Leo Kouwenhoven

Leo Kouwenhoven (born (1963-12-10)10 December 1963) is a Dutch <a href="/facts/List_of_physicists/zwBXoMwE">physicist</a> known for his research on <a href="/facts/Quantum_computing/nbbcgmvq">quantum computing</a>, specifically in <a href="/facts/Topological_quantum_computer/paJBK88q">topological quantum computing</a> experiments.
Kouwenhoven grew up in <a href="/facts/Pijnacker/nEluv3EX">Pijnacker</a>, a village near <a href="/facts/Delft/SRnQf7FL">Delft</a>, where his parents ran a farm. After losing the <a href="/facts/University_and_college_admission/o71Ww4dX">admission lottery</a> for <a href="/facts/Veterinary_medicine/KYNaodgl">veterinary medicine</a> he decided to study <a href="/facts/Physics/a7aH2y08">physics</a> at <a href="/facts/Delft_University_of_Technology/wtPV7UmG">Delft University of Technology</a> (TU Delft).
In 1992 he received his PhD <a href="/facts/Latin_honors/BqMYAlgN">cum laude</a> at TU Delft; his promoter was Hans Mooij [de]. In 1999 he became a <a href="/facts/Professor/JNqot4sU">professor</a> at TU Delft. In 2007 he received the <a href="/facts/Spinoza_Prize/PxkDAL29">Spinoza Prize</a>, the highest Dutch academic award. In April 2012 his TU Delft research group presented experimental results that provided potential "signatures" of <a href="/facts/Majorana_fermion/39gzL0Nv">Majorana fermion</a> <a href="/facts/Quasiparticle/Bpx2MNpb">quasiparticles</a>. These Majorana quasiparticles would be very stable, and therefore suitable for building a quantum computer.
In 2018 his research group claimed to have proved the definitive existence of Majorana particles in a <a href="/facts/Nature_(journal)/XmlJXkFx">Nature</a> publication. However, the results could not be reproduced by other scientists, and the article had to be retracted in 2021 due to "insufficient scientific rigour".
 The researchers had excluded data points that contradicted their claims, with the complete data not supporting their conclusions.
Two of the Majorana research papers involving Leo Kouwenhoven's group at QuTech were retracted due to data irregularities, leading to a couple of investigations by the TU Delft's Research Integrity Committee (CWI) and the Dutch Body for Scientific Integrity (LOWI) between 2020 and 2023. While Kouwenhoven was found partly negligent in one case, no scientific integrity violations were confirmed.
Kouwenhoven was reappointed as university professor at TU Delft in 2024.

Leo Kouwenhoven open-in-new

Leo Kouwenhoven