PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Christoph Simon

Christoph Simon is a quantum physicist whose work links machine learning, quantum information and questions about the brain. He studied in Vienna and Paris, completed a physics doctorate in 2000, and joined the University of Calgary as an associate professor in 2009. His research includes a 1998 Bell test, a 2011 review of quantum repeaters, and a 2017 account of a global quantum network. He received research awards from 2010 to 2015, explored quantum biology and neural learning, and coauthored a 2025 study of quantum reservoir computing. As of October 2026, he is a Calgary physics professor focused on quantum biology and neuroscience.

Works
331
Citations
20,636
h-index
64

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1997–2000

    Physics study and doctorate

    He earns an MSc in theoretical physics at École Normale Supérieure in 1997 and a PhD in physics at the University of Vienna in 2000, after studying physics there with Anton Zeilinger.

  2. 1998

    A strict-locality Bell test

    In 1998, he coauthors an experiment that observes a strong violation of Bell's inequality and enforces locality through separated measurement stations.

  3. By 2004

    Postdoctoral work in Oxford

    After his PhD, he works as a postdoc with Dirk Bouwmeester in Oxford and at UC Santa Barbara, then takes a permanent research position with France's CNRS in Grenoble in 2004.

  4. 2006–2009

    Geneva and Calgary posts

    From 2006 to 2009, he works as a senior researcher in Nicolas Gisin's group at the University of Geneva while on leave from CNRS. He joins the University of Calgary as an associate professor in 2009.

  5. 2010–2015

    Three research awards

    He receives the Alberta Innovates New Faculty Award in 2010, the Faculty of Science Research Excellence Award in 2014, and the NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement in 2015.

  6. 2011–2017

    From repeaters to a network

    In 2011, he and Nicolas Sangouard, Hugues de Riedmatten, and Nicolas Gisin review quantum repeaters based on atomic ensembles and linear optics. He becomes a professor in 2016. His 2017 article says satellite links and quantum memory put a global quantum network within reach.

  7. 2014–2025

    Quantum biology and learning

    From 2014, his research includes quantum biology. At Calgary, he works with Wilten Nicola on whether photonic channels could carry backpropagation of synaptic weight information for learning. In 2025, he and Youssef Kora post a study of spin-network quantum reservoir computing that examines how entanglement and coherence affect performance under statistical noise.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at Calgary

    As of October 2026, he is a physics professor at the University of Calgary and a member of its Institute for Quantum Science and Technology and Hotchkiss Brain Institute. His current focus is quantum biology and neuroscience.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Christoph Simon yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Christoph Simon | UCalgary Profiles | University of Calgary profiles.ucalgary.ca. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Violation of Bell's Inequality under Strict Einstein Locality Conditions | Phys. Rev. Lett. journals.aps.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Research Team | Faculty of Science | University of Alberta gsa.ualberta.ca. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. [0906.2699] Quantum repeaters based on atomic ensembles and linear optics arxiv.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. [1710.11585] Towards a global quantum network arxiv.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Christoph Simon | Optica Fellow Profile optica.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  7. [2504.17837] Quantumness can enhance resilience to statistical noise in spin-network quantum reservoir computing arxiv.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  8. Christoph Simon - Quantum Colloquium Seminar | University of Chicago pme.uchicago.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.