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A Nobel That Bridges Continents and Disciplines
On October 7, 2025, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Michel H. Devoret from France, John Clarke from the United Kingdom, and John M. Martinis from the United States for their groundbreaking collaborative research in quantum mechanics. This accolade isn’t just a feather in France’s cap; it marks an important milestone on the path toward developing the next generation of quantum technologies. And as if that weren’t enough for France to celebrate, John M. Martinis is also a proud alumnus of the French scientific research scene.
The Adventure Begins: A Tight-knit Trio
Michel H. Devoret is now the seventh French laureate to win the Nobel Prize in Physics since 2007, and the 18th overall since the prize was first established. As France’s Ministry of Higher Education and Research put it, this is yet another illustration of “the excellence of French fundamental research”. The Ministry also stated with pride,
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“He will be an inspiration to many young people, encouraging them to take up scientific studies by enthusiastically sharing the significant scientific discoveries that have brought him to this distinguished moment.”
This year’s prize celebrates a close-knit trio of researchers who, back in 1984, realized through a series of experiments that “the strange properties of the quantum world can be made tangible in a system large enough to hold in your hand”. Their collaboration takes us on a journey 40 years back, inside a laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. Here, John Clarke was director, Michel H. Devoret was a postdoc, and John M. Martinis was a doctoral student. The rest, as they say, is (quantum) history.
Breakthroughs That Changed the Quantum Landscape
According to the CEA (the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), a major player in these fields of research, the Nobel particularly acknowledges the pioneering work of these three scientists. They demonstrated the existence of the macroscopic quantum tunneling effect and the quantization of energy at the scale of a superconducting quantum circuit. These discoveries now form the very foundation of recent advances in quantum computing that use this type of circuit.
This distinction perpetuates what the CEA calls “the remarkable line of French Nobel Prizes in the quantum field and underlines French excellence in this strategic discipline”. Michel H. Devoret began his research with a PhD at Paris-Sud University (now Université Paris-Saclay), within the Condensed Matter Physics Department at the CEA in Saclay, just southwest of Paris. As the CEA notes, it was here that the “fertile ground for his internationally recognized expertise first began to take shape”.
He then took a postdoctoral position in John Clarke’s lab in the United States, where he worked alongside John M. Martinis. There, they jointly demonstrated the “macroscopic quantum effect” that is now Nobel-honored. Returning to France, Devoret became a research director at the CEA for around fifteen years. In the early 2000s, he moved across the Atlantic once more, this time to Yale University as a Professor, where his quantum adventures continued. Since 2007, he’s also been a member of the French Academy of Sciences.
A Celebration of Scientific Crossovers
The French party doesn’t stop there: John M. Martinis, the American laureate, also completed part of his postdoctoral studies in France at CEA-Paris Saclay—the circle of scientific collaboration is closed in style!
Born in California, Martinis graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science in Physics in 1980, followed by a PhD in Physics in 1987. During his doctoral studies, he delved into quantum behavior, with John Clarke as his thesis advisor—and during that period, he also collaborated with Michel H. Devoret, who was then a postdoctoral researcher. Martinis later moved to France and, more precisely, the CEA in Saclay for his first postdoc. After that enriching stint, he returned to the United States, where for the last twenty years he has been hard at work developing a quantum computer (no pressure!).
In summary, this Nobel prize not only highlights the oddities of the quantum realm but also shines a light on the power of international collaboration in the pursuit of scientific excellence. France can certainly claim double victory this year—with more than a little help from its friends across the Channel and over the Atlantic!
