Quantum physics—for many, a mystery involving cats, strange particles, and formulas that make your head spin. And yet it has long been shaping our everyday lives: in smartphones, laser pointers, and modern medicine. All this has been made possible by over 100 years of tireless basic research.
From September 12 to October 31, 2025, Quantum to Go can be experienced at P26 – the University of Bonn's open house for encounters and exchange between science and the public. Centrally located, it offers the ideal setting to showcase cutting-edge research and bring visitors into conversation with scientists.
The exhibition takes the International Year of Quantum Sciences as an opportunity to show how one of the most fascinating technologies of our time is being worked on here in the Rhineland: the quantum computer. It is not a faster PC, but a completely different one – one that uses the rules of the quantum world to solve problems that even supercomputers fail to solve.
The research is supported by the ML4Q (Matter and Light for Quantum Computing) Cluster of Excellence – a network of the universities of Cologne, Bonn, Aachen, and the Jülich Research Center – as well as EIN Quantum NRW, an association of universities, research institutions, and companies in the field of quantum technologies.
Three rooms – one common thread
The Chandelier Room begins with an impressive model of a superconducting quantum computer, cooled to a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero. An interactive station invites visitors to playfully experience how quantum computers examine not just one path, but all possibilities simultaneously.
The Theory Room Between formulas and the insights of Max Planck and Erwin Schrödinger, it becomes clear how quantization and superposition form the basis for storing information in 0 and 1 simultaneously. Visitors can try out these effects for themselves at the entanglement exhibit.
The laboratory Here, theory becomes technology: ion traps based on the idea of Bonn-based Nobel Prize winner Wolfgang Paul, superconducting circuits, exotic materials, and quasiparticles. Young researchers report on their everyday work; a display case shows the diversity of people and tools that drive quantum research forward.
Be interactive: the supporting program
Quantum to Go will be accompanied by around 30 events during the exhibition period in P26 until October 31, including seminars, interactive workshops, lectures, and guided tours for children, school students, researchers, and anyone else who is interested. There will also be an extraordinary musical performance that combines quantum physics and art to create a special experience. The guided tours are offered by doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and professors from the universities of Aachen, Bonn, and Cologne, which together with Forschungszentrum Jülich form the ML4Q Cluster of Excellence. Dates, locations, and topics: https://ml4q.de/quantum-to-go
Ansprechpartnerinnen für die Medien:
Ecem Uludag M. Sc.
Public Outreach Manager
Cluster of Excellence Matter and Light for Quantum Computing, ML4Q
Universität Köln
Pohligstr.3, 50969 Cologne
Tel: +49 (0)221 470-6392
euludag@uni-koeln.de
https://ml4q.de
Alma Hannig
Management P26
Universität Bonn
ahannig@uni-bonn.de
https://www.uni-bonn.de/de/universitaet/unileben/p26/