UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus John Clarke, along with two others, wins the Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking work advancing quantum technology. The research has opened doors to the next generation of quantum technologies, including cryptography, computers, and sensors. Clarke also discussed the importance of federal funding and the impact of budget cuts on scientific research.
UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus of Physics John Clarke speaks about winning his Nobel prize in Physics in the Physics North building at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. Clarke along with Michel H.
Devoret and John M. Martinis won the Nobel Prize in Physics. call from Sweden announcing his award “I wasn’t quite sure at the beginning whether or not this was a sort of a junk call, but it became clear that it was real,” Clarke told reporters during a news conference Tuesday. “I was sitting there just feeling completely stunned. It never occurred to me in my entire life that anything like this would ever happen.” The prize is shared among Clarke, who led the research, and two former students: former post doctorate fellow Michel Devoret and former graduate student John Martinis. Both teach at UC Santa Barbara. Google said Tuesday that Devoret is Google’s chief scientist of quantum hardware on the Quantum AI team, and that Martinis is a former hardware leader at Google Quantum AIUC Berkeley scientist and two others win Nobel Prize in Physics for work advancing quantum technology“Their research has opened the door to the next generation of quantum technologies, including quantum cryptography, computers and sensors — breakthroughs that will change how we do everything from discovering new drugs to stopping destructive cyberattacks,” UC President James B. Milliken said in a statement. During the news conference, Clarke discussed the importance of federal funding — the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory paid for much of his research and equipment — at a time when the Trump Administration is making millions in cuts at numerous research institutions. “This is going to cripple science, and it is going to be disastrous if this continues,” he said. “Assuming that the present administration finally comes to an end, it may take a decade to get back to where we were, say, half a year ago. I think it’s a huge problem which is entirely beyond any understanding of anyone as a scientist.” The practical applications of research are often not immediately apparent, he said, but like the discovery of magnetic resonance imaging, are “vitally important.” “You just don’t know how it’s going to evolve, because other people will pick up on the idea and develop it,” he said. “That’s why you have to keep on trying to do this very basic science, because you just don’t know what’s going to come out of it.”for designating 90% percent of the budget to nuclear weapons research at the expense of other civilian research, including for renewable energy. The Nobel Prize comes a week after Gov. Gavin Newsom toured several quantum labs at the university and signed a bill authored by state Assembly Member Buffy Wicks of Oakland creating “quantum innovation zones” and allocating an additional $4 million to maintain the state’s leadership in quantum-related research and real-world applications. “The promise of this science could not be more exciting,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons told reporters. “We can envision its benefits in fields like cyber security, drug discovery, new materials, scientific simulations and other massive computing applications. Berkeley’s ability to play an essential role in this initiative and similar ones across the scientific spectrum would not be possible without extraordinary scholars like John Clarke, their work and discoveries in fundamental scientific research.” Tuesday’s honor by the Nobel Prize committee marks the 62nd time either a UC Berkeley professor or someone trained at Berkeley — a student, graduate student or postdoctoral student — won the prize. Clarke is the 27th Berkeley faculty member to win a Nobel Prize and the fourth in the past five years. In 2020, Jennifer Doudna shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Reinhard Genzel shared the Nobel Prize in Physics. The Nobel committee honored Clarke, Devoret and Martinis “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in an electric circuit.” Quantum physics studies matter and energy at the most fundamental level, dealing with the behavior of atoms and subatomic particles. Quantum tunneling is the ability of particles, such as electrons, to move or tunnel through barriers that, according to classical physics, they should not be able to breach. Quantum technology, then, is creating revolutionary advancements in fields like medicine, communications, and security. “They really pioneered the development of macroscopic quantum circuits that function like artificial atoms and have given rise to the technology that today is emerging as an enormous new industry for California and for the world, that of quantum information science and quantum computing,” said Steven Khan, dean of the UC Berkeley Mathematical and Physical Sciences Department, who was a professor at Berkeley in the 1980s when Clarke conducted his research. “John not only pioneered this work in his own laboratories, but also trained an enormous number of students and postdocs who went on to become leaders in the field.” Born in England, Clarke earned his bachelor of science in physics and his PhD in physics from Cambridge University in 1968. He attended UC Berkeley as a postdoctoral fellow and joined the faculty in 1969. What started as curiosity and discussions over lunch with Devoret and Martinis, Clarke said, ultimately led to their discovery of the macroscopic quantum circuits now considered “the grandfather” of superconducting quantum bits, or qubits, in many of today’s quantum computers. “You wouldn’t have an iPhone today and you certainly wouldn’t have anything that looks like a quantum computer today unless you had this discovery,” Clarke said. “A computer is a very complicated device, and so if you could make it work at a quantum level, that’s a real advance.”Harriette Cole: When my mother prayed aloud for my wife's cold heart, we walked out. What now?Harriette Cole: Did I make a mistake with the men at the bar?Review: Big stars turn out to pay tribute to music icon in concertBay Area's landmark saint statue is torn down; Native groups applaud, church says it wasn't warned
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