Mikael Backlund is one of 50 scientists selected as Scialog Fellows by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement to participate in a Quantum Matter and Information initiative that will bring together scientists from physics, chemistry, materials science, surface science, applied mathematics, computer science, engineering, and related fields to develop new methodologies and help enhance our understanding of the quantum world with an interdisciplinary perspective.
Scialog is short for “science + dialog.” Created in 2010 by RCSA, the Scialog format supports research by stimulating intensive interdisciplinary conversation and community building around a scientific theme of global importance. This Scialog seeks to promote broader interactions among different sectors of the quantum science community and will facilitate connections among early career researchers from a wide cross section of academic disciplines.
The first meeting of Fellows in this Scialog will be in October 2025.
Initiative description: Theorists and experimentalists across a broad spectrum of disciplines are focusing their attention on entanglement and other fascinating quantum phenomena as they push the frontiers of knowledge in new and exciting ways. Contemporary quantum science offers the promise of transformational technologies, but to advance breakthroughs in novel quantum materials, precision measurement, sensing, and quantum information, many basic challenges remain to be addressed. A deeper understanding of quantum coherence, entanglement, and the transition from quantum to classical behaviors is essential for progress in quantum theory, simulations, and experimental design.