The south global has voice, and has impact. We are not spectators.
En un campo donde el mapa mental de la innovación ha sido trazado casi exclusivamente por el Norte Global, la física chilena Carla Hermann emerge como finalista de los FemTum Leap Awards 2026, un reconocimiento internacional a mujeres que impulsan la tecnología cuántica. Hermann, quien dirige el laboratorio Amazing Quantum en la Universidad de Chile e investiga en el Instituto Milenio para la Investigación en Óptica, ha construido una carrera que no separa el descubrimiento científico de la responsabilidad de comunicarlo. Su nominación no es solo un honor individual: es una señal de que América Latina produce conocimiento de frontera y que la próxima generación de científicos de la región tiene referentes propios.
- El campo cuántico global sigue narrándose desde Estados Unidos, Europa y China, invisibilizando décadas de investigación y talento que crecen en América Latina.
- Hermann desafía esa narrativa desde adentro: dirige un laboratorio de vanguardia, asesora políticas públicas y escribe un libro infantil sobre física cuántica para Penguin Random House, todo al mismo tiempo.
- Su nominación en la categoría Quantum Educator & Mentor reconoce que comunicar bien la ciencia no es un lujo periférico, sino parte esencial del trabajo científico mismo.
- En septiembre de 2026, representará a Latinoamérica en el Quantum Innovation Summit de Dubái, participando en paneles con academia, industria y política científica internacional.
- Cada aparición de una científica latinoamericana en plataformas globales redibujar el mapa de dónde ocurre la innovación cuántica y abre puertas concretas de colaboración y financiamiento para la región.
Carla Hermann, física cuántica chilena que lidera el laboratorio Amazing Quantum en la Universidad de Chile e investiga en el Instituto Milenio para la Investigación en Óptica, ha sido seleccionada como finalista de los FemTum Leap Awards 2026, uno de los reconocimientos internacionales más relevantes para mujeres que impulsan la tecnología cuántica. Hermann se doctoró en óptica cuántica experimental bajo la dirección de Serge Haroche —Premio Nobel de Física 2012— en la Universidad Pierre y Marie Curie de París, y su nominación en la categoría Quantum Educator & Mentor reconoce tanto su investigación en ingeniería de estados cuánticos como su compromiso sostenido con la enseñanza y la divulgación.
Lo que distingue su trayectoria es la negativa a tratar la comunicación científica como algo secundario. Durante años, señaló, el mundo académico consideró la divulgación como una actividad menor frente al trabajo de descubrimiento. Esta nominación sugiere un entendimiento distinto: que explicar bien la ciencia y llegar a públicos amplios es parte integral del quehacer científico. Hermann es una presencia activa en redes sociales como @quantumcarla y actualmente escribe un libro infantil sobre física cuántica para Penguin Random House, previsto para julio de 2026. Su influencia también alcanza la política pública: en 2024 integró una comisión ministerial que redactó la Estrategia Nacional de Tecnologías Cuánticas de Chile, y ese mismo año fue reconocida entre los 100 principales científicos cuánticos del mundo.
La ceremonia de premiación tendrá lugar en Dubái entre el 28 y el 30 de septiembre de 2026, en el marco del Quantum Innovation Summit. Hermann representará a Chile y a América Latina en un panel principal junto a referentes de la academia, la industria y la política científica internacional, además de liderar una sesión académica en la Quantum Spring School. Ella misma ha sido directa sobre el significado de su presencia en estos foros: la narrativa global de la revolución cuántica se cuenta casi exclusivamente desde el Norte Global, como si América Latina observara desde los márgenes. Esa imagen, argumenta, es falsa. Cuando una científica latinoamericana aparece en listas y plataformas internacionales, no solo se reconoce un logro individual: se redibujar el mapa de dónde ocurre la innovación cuántica y se muestra a la próxima generación que también puede hacer física cuántica de clase mundial.
Carla Hermann, a Chilean quantum physicist, has been selected as a finalist for the FemTum Leap Awards 2026, one of the field's most significant international honors for women advancing quantum technology. The recognition arrives as Hermann, who leads the Amazing Quantum laboratory at the University of Chile and conducts research at the Millennium Institute for Optics Research (MIRO), continues to shape how quantum science is both practiced and taught across Latin America.
