Francesco Petruccione serves as Professor of Quantum Computing and Director of the National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS) at Stellenbosch University. He was born in Genova, Italy, and began his journey in the field of physics at the University of Freiburg, where he received both his PhD and “Habilitation” degree. Following his academic …
Dr Yaseera Ismail is currently a Senior lecturer within the Department of Physics at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She graduated in 2011 with her Masters of Science degree, Cum Laude, based at the CSIR-National Laser Centre, and obtained her PhD in 2015 in Physics in the field of quantum communication from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In …
Graeme Pleasance is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Quantum@SUN research group. He graduated with an MSci in Theoretical Physics from the University of Birmingham (UK) in 2013, and received his PhD from the University of Sussex (UK) in 2018. From 2018 to 2022 he held a postdoctoral research position in the Quantum Research Group …
Omid is an International Ph.D. student from Iran in the Quantum Research Group at Stellenbosch University, supervised by Prof. Francesco Petruccione and Prof. Ilya Sinayskiy. He is interested in investigating quantum effects in biological systems, such as the magnetic effect in the Radical Pair Mechanism (RPM) or Vibrationally Assisted ElectronTunneling (VAET), and its application in …
Amy is a first-year PhD student in the Quantum Research Group of Stellenbosch University in South Africa, under the supervision of Prof Francesco Petruccione. Amy completed her previous studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where she earned a Master’s degree under the supervision of Prof Thomas Konrad. During her master’s program, she dedicated her research …
Chanelle is a PhD student in physics at Stellenbosch University (South Africa) and Quantum Leap Africa – African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), (Rwanda). She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Ngaoundere (Cameroon), a master’s degree in mathematics (quantum cryptography) from Quantum Leap Africa (Rwanda) and QuSoft – …
Dean is a second-year PhD student in the Quantum Research Group of Stellenbosch University in South Africa, under the supervision of Prof Francesco Petruccione. His current research is focused on the intersection of quantum computing and neuromorphic computing, to find an optimal hybridisation of these technologies. Dean completed his BSc and BSc Honours at the …
Donovan is a third-year PhD student as of early 2025, working in the field of quantum machine learning (QML), which sits at the intersection of quantum computing and machine learning. He is particularly interested in applying QML to astrophysical and astronomical datasets, exploring tasks such as classification, clustering, and anomaly detection of celestial objects. He began …
Matt is a PhD candidate in Quantum Computing and Quantum Information Science. He has a background in computer science, graduating from North West University, followed by a Master’s degree in Business Analytics and Data Science. Before pursuing a PhD, he worked as a machine learning engineer at Capitec Bank. Matt’s research interests include Quantum Computing, …
Hanitriniala is a PhD student in Physics at Stellenbosch University, specialising in genomic data analysis. With a strong academic background, she holds an MSc in Physics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and an MSc in Mathematical Sciences from the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). Her research focuses on detecting recombination events in large genomic …
Dr Lehlohonolo Mongalo
Dhiya is a Master’s student at Stellenbosch University, under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Petruccione and Prof. Ilya Sinayskiy. She completed her undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science (M Stream) majoring in Astronomy and Physics, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in 2023. She was awarded a scholarship from the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory …