News

New professor in Quantum Computing

  • Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM)
    13 January 2025
  • Category
    Education
  • Topic
    Computer Science & ICT, Physics & Materials Science

Marko Rancic joined the University of Luxembourg in December 2024 as an Associate Professor in High Performance and Quantum Computing within the Fauclty of Science, Technology and Medicine. Discover more about his background and the motivations behind his decision to join our institution!

Could you introduce yourself?

I believe I had a very peculiar career path, going from academia to industry and then back to academia. I am originally from Serbia where I studied physics at the University of Niš where I obtained my B.Sc. (2010) and M.Sc. (2012). My path took me to Germany where I spent 4 years at the University of Konstanz, investigating semiconducting quantum computer hardware (2013-2016). The next stop of my career was the university of Basel in Switzerland where I studied different semiconducting architectures for quantum computing.

In 2019 I made a career switch and I accepted an industrial PI/manager role in R&D of one of the biggest companies in the world – TotalEnergies. There I coordinated a multi-million euro/year research program, with responsibilities spanning from more conventional manager duties to R&D. On top of going from academia to industry, I also changed research disciplines from more physics-oriented modelling of quantum computing hardware to developing algorithms and software for solving practical use cases on quantum and high-performance computers.

In my last career stop before coming to Luxembourg, I was an assistant professor at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Finally in December 2024 I came to the University of Luxembourg as a tenured associate professor in high-performance and quantum computing.

A big part of my decision to join the University of Luxembourg was also the academic excellence of the institution.”

Marko Rancic

Assistant Professor in High Computing and Quantum

What inspired you to join the University of Luxembourg?

I am guessing it is not a big surprise judging by my work career that I am very fond of the pan-European mentality. But more on the professional level, the compact size of Luxembourg allows a researcher to work very close to policy makers. A big part of my decision was also the academic excellence of the University.

Also, the country is known for its vibrant startup community, which I something I find especially enjoying due to my previous collaborations with the French startup ecosystem. And did I say that Luxembourg is a beautiful country?

What will be your main activities and challenges?

In short research and teaching. A bit longer – I am planning various courses in quantum algorithms and computational methods. More on the research side, I plan to develop algorithms for primitive quantum computers with a goal of achieving quantum supremacy on a daily basis. And Luxembourg also won a bid to host a quantum computer recently – I hope to contribute to this young Luxembourgish quantum ecosystem!