2025 to be International Year of Quantum Science and Tech, UN says

The United Nations has said 2025 will be designated the ‘International Year of Quantum Science and Technology’. In a statement, the body said the initiative will be “year-long”, “worldwide”, and that it will “be observed through activities at all levels aimed at increasing public awareness of the importance of quantum science and applications.” The proclamation is the result of a resolution led by Mexico in May 2023 and which was soon joined by other countries. Next year will be a century since the German physicist Werner Heisenberg published a famous paper in which he reinterpreted a series of tweaks — required for classical mechanics to make sense of the quantum phenomena being discovered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — to lay the foundation stone of what would come to be called quantum mechanics. According to the U.N. statement, its proclamation “is a signal for any individual, group, school, institution, or government to use 2025 as an opportunity to increase awareness about quantum science and technology.” It added that a steering committee is also “planning global initiatives and events, particularly those that reach audiences unaware of the importance of quantum science and technology.” Physics World reported that an opening ceremony is expected to be conducted on January 14, 2025, in Berlin.