People

Here you can find all the current members of the HelTeq group, visitors included.
Principal Investigator

Sabrina Maniscalco

Sabrina is a Professor of Quantum Information, Computing and Logic at the University of Helsinki. She is CEO and co-founder of Algorithmiq Ltd, a startup focusing on quantum algorithms for Life Sciences. She has been working on Quantum Technology for over 20 years, focusing on noise in quantum devices, complex quantum systems and quantum simulations. Sabrina has coordinated several international and interdisciplinary projects and is recognized as one of the leading experts in Quantum Technologies.

Postdocs

Marco Cattaneo

Marco got his MS from the University of Milan in 2018, and his PhD in 2023 from both the University of Helsinki and the University of the Balearic Islands in a cotutelle program. After a period as a researcher at Algorithmiq Ltd and Aalto University, he has started a postdoc at Helteq in February 2024. His main scientific interests are the foundations of quantum and statistical mechanics, open quantum systems, and quantum simulation. Marco is a chess player and loves world cinema and mountaineering. He does not love Nicola's puns.

Cecilia Chiaracane

Cecilia, originally from Palermo, joined Helteq as a postdoc in February 2023 right after completing her PhD degree in Trinity College Dublin, focused on quantum thermodynamics and transport in complex quantum systems. Currently, she is deeply involved in outreach and communication for quantum science as content developer for the european project QTIndu (quantum technologies courses for industry) and team member of QPlayLearn. She likes listening to noisy bands and reading sci-fi [skifi] novels.

 

Akash Kundu

Akash was born and raised in Kolkata, India, also known as Bharat. Recently, he attained his PhD from the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics at the Polish Academy of Sciences. At the beginning of May 2024, he started a postdoc at Helteq. His main interests lie in classical machine learning-driven variational quantum algorithms and quantum architecture search problems. Moreover, he actively contributes to Qindia (http://qindia.org/) as a steering committee member. Through this initiative, he strives to raise awareness and foster engaging discussions and events on quantum-related topics among individuals from diverse backgrounds. Beyond his academic pursuits, he finds peace in activities such as running, long walks, appreciating classical music, and exploring philosophical literature.

 

Stefano Mangini

Stefano got his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Theoretical Physics from the Univ. of Trieste, and a PhD in Quantum Computing from the Univ. of Pavia. His research interest lies in variational quantum algorithms and their intersection with machine learning. An optimistic possibilist, he loves cooking, good food, and everything related to nature, especially hiking.

 

Sergi Nadal Gisbert

Sergi completed his MSc and PhD in Theoretical Physics at the University of Valencia, finishing in 2024. During his PhD, he also spent several months at Louisiana State University and the University of Waterloo. He joined Helteq in June 2024. His research interests focus on the interplay between general relativity, quantum theory, and quantum information. He is particularly interested in topics such as entanglement in quantum field theory, measurements in quantum field theory, cosmology, and exploring the quantum features of the gravitational field in its low-energy regime. Outside of physics, he enjoys spending time in nature and engaging in sports, especially trail running and mountain biking. He is also an amateur trombone player and have a deep appreciation for music.

 

PhD students

Guilherme Ilário Correr

They/Them. Guilherme is a Brazilian physicist, who completed their bachelor's degree in Physics at Universidade Federal de São Carlos. After that, they pursued a master's degree at the Instituto de Física de São Carlos - Universidade de São Paulo. During this time, Guilherme worked mostly on projects exploring possible applications of near term quantum computing, and characterizing the randomness properties of Parameterized Quantum Circuits. Guilherme is always excited about horror stories, origamis and analog photography. By far one of their greatest passions is to listen and make music together with other people.

Keijo Korhonen

Keijo obtained his MSc in theoretical and computational methods at the University of Helsinki and is now doing an industrial PhD there together with Algorithmiq. His research focuses on measurements in quantum algorithms for near-term quantum computing. Keijo maintains his Finnish, Japanese and Swiss roots and loves badminton, bouldering and playing the piano.

Joonas Malmi

Joonas graduated from University of Turku with a Master’s degree in Theoretical Physics. He’s currently doing an industrial PhD with Algorithmiq and University of Helsinki because of his interests in quantum computing and working at the forefront of industry. On his off-time Joonas enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and playing the guitar and trumpet. He dreams of one day playing a carnyx.

