PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Renato Renner

Renato Renner is an ETH Zurich physicist whose quantum-information work includes cryptography and neural networks for physical science. In the 1990s, he studied at ETH and explored quantum information through Klaus Hepp's seminar; he wrote a 2005 PhD thesis on quantum key distribution security. After postdoctoral work at Cambridge, he returned to ETH Zurich in 2007 to start its Quantum Information Theory group. He received the 2016 TCC Test of Time Award and coauthored a 2020 neural-network architecture for representing physical systems. In May 2026, he helped lead an experiment that generated certifiably perfect random numbers; as of October 2026, he is a full professor and head of ETH's Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Works
313
Citations
18,684
h-index
66

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1990s

    A quantum information seminar

    In the 1990s, he studies at ETH Zurich and explores quantum information through a seminar offered by theoretical physicist Klaus Hepp. Hepp directs him to computer scientist Ueli Maurer, who takes him on as a doctoral student.

  2. 2005

    A quantum security thesis

    In 2005, his PhD thesis on quantum key distribution presents a de Finetti style representation theorem and gives a security proof for QKD.

  3. 2005–2007

    Postdoctoral work at Cambridge

    After his 2005 doctorate, he spends two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge's Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.

  4. 2007

    A quantum information group

    He returns to ETH Zurich in 2007 to start its Quantum Information Theory group.

  5. 2016

    A cryptography award

    In 2016, he receives the TCC Test of Time Award from the International Association for Cryptologic Research.

  6. 2020

    Neural networks for physics

    In 2020, he and his coauthors present a neural-network architecture that learns useful representations of physical systems, with examples in classical and quantum physics.

  7. May 2026

    Certifiable perfect randomness

    In May 2026, researchers led by him and Andreas Wallraff demonstrate certifiably perfect random numbers using entangled superconducting qubits and a Bell test.

  8. As of October 2026

    Head of Theoretical Physics

    As of October 2026, he is a full professor in ETH Zurich's Department of Physics and head of the Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Sources and credits

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  1. “We have to make the right moves!” – Department of Physics | ETH Zurich phys.ethz.ch. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. [quant-ph/0512258] Security of Quantum Key Distribution arxiv.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Keynote Speakers — ACM PQQS 2026 acm-pqqs.github.io. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Renato Renner - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. [2001.00593] Operationally meaningful representations of physical systems in neural networks arxiv.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Perfect randomness realised for the first time | ETH Zurich ethz.ch. Checked 15 October 2026.
  7. Homepage – Quantum Information Theory | ETH Zurich qit.ethz.ch. Checked 15 October 2026.