Hermann earned her doctorate in experimental quantum optics under Serge Haroche, the 2012 Nobel laureate in Physics, at Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. Her nomination falls under the Quantum Educator & Mentor category, acknowledging not only her scientific work in quantum state engineering but also her sustained commitment to teaching and communicating quantum physics to audiences beyond the academy. In a statement, she emphasized that the recognition belongs to the full team around her—students, collaborators, postdoctoral researchers—rather than to her alone.
What distinguishes Hermann's work is her refusal to treat science communication as secondary to research itself. For years, she explained, the academic world treated public engagement as something separate from, and often less valuable than, the work of discovery. This nomination, she suggested, signals a different understanding: that explaining science well and reaching broad populations is integral to the scientific enterprise. She has become a visible presence on social media as @quantumcarla, where she regularly discusses quantum concepts with the public, and is currently writing a children's book on quantum physics for Penguin Random House, due out in July 2026.
Her influence extends into policy. In 2024, Hermann served on a ministerial advisory commission tasked with drafting Chile's National Strategy for Quantum Technologies and recommendations for the field. That same year, she was recognized as one of the world's 100 leading quantum scientists. In 2025, designated by UNESCO as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, she was included among the global figures shaping the field's future.
The awards ceremony will take place in Dubai from September 28 to 30, 2026, during the Quantum Innovation Summit, one of the most consequential gatherings in quantum physics. Hermann will represent not only Chile but Latin America as a whole, participating in a main panel alongside representatives from academia, industry, and international science policy. She will also lead an academic session at the Quantum Spring School and contribute to the Quantum Futures Forum, a space dedicated to analyzing how quantum technologies will develop and what opportunities lie ahead.
Hermann has been direct about what her presence at such forums means. The global narrative around the quantum revolution, she noted, is told almost entirely from the vantage point of the United States, Europe, or China—as if Latin America were merely watching from the sidelines. That framing, she argued, is false. Quantum research, talent, and ecosystems are growing across the region. The Global South has a voice and produces frontier knowledge. When a Latin American scientist appears on international platforms and award lists, it does more than recognize individual achievement; it shifts the mental map of where quantum innovation happens. It opens doors for collaboration and funding. Most importantly, it shows the next generation of scientists in the region that they, too, can do world-class quantum physics.
Notable Quotes
It is an enormous nomination because it recognizes my scientific work, which I do not do alone: there is a solid team with me, students, collaborators, postdocs.— Carla Hermann
Much of the global narrative of the quantum revolution is told from the United States, Europe, or China, as if Latin America were only a spectator. And that is not true. In this dance we are not superfluous: there is research, talent, and a growing quantum ecosystem in our region.— Carla Hermann
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What does it mean that she was nominated specifically in the Educator & Mentor category rather than, say, pure research?
It means the award recognizes that teaching and mentorship are not add-ons to her scientific work—they're central to it. She's being honored for building the next generation of quantum scientists, not just for her own discoveries.
She mentioned that science communication used to be seen as "less than" real science. Do you think that's changing?
Her nomination suggests it is, at least in some quarters. But she's also someone who had to fight that perception herself. The fact that she's vocal about it now means she's trying to shift the culture, not just benefit from a shift that's already happened.
Why does it matter that she's representing Latin America at this summit?
Because the story of quantum technology is usually told as a story about wealthy nations. When a scientist from Chile stands on that stage, it challenges the assumption that innovation only happens in a few places. It also tells young scientists in the region that they belong in this conversation.
She's writing a children's book on quantum physics. That seems like an unusual move for someone at her level.
It's unusual only if you think of science as something that happens in laboratories and papers. For her, it's all part of the same work—making quantum physics real and accessible to people who might never step into a university.
What's the risk in being so public about her work?
There's always a risk that visibility becomes a distraction, or that you're asked to represent more than you can actually speak for. But she seems aware of that. She's careful to say she's representing a region and a growing ecosystem, not claiming to speak for all of it.