Austrian Scientists Peter Zoller and Elly Tanaka Elected to the Royal Society
This is news that puts Austria on the international scientific map: Tyrolean quantum physicist Peter Zoller and Vienna-based U.S. biochemist Elly Tanaka have been elected as new members (“Fellows”) of the British Royal Society. Admission to the society, founded in 1660, is considered one of the world’s highest and most prestigious honors in the natural sciences—an honor often referred to as the “Oscar” of research.
Austrian physicist Peter Zoller and Elly Tanaka, a U.S. biochemist who has been working in Austria for the past ten years, were elected Fellows of the Royal Society in the UK. / Picture: © Parlamentsdirektion / Thomas Topf
As the Royal Society officially announced, this year’s cohort comprises some 90 outstanding researchers from around the world. Sir Paul Nurse, the Academy’s current president, emphasized the essential role of global networking: “Our community is strengthened not only by the achievements of individual members, but also by the diversity of perspectives and experiences. This new cohort illustrates the truly international character of science today and underscores the crucial role of collaboration.”
Exclusive Circle: Following in the Footsteps of Newton and Einstein
With their election, Tanaka and Zoller receive the exclusive right to bear the world-famous title “FRS” (Fellow of the Royal Society). They thus join a historic pantheon of figures ranging from Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin to Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. With the appointment of these two leading researchers, the number of Royal Society members currently working at Austrian institutions has jumped from four to six.
The quantum pioneer from Innsbruck: Peter Zoller
Born in Innsbruck in 1952, theoretical physicist Peter Zoller is one of the most influential figures in modern quantum physics. He gained worldwide fame, in particular for his groundbreaking pioneering work from 1995: Together with his Spanish colleague Ignacio Cirac, he designed the theoretical “blueprint” for an ion trap quantum computer. To this day, this concept serves as the foundation for circuit-based quantum computer architectures worldwide.
Zoller, who conducts research as a professor emeritus at the University of Innsbruck, co-founded the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) in 2003 and shaped it as its scientific director until 2024. For years, he has been among the most cited scientists in his field and is regularly touted in professional circles as a leading contender for the Nobel Prize in Physics.
The Master of Regeneration: Elly Tanaka
The second award goes to the American biochemist Elly Tanaka (born in 1965). A native of Boston, she has earned a worldwide reputation for her work on the molecular mechanisms of tissue and limb regeneration. Her primary model organism is the Mexican salamander axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), which possesses the fascinating ability to completely and functionally regenerate lost body parts or even parts of the brain and heart.
Tanaka’s research focuses on the genetic codes that govern this cellular transformation. The findings could revolutionize regenerative medicine in the future and make it possible to grow replacement human tissue. Tanaka, who, like Zoller, has already been awarded the prestigious Austrian Wittgenstein Prize (“Austro-Nobel Prize”), served as a group leader at the Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna starting in 2016. On April 1, 2024, she assumed the scientific directorship of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) at the Vienna BioCenter.
Her induction into the illustrious ranks of the Royal Society once again underscores that basic research conducted in Austria is truly world-class.