A British scientist has today joined the ranks of the world’s most celebrated researchers after being awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for pioneering work that helped lay the foundations of modern quantum computing.
Professor John Clarke, who was born in Cambridge, shares this year’s prize with Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for their ground-breaking experiments in the 1980s that revealed how quantum effects could be observed in electrical circuits.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences made the announcement in Stockholm, hailing the trio’s discovery of “macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.”
Speaking moments after receiving the news, Professor Clarke said: “To put it mildly, it was a surprise of my life.”
Now based at the University of California, Berkeley, Clarke expressed both astonishment and humility that research carried out four decades ago had earned the world’s most prestigious science award. “I’m completely stunned. At the time we did not realise in any way that this might be the basis for a Nobel prize,” he admitted.
The Nobel committee praised the physicists for work that has had “profound and far-reaching” implications. The discovery that quantum behaviour could be replicated in man-made circuits became a cornerstone of the superconducting qubits used in today’s quantum computers—machines capable of calculations far beyond the reach of even the fastest classical supercomputers.
“There is no advanced technology used today that does not rely on quantum mechanics, including mobile phones, cameras… and fibre optic cables,” said the Nobel committee.
Professor Clarke explained how his early research connected directly to today’s quantum revolution: “This is something that leads to development of the quantum computer. Many people are working on quantum computing, our discovery is in many ways the basis of this.”
Quantum mechanics deals with the strange and often counterintuitive behaviour of particles at the sub-atomic level. Clarke’s experiments revealed that electrons could “tunnel” through energy barriers that classical physics deemed impenetrable. Demonstrating this effect in electrical circuits proved that quantum principles could be engineered into real-world technologies—a finding now central to quantum chip design.
British scientists have hailed Clarke’s recognition as a triumph for UK-born physics talent. “This is wonderful news indeed, and very well deserved,” said Professor Lesley Cohen, Associate Provost at Imperial College London. “Their work has laid the foundations for superconducting Qubits – one of the main hardware technologies for quantum technologies.”
The three laureates will share 11 million Swedish kronor (around £872,000) in prize money.
In recent years, British scientists have enjoyed a strong presence among Nobel winners, continuing the nation’s proud legacy in physics—from Sir Roger Penrose’s black hole research in 2020 to Clarke’s new recognition in the quantum frontier.
As Professor Clarke’s discovery propels Britain’s scientific heritage into the age of quantum technology, today’s award serves as both celebration and reminder: British ingenuity remains at the heart of the world’s most revolutionary science.
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