Entangling Forces: Governments, Industry and Academia The race for quantum technology is a global and multisectoral effort. The potential of quantum technology to dramatically enhance our computing and communication capabilities—hermetic encryption methods to protect sensitive infrastructures, for instance—motivates governments to allocate significant resources to advance the research and development in the field. While the industry develops the peripheral instrumentation to expedite and simplify nano samples production processes, reduce costs and propel innovation. “Our role is to deepen the knowledge and expand the understandings of quantum physics, in the hope we all meet at the finish line,” says Prof. Frydman. The global effort is apparent in Prof. Frydman’s extensive collaborations with research groups from BINA and BIU, the Technicon and the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center in Israel; Cambridge, Harvard, Yale and Ohio Universities in the United States; University of Stuttgart, Institute Neél in Grenoble and University Paris-Saclay in Europe; Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium in the Far East; and many others. ”With the growing awareness of the importance of fundamental scientific long-term processes, two major international companies approached us recently to initiate collaborations and expressed interest to invest in projects that may take some years before we can see the fruits of our labor.” For Prof. Frydman, this kind of commitment is a way of life, mastering one hobby in a decade. In his forties, he learned to dive and became a certified diving instructor. In his fifties, he turned his love of chocolate into an art as a professional chocolatier. These days, he is starting to specialize in glassblowing. “Like in my lab, so in my hobbies, there is room to experiment. When working with chocolate, for example, any change of ingredient or one-tenth of a degree impact the outcome, and occasionally, surprising insight in the kitchen can impact my work in the lab, and vice versa,” says Prof. Frydman, who leads his cohort of students in diving retreats and chocolate workshops while steering them in the deep waters of quantum physics. The Humane Impact of the Scientific Community Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 states: “Whoever saves one soul, Scripture accounts it as if he had saved a full world.” Prof. Aviad Frydman had the rare opportunity to make such an impact. This story began several years ago when Prof. Tatyana I. Baturina from A. V. Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics in Russia visited Prof. Frydman’s physics lab at BIU while on her Sabbatical. ”This prominent experimental scientist, an expert in superconductivity in thin layers, worked with us for a few months, and we kept in touch,” says Prof. Frydman. In February 2022, when Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, Prof. Baturina spoke out publicly against the war. Soon after, her apartment was breached, and her computer and bank account were confiscated. Now considered an enemy of the state, Prof. Baturina was left destitute and had to flee Russia. “Telegram was the only way for her to communicate, but I’m not a user of this app,” says Prof. Frydman, “so she contacted a mutual acquaintance of ours from Germany, asking if I can invite her to my lab.” Prof. Frydman immediately came to her help and extended the invitation, while prof. Baturina moved from one hideout to another, sleeping in random apartments and public parks, “until she finally managed to escape, leaving her mother, daughter and granddaughter behind. She arrived in Israel with the aid of another country, mere hours before Passover Seder.” Prof. Frydman and Prof. Beena Kalisky from BINA requested assistance; shaken by Prof. Baturina’s ordeal, the entire university came to her aid. “It was Ofer Dahan, director of the BIU’s International School, who arranged for a temporary residence in the dormitory. Funds from the Ministry of Science and Technology and BIU’s Department of Physics enabled us to open a bank account in Prof. Baturina’s name and take her in as a visiting professor,” says Prof. Frydman. “For now, she is working with me in my lab and has taught an excellent course to our students. Until we find her a permanent solution in Europe, we are fortunate to have her with us.” 29
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