Francesca was invited to sign the Golden Book of the City of Innsbruck — an elegant and historic honorary book in which high-ranking guests and distinguished figures from politics, culture, sport, and science inscribe their names during official receptions at City Hall. Each entry is carefully prepared in advance by a professional calligrapher, highlighting the special significance of this tradition.

The invitation followed her recognition as Austria’s Scientist of the Year. Innsbruck’s mayor Johannes Anzengruber warmly congratulated Francesca and emphasized how proud the city is of her achievement.

The visit marked a meaningful gesture of appreciation from the City of Innsbruck for her outstanding accomplishments.

We are happy to share that Francesca is selected to be part of the “Quantum 100” for UNESCO’s International Year of Quantum Science and Technology!
💡 It’s exciting to see how the Quantum 100 provides a snapshot of the diverse community in quantum science — with career paths spanning academia, industry, education, art, culture, journalism, and policy.

Read Francesca’s story here!

Fantastic news: Francesca Ferlaino, is Austria’s Scientist of the Year 2025!

This prestigious award, granted by the Austrian Association of Science and Education Journalists, honours Francesca’s outstanding scientific achievements and her exceptional commitment to science communication. It acknowledges her dedication to making complex quantum phenomena accessible to a general audience, as well as emphasizing the importance of fundamental research for society.

Read more here.

The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) has approved a new special research area on quantum systems of neutral atoms. We are excited to announce that our group will be part of the project, together with the groups led by Hannes Bernien and Hannes Pichler from Innsbruck, and many more national and international collaborators.

The FWF will provide funding of approximately €4 million over a period of four years. The goal of the collaborative research network “Highly Connected Quantum Systems of Neutral Atoms” is to achieve a high degree of networking and quantum mechanical entanglement of many particles, even those that are far apart. With the realization and investigation of quantum systems that are now becoming experimentally accessible for the first time, the planned cooperation promises not only a deeper understanding of novel states of matter, but also practical breakthroughs in the field of quantum technology.

Our group went on a trip to South Tyrol to go hiking at the astonishing Barbian Waterfalls. For dinner, we visited a Buschenschank, where we enjoyed the Tyrolean tradition of Törggelen — a sociable, extended meal featuring traditional regional dishes such as chestnuts roasted over a wood fire, as well as locally produced sausages and wine.