restrict itself to these nominations).

Thank you in advance for your assistance,

Peter Zoller

on behalf of the Bell Prize selection committee