CV

Personal Information

    Name
    Johannes Kofler
    Year of birth
    1980
    Citizenship
    Austrian
    Family Status
    Partnership, two sons

    Professional History

      Since 10/2023
      Senior Lecturer in “Quantum Information & Learning”
      Quantum Information and Computation Group, Institute for Integrated Circuits, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
      10/2018 – 09/2023
      University Assistant (Group of Sepp Hochreiter)
      Institute for Machine Learning & LIT AI Lab, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
      Parental leaves: 08–09/2020, 10/2022–09/2023
      05/2017 – 09/2018
      Senior Researcher
      AKKT Forschungsgesellschaft, Cooperation Partner of Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
      11/2011 – 04/2017
      Postdoctoral Researcher (Group of Ignacio Cirac)
      Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany
      08/2008 – 10/2011
      Postdoctoral Researcher (Group of Anton Zeilinger, 2022 Nobel Laureate in Physics)
      Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
      01/2005 – 07/2008
      Research Assistant / PhD Student (Group of Časlav Brukner) & DOC Fellow
      Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna & Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
      03/2004 – 06/2004
      Scientific Co-worker (Groups of Eckhard Krotscheck & Dieter Bäuerle)
      Institute for Theoretical Physics & Institute for Applied Physics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria

      Education

        03/2005 – 10/2008
        Doctoral studies of Natural Sciences (University of Vienna, Austria)
        Dissertation: “Quantum violation of macroscopic realism and the transition to classical physics”
        10/1999 – 11/2004
        Diploma studies of Technical Physics (Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria)
        Diploma thesis: “Focusing of light in axially symmetric systems within the wave optics approximation”
        07/1998 – 02/1999
        Obligatory military service (Villach and Klagenfurt, Austria)
        09/1990 – 06/1998
        Grammar school (Linz and Klagenfurt, Austria)
        Matura diploma (Bundesrealgymnasium Viktring/Klagenfurt, Austria)

        Career Highlights

        • Numerous awards for the PhD studies and thesis, including the Doc.Award (University of Vienna & City of Vienna), the Loschmidt Prize (Austrian Chemical Physical Society), the Erwin Wenzl Prize (St. Magdalena Education Center, presented by the governor of Upper Austria, Josef Pühringer), the Appreciation Award (Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research), and the Promotio Sub Auspiciis Praesidentis (carried out by the Austrian Federal Minister for Science and Research, Johannes Hahn, and later audience with the Federal President of Austria, Heinz Fischer)
        • Publication record: citations > 6000, h = 27, i10 = 37, i100 = 16, i1000 = 1; 61 publications (37 with peer review), including papers in Nature (2), Nature Physics (1), PNAS (2), PRL (6), and NeurIPS Workshops (3)
          • Development of an analytical description for strongly aberrated axially symmetric focusing by matching the solutions of geometrical and wave optics
          • Novel theoretical approach to macroscopic realism and classical physics within quantum theory using coarse-grained measurements
          • Proposal of a link between logical independence and quantum physics, allowing for an explanation of the probabilities of random outcomes observed in Pauli group measurements
          • Experimental violation of local realism with freedom of choice
          • Quantum teleportation over 143 kilometres using active feed-forward
          • Bell violation using entangled photons without the fair-sampling assumption
          • Condition for macroscopic realism beyond the Leggett-Garg inequalities
          • Theoretical groundwork for a photonic loophole-free Bell test
          • Co-author of the 2015 loophole-free Bell test in the Hofburg Vienna, which was mentioned in the Nobel Committee’s scientific summary of Anton Zeilinger’s 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics
          • No Fine theorem for macrorealism: Limitations of the Leggett-Garg inequality
          • Cosmic Bell Test: Measurement Settings from Milky Way Stars
        • 100 talks (scientific, popular scientific, prize lectures, speeches, etc)
        • Supervision and co-supervision of Bachelor and PhD students
        • Research coverage by dozends of media and news articles
        • 4 short listings for (tenure track and permanent) professorships or group leader positions in the field of theoretical quantum mechanics (IST Austria, University of Vienna, IQOQI Vienna, and University of Geneva)
        • Leading role in the design and management of the study program “Artificial Intelligence” (AI) at JKU Linz, which became the most successful (in terms of student numbers) curriculum in the history of JKU’s Faculty of Engineering & Natural Sciences
        • Multiple excellent student evaluations for the lecture “Machine Learning: Supervised Techniques” in JKU’s AI program