Professor Barry Cyril Sanders
Affiliations
Scientific Director of Quantum City
Vice President Research Office
Contact information
Phone number
Office: +1 (403) 210-8462
Location
Office: SB303
For media enquiries, contact
For media related inquiries, please contact Colette Derworiz, Senior External Communications Advisor, at colette.derworiz@ucalgary.ca
Background
Educational Background
D.Sc. Quantum Information Science, Imperial College London, 2016
Diploma of Imperial College Physics, Imperial College London, 1988
PhD Physics, University of London, 1987
Diploma of Imperial College Mathematical Physics, Imperial College London, 1985
BSc Physics Honours, University of Calgary, 1984
Biography
Barry C. Sanders is Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Scientific Director of Quantum City at the University of Calgary, and a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). His theoretical research spans quantum information science, quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing and metrology, and quantum optics.
Through Quantum City, he helps build a quantum innovation ecosystem connecting research, education, industry and government. He advises CERN’s Open Quantum Institute and XPRIZE Quantum Applications, a global competition supported by Google Quantum AI, Google.org and the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) to advance quantum computing applications addressing real-world challenges. He is a member of Galaxy’s Quantum Advisory Council for its Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative. His wider work addresses international scientific collaboration, open science and the governance of emerging technologies.
Sanders earned his BSc at the University of Calgary and completed his doctoral research at Imperial College London, receiving his PhD from the University of London. He subsequently received a DSc from Imperial College London. Following postdoctoral appointments in Australia and New Zealand, he served on the faculty of Macquarie University before returning to Calgary in 2003.
He serves on the editorial boards of Physical Review Applied and the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Quantum Engineering Book Series, and on the Editorial Advisory Board of APL Quantum. He is a former Editor-in-Chief of New Journal of Physics and has held editorial appointments with Physical Review A, Optics Communications, Mathematical Structures in Computer Science and other publications.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Optica, the American Physical Society and the Institute of Physics (UK). He received the City of Calgary International Achievement Award in 2022 and was appointed Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques of France in 2025.
Research
Areas of Research
Mathematical and physical foundations, quantum control, quantum fault tolerance, quantum technologies, quantum innovation
My research interests lie at the intersection of emerging technologies, public policy, and governance, with a particular focus on quantum technologies and their implications for security, critical infrastructure, and society. I am interested in how governance frameworks can address the dual-use character of advanced technologies, balancing legitimate security concerns with scientific openness, international collaboration, and the responsible dissemination of knowledge. My interests include the governance of quantum technologies, the relationship between research openness and security, and the institutional and policy conditions that shape the development and deployment of emerging technologies. I am particularly interested in approaches that bring together researchers, industry, and government to navigate the opportunities, risks, and broader societal implications of technological innovation.
Courses
| Course number | Course title | Semester |
|---|---|---|
| QUAC692 |
Awards
- Killam Annual Professor, The University of Calgary. 2017
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, 2010
- Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, 2010
- Faculty of Science Award of Excellence in Research, University of Calgary, 2008
- American Physical Society, 2006
- Optical Society of America, 2005
- Affiliate, Centre for Information Security and Cryptography, Unversity of Calgary, 2004
- Affiliate, Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control, University of Toronto, 2004
- Appointed Associate of CIAR Program on Quantum Information Processing, 2004
- Associate, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Canada, 2004
- Associate of CIFAR Quantum Information Program, 2004
- Elected Fellow in the Australian Institute of Physics, 2004
- Elected Fellow of the Institute of Physics (U.K.), 2004
- Elected Fellow of the Optical Society of America, 2004
- Institute of Physics (U.K.), 2004
- Optical Society of America, 2004
- Affiliate, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2003
- Fellow, Australian Institute of Physics, 2001
- Australian Institute of Physics, 2000
- Elected Fellow in the Australian Institute of Physics, 2000
- Certificate in Leadership Program for Heads, Deans and Administrative Managers, 1999
- Member - Canadian Association of Physicists, 1998
- Certificate in Learning and Management Strand, 1997
Publications
- Robustness of Learning-Assisted Adaptive Quantum-Enhanced Metrology in the Presence of Noise. Barry C Sanders; Peter Wittek; Pantita Palittapongarnpim*. IEEE. 294-299. (2017)
- Some examples of sum uncertainty relations for compact classical Lie algebra. Namrata Shukla*; Barry C Sanders; Hubert de Guise; Lorenzo Maccone. 104090S-1 to 104090S-7. (2017)
- Coincidence rates and permutation symmetry. Hubert de Guise; Barry Cyril Sanders. SPIE. 1040903-1 to 1040903-8. (2017)
- Reinforcement Learning for Quantum Metrology via Quantum Control. Pantita Palittapongarnpim*; Seyed S Vedaie*; Barry C Sanders. IEEE. 163-164. (2018)
- Reinforcement Learning for Adaptive Optical Quantum-Enhanced Metrology. Pantita Palittapongarnpim*; Seyed S Vedaie*; Barry Cyril Sanders. Optical Society of America. STu5H.4. (2018)
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