PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Mauro Paternostro

Mauro Paternostro is a quantum-information researcher whose AI work uses reinforcement learning and quantum reservoir computing. He held research fellowships at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information in Vienna and at Queen’s before receiving an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship and becoming a Lecturer at Queen’s in 2008; he became Reader in 2010 and Full Professor in 2013, and co-led Queen’s Quantum Technology group by 2017. His coauthored papers used reinforcement learning to reduce entropy production and quantum reservoir computing to witness entanglement and estimate quantum features from experimental data. In 2025, he joined the Royal Irish Academy. He served as Full Professor of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Science at the University of Palermo and Queen’s University Belfast and as Editor in Chief of Quantum Science and Technology in June 2026; in October 2026, he is a Professor in Queen’s School of Mathematics and Physics and the Centre for Quantum Materials and Technologies.

Timeline

  1. 2008

    A fellowship and QUB lectureship

    After research fellowships at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, University of Vienna, and at QUB, he receives an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship and becomes a Lecturer at Queen’s in 2008. His PhD at Queen’s focuses on theoretical quantum information processing.

  2. By 2017

    Reader and group co-leader

    He becomes Reader at Queen’s in 2010 and Full Professor in 2013. By 2017, he co-leads QUB’s Quantum Technology group, which works on foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum information processing.

  3. 2018–2019

    A Royal Society fellowship

    Queen’s names him a recipient of the Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship, Round Three of 2018, in June 2019. He is Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics in Queen’s School of Mathematics and Physics.

  4. 2021

    Reinforcement learning for thermodynamics

    With Sofia Sgroi and G. Massimo Palma, he coauthors a 2021 paper in Physical Review Letters that uses reinforcement learning and a policy-gradient technique to reduce entropy production in a closed quantum system brought out of equilibrium.

  5. 2025

    Quantum reservoir computing

    He coauthors a 2025 study that uses quantum reservoir computing to witness quantum entanglement and estimate other quantum features from experimental data. The method uses orbital angular momentum of photon pairs for informationally complete, single-setting measurements of polarization.

  6. 2025

    A Royal Irish Academy membership

    In 2025, he is admitted to the Royal Irish Academy as one of five Queen’s academics in its cohort of 28 new members. His work spans quantum information science and technologies, and quantum optomechanics.

  7. As of October 2026

    Professorships and journal editorship

    In June 2026, he is a Full Professor of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Science at the University of Palermo and Queen’s University Belfast, and Editor in Chief of Quantum Science and Technology. In October 2026, he is a Professor in Queen’s School of Mathematics and Physics and the Centre for Quantum Materials and Technologies.

Career

  1. Since 2008Queen's University BelfastResearch Fellow, Reader
  2. University of ViennaResearch Fellow
  3. University of PalermoFull Professor of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Science

Education

  1. Queen's University BelfastPhD

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Queen's University Belfast. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Queen's University Belfast. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Queen's University Belfast. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Mauro Paternostro qtc2017.aalto.fi. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Professor Mauro Paternostro receives Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship qub.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Reinforcement learning approach to non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Quantum reservoir computing for photonic entanglement witnessing arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Five Queen’s academics admitted to Royal Irish Academy qub.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Enhancing quantum information processing with neuromorphic approaches to data processing sfu.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Mauro Paternostro - Queen’s University Belfast pure.qub.ac.uk. Checked 21 October 2026.