Rate My Professor Gavin Brennen

Professor Gavin Brennen serves as Professor in QIS (Core) in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at Macquarie University. He earned his PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of New Mexico in 2001. Following his doctoral studies, Brennen held a postdoctoral position at the University of Innsbruck from 2005 to 2007 before joining Macquarie University as faculty in 2007. He advanced to his current professorial role on 1 January 2022. Brennen directs the Macquarie Centre for Quantum Engineering (MQCQE), acts as Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQuS) since 2011, and holds membership in the Macquarie University Research Centre in Quantum Science and Technology since 2009 and the Future Communications Research Centre since 2023. Additionally, he is an Executive Board Member of the Sydney Quantum Academy (SQA) and was appointed to the ARC CE26 Selection Advisory Committee in 2025.

Brennen leads a theory research group specializing in quantum information science, with focuses on quantum computing and simulation, quantum sensing, atomic physics, fault-tolerant quantum protocols, entanglement-enhanced sensing, quantum interferometry, and quantum error correction. His extensive publication record includes recent works such as "Entanglement-enhanced quantum sensing via optimal global control with neutral atoms in a cavity" (Physical Review Letters, 2026, with Srivastava, Jandura, Pupillo), "Quantum-enabled optical large-baseline interferometry: applications, protocols and feasibility" (Advances in Physics: X, 2026, with Huang et al.), "Efficient fault-tolerant quantum protocol for differential privacy in the shuffle model" (Quantum Information Processing, 2026, with Asghar, Mukherjee), "Cavity polariton blockade for non-local entangling gates with trapped atoms" (Quantum Science and Technology, 2025, with Srivastava, Jandura, Pupillo), and "Reply to: Comment on Room-temperature spontaneous superradiance from single diamond nanocrystals" (Nature Communications, 2026, with Johnsson, Baragiola, Volz). Brennen has led numerous ARC and SQA-funded projects, including "Engineered quantum matter: fundamentals and new technologies," "Quantum algorithms for computational physics," "Quantum limits on measurements in a universe with a minimum length scale," and "AQUTE - Atomic Quantum Technologies." His leadership in quantum centres and contributions to national quantum initiatives underscore his impact on advancing quantum technologies for computation, sensing, and networks.