Prof. Dr. Rudolf Gross

Academic Career and Research Areas

Professor Gross (b. 1956) conducts research in the field of low-temperature solid-state physics. The major focus of his research is innovative superconducting and magnetic materials and devices. He is particularly interested in studying quantum phenomena in solid-state nanostructures and their application in quantum technology.

After studying physics, he received his doctorate from the University of Tübingen in 1987. Following posts at various research institutes, including Tsukuba and IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center, he acquired his postdoctoral teaching qualification (habilitation) at Tübingen in 1993. In 1995, he accepted a full professor position at the University of Cologne. In 2000, he became director of the Walther Meißner Institute of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, which is combined with a Chair position at TUM. He was the spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center 631 (2003-2015), member of the executive committee of the cluster of excellence “Nanosystems Initiative Munich” (2006–2018), spokesman of the cluster of excellence “Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology” (2019 – 2025), and serves on various scientific advisory boards. He is a founding member of Munich Quantum Valley and headed it as scientific director and managing director (2023–2024).

Awards

• Werner Heisenberg Medal of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2025)
• Pro Meritis Scientiae et Literarum of the Free State of Bavaria (2025)
• Silver Medal of Merit, Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (2015)
• Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal, TUM (2007)
• Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (2002) and the National Academy of Science and Engineering (2020)