Simone Eizagirre Barker

Simone’s interdisciplinary expertise combines hard science and communication, with a flair for distilling complicated technological concepts into clear, compelling explanations. Currently, she works as a Product Manager at Nu Quantum, the quantum networking startup building the hardware essential to scaling quantum computers.

Simone undertook a PhD at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge investigating new materials platforms for light-based quantum technologies and nanoscale sensing, and has worked as a scientist at institutes in Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK. Her research background encompasses quantum sensing, optical materials, inorganic chemistry, 2D semiconductors, and polymer chemistry. She holds a Master of Research in Nanotechnology from the University of Cambridge, and a Master of Chemical Physics from the University of Edinburgh.

Beyond research, she has worked as a freelance writer, editor, and broadcaster for radio, podcasts, and magazines. Simone also served on the committee of Cambridge University Science Policy Exchange, and as an editor for the inaugural issue of the Cambridge Journal of Science and Policy. During her PhD, she was awarded the SPIE DJ Lovell Scholarship and shortlisted for the Institute of Physics Early Career Communicators Prize.