The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Greek-American professor John M. Martinis, together with John Clarke and Michel H. Devoret.
The three scientists were recognized for their groundbreaking experiments that revealed macroscopic quantum tunneling and quantized energy levels in superconducting circuits -- work that laid the foundation for quantum computing, one of the most transformative technologies of the 21st century.
BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2025 #NobelPrize in Physics to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis "for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit." pic.twitter.com/XkDUKWbHpz
-- The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2025
This recognition traces back to Martinis's formative years as a doctoral student. Born in 1958, he pursued his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, under the supervision of John Clarke, who would later share the Nobel with him.
During this time, Martinis collaborated closely with Clarke and Michel Devoret, then a postdoctoral researcher, to investigate the quantum behavior of Josephson junctions -- tiny superconducting devices capable of exhibiting quantum mechanical effects.
In the mid-1980s, their pioneering experiments demonstrated that such circuits could display unmistakable quantum phenomena on a macroscopic scale. Their landmark 1985 study revealed quantized energy levels in a device small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. This work provided the first clear evidence of quantum behavior in superconducting systems and laid the cornerstone for superconducting quantum technology.
The 2025 #NobelPrize in Physics recognises experiments that demonstrated how quantum tunnelling can be observed on a macroscopic scale, involving many particles.
John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis - awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physics - constructed an... pic.twitter.com/aDnp0oSVro
-- The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2025
After completing his Ph.D., John M. Martinis continued his career abroad at the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique in Saclay, France, before returning to the United States to join the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado.
At NIST, he developed advanced superconducting devices, including ultra-sensitive detectors for X-rays using transition-edge sensors. These innovations illustrated his ability to merge fundamental physics with practical engineering, a hallmark of his career.
In 2004, Martinis accepted a faculty position at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he held the Worster Chair in Experimental Physics. His work on superconducting qubits quickly established him as a global leader in quantum research.
Martinis' expertise attracted Google, which in 2014 recruited him and his team to lead its ambitious quantum computing program. Five years later, in October 2019, his group published a groundbreaking study in Nature titled Quantum Supremacy Using a Programmable Superconducting Processor. The paper detailed how a 53-qubit processor achieved a computation far beyond the reach of classical supercomputers -- the first demonstration of quantum supremacy.
Although John M. Martinis stepped down from Google in 2020, he remained at the forefront of quantum innovation. He briefly joined Silicon Quantum Computing in Australia before co-founding Qolab in 2022. His vision for the company is to leverage semiconductor industry expertise to manufacture high-quality qubits at scale, a step he views as essential for building practical quantum computers. Since January 2025, he has served as Qolab's Chief Technology Officer, guiding its technical direction.
"This brings quantum physics from the subatomic world onto a chip."
Göran Johansson, member of the Nobel Committee for Physics, speaks about the research behind the 2025 physics prize, which demonstrated the bizarre properties of the quantum world in a system big enough to be... pic.twitter.com/TkJRirfgSR
-- The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 7, 2025
Beyond the Nobel Prize, Martinis has earned global recognition for his contributions. He shared the Fritz London Memorial Prize in 2014 for advances in low-temperature physics and received the John Stewart Bell Prize in 2021 for achievements in quantum information science.
Today, John M. Martinis stands as both a Nobel laureate and a visionary scientist. His career -- spanning fundamental discoveries, technological innovation, and industrial leadership -- exemplifies how physics can drive transformative advances that reshape the future of technology on a global scale.