Anton Nykänen

Anton is doing an industrial PhD at the University of Helsinki with Algorithmiq Ltd. He completed a Master’s degree in theoretical physics at the University of Turku. His academic interests range from quantum computing to emergent phenomena from quantum entanglement. His free time is filled with climbing, playing various wind instruments, board games, reading and spontaneous activities.

Nicola Pranzini

Nicola is a PhD student at the University of Helsinki. He got his MS at the University of Florence, working on the measurement problem, the quantum-toclassical crossover, and the black hole information paradox. He is interested in relativistic quantum information, foundations of quantum theory and quantum gravity, with a focus on low-energy behaviour. When not at work, it's possible to spot Nicola along long hikes, designing board games, or plotting terrible puns.

Santeri Salomaa

Santeri is a PhD student who joined the HelTeq group in August 2024. He holds a MSc degree in theoretical physics from the University of Turku, specializing in quantum field theory interactions within the Standard Model. His academic interests are centered on applying quantum information theory to quantum field theory, along with investigating the measurement problem and quantum gravity. He also brings a solid programming background from prior work experience. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing outdoors, music and reading.

Leander Thiessen

Leander holds a BSc in physics from the Univ. of Göttingen and a MSc in physics from the Univ. of Vienna. Currently he is pursuing an industrial PhD with Algorithmiq and the Univ. of Helsinki, focusing on developing quantum algorithms for applications in quantum chemistry. Leander is a passionate yet infrequent piano player with a lifelong dream of learning Jazz. He enjoys cooking, bouldering, and going to classical music concerts.

 

 

Daniele Trisciani

Daniele graduated from the University of Bologna with a Master's degree in Theoretical Physics in 2023. He is currently doing a PhD at the University of Helsinki on variational quantum algorithms applied to combinatorial problems. Daniele enjoys nature, hiking, strategy videogames, and boardgames.

Antti Vaaranta

Antti is a PhD student working on quantum thermodynamics of superconducting circuits in a collaboration between Aalto university (supervised by Jukka Pekola in the PICO group) and the University of Helsinki (supervised by Paolo Muratore Ginnaneschi and Marco Cattaneo). He spends his free time participating and contributing to various activities by Karjalainen Osakunta.

E-learning developer

Bogdan Ene

Bogdan has studied design (all areas except textile) with focus on graphic design and front-end web development. His plan is to eventually change how people create and distribute e-learning content on the web and on mobile to a more modern, accessible and intuitive way. Bogdan can support the group with fancy graphics and animations for presentations, web design and development or e-learning development.

 

Project planner

Giulia Buccolieri

Giulia has quite a diverse background: from academic studies in languages and education, to web development and product design, to work experiences in learning and development, social media and content creation. Her phone gallery is (way too) full of pictures of her cats and dog. When she is not gaming or watching TV shows, she is surely taking more photos of her pets.

 

Project coordinator

Hewan Zewde

Hewan received her bachelor’s degree from Addis Ababa university in Sociology and Social Anthropology. She later moved to Helsinki to pursue her studies and received her master’s degree, with a major in Sociology in 2018. Her responsibility at HelTeq is handling the project’s administrative tasks.

 

Visiting researchers

Caterina Foti

Caterina got her PhD in quantum foundations from the University of Florence. In addition to post-doctoral research in Florence and Helsinki at Aalto University, she taught in high schools and American universities. She is currently a senior researcher and outreach coordinator at Algorithmiq Ltd and a visiting postdoc at Helteq. She is in love with the quantum world and passionate about innovative education and outreach. She always looks on the bright side and is a theatre actress. 

 

Matteo A. C. Rossi

Matteo is a Docent at the University of Helsinki. He holds a PhD in Quantum Physics from the University of Milan and did postdoctoral research at University of Turku and Aalto University (Finland). His main research interests are in quantum simulation and computation, quantum metrology, quantum walks and open quantum systems. He also loves programming (classical and quantum) computers. 

 

Walter Talarico

Walt holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from University of Turku and did postdoctoral research at Aalto University. His research has focused on the development of scalable numerical approaches to study thermo-electric effects in correlated materials, algorithms for quantum computing and he can't deny his interest in quantum chemistry. He loves listening and playing music, exploring new places and making fancy cocktails.