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Biography

Associate Professor Ting Rei Tan is a Principal Investigator at the Quantum Control Laboratory at the University of Sydney. He is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Sydney Horizon Fellow, leading an interdisciplinary research program at the interface of quantum physics and chemistry. 

A/Prof Tan’s career in experimental quantum physics spans leading research institutions across three continents. He trained under David Wineland, recipient of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics, at the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology and completed his PhD in Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2016. His early research established world-leading performance in high-fidelity universal quantum logic, with his experimental results holding the relevant world record for five years. His work on mixed-species quantum entangling gates was recognised by the UK Institute of Physics as one of the Top 10 Physics Breakthroughs of 2016.

In 2017, A/Prof Tan was awarded the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Fellowship in Singapore, where he developed a high-precision optical atomic clock based on lutetium ions. He joined the University of Sydney’s Quantum Control Laboratory in 2019 as an inaugural Sydney Quantum Academy Fellow and has since established an interdisciplinary research program spanning quantum computing, quantum control, quantum simulation and quantum sensing.

His current research aims to develop the next paradigm of quantum computing by combining the complementary capabilities of qubits, qudits and quantum harmonic oscillators. This hybrid approach seeks to realise quantum error correction with substantially greater hardware efficiency and to simulate some of the hardest problems in chemistry using far fewer quantum resources than conventional qubit-only architectures. His research also explores quantum-computing-enabled sensing, incorporating techniques from error-corrected quantum computation to develop more robust and capable quantum sensors.

Professional Preparation

BSc (Hons) in Physics — National University of Singapore, 2009

PhD in Physics — University of Colorado Boulder and National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2016

Awards

2026 – Breakthrough Research in Physical Science, The University of Sydney 

2025 – Sydney Nano Institute – Research Member of the Year 2025

2024 – Australian Institute of Policy and Science – Young Tall Poppy Award (NSW)

2021 – Best Team Project Award, ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems

2020 – Distinguished Associate Award, United States National Institute of Standards and Technology

2016 – Top Ten Physics Breakthrough of 2016, Institute of Physics (United Kingdom)