Hamburg (dpa) – German computer scientist and quantum physicist Stephanie Wehner has been awarded the Körber European Science Prize, which is endowed with one million euros. The Körber Foundation stated that the former hacker is being honoured for “her groundbreaking work on the quantum internet”. The quantum internet is an ultra-fast and highly secure computer network that will enable entirely new applications and levels of computing power.
Wehner conducts her research in the Netherlands, where she serves as Director of the European Quantum Internet Alliance and as a professor at the QuTech Institute at Delft University of Technology. Most recently, she and her team developed the world’s first operating system for quantum computer networks. “In future this could enable data to be transmitted securely without the risk of eavesdropping, and users could work together to solve complex problems at record speed – far beyond the capabilities of today’s internet,” the Körber Foundation explained.
Wehner was an “ethical hacker”
Born in Würzburg in 1977, Wehner worked as an ethical hacker before beginning her academic career, testing computer systems for vulnerabilities in order to improve their security. She plans to use the prize money to explore new applications for quantum networks. The award is due to be presented at Hamburg City Hall on 19 September. It is one of the most generously endowed research prizes in the world.
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