Commemorating centennial of quantum revolution: 2025 - International Year of Quantum Science

The General Assembly of the United Nations, adopting a proposal by the delegation of Ghana, declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ).

- BY PROF. KIRTHI TENNAKONE

Activities planned worldwide and year-round aim to commemorate the advent of quantum mechanics 100 years ago and highlight the importance of the subject as the pinnacle of fundamental science and technological promise. The Ghana initiative is symbolic, as African countries awake to realize the value of fundamental science, without which neither applied science nor innovations would thrive.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of IYQ held at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, in February 2025, Nobel laureate Anne Hullewr underscored the vital role of basic science in driving real-world innovations reinforcing continued investment in fundamental science.

Sri Lanka has grossly neglected fundamental studies. Institutions mandated to follow the theme, engaging in technically oriented incremental research best pursued elsewhere. Theoretical sciences, which require brilliant brains but little money not emphasised. Technological courses and faculties mushroom in the higher education sector, sacrificing basic science. Researchers opt for projects believed to generate more publications and rarely undertake challenging problems demanding years of preoccupation. And claim their work is nationally important and would lead to commercially viable findings. How many of these projects yielded scientifically sound ideas of commercial potential? Frequently, the motivation for research is not curiosity or thirst for knowledge but earning marks and getting listed as top rankers in scientometric evaluations. The effort has been counterproductive: Sri Lanka continues to be poor in advanced frontier research and innovation and short of critical thinkers.

Opportunity for Sri Lanka