Global Quantum Storytelling: Launching the Quantum 100 for the International Year of Quantum
The 2025 International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ) marked 100 years since the advent of quantum mechanics, and was designed to recognise the importance of quantum science and the need for wider awareness of its past and future impact.
But to engage and inspire a global audience, TFD recognised there was a clear need to do more than just talk about the technology: we needed to tell the stories of the people driving the sector forward.
The Idea
With this brief in mind, TFD devised a campaign for the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology and the American Physical Society (APS), to launch The Quantum 100: a global snapshot of careers and community. The first-of-its-kind initiative showcased 100 people working in quantum to celebrate individuals across geographies, disciplines, and career stages. The global campaign would champion people at every stage of their professional journey, their varied perspectives, experience, and backgrounds reflecting the range of skills to advance this field and ensure the next 100 years of quantum are as impactful as the first.
The Quantum 100 were nominated by people around the world, with the final selection made by the IYQ steering committee and global coordination bureau, representing founding partners, universities, research institutions, scientific societies, governments, and industry.
The approach
To kick off the campaign, TFD led strategy, narrative development, and global communications for the Quantum 100, working closely with IYQ and APS to deliver an initiative with credibility, scale, and cultural resonance.
Key elements included:
- A global call for nominations. We harnessed social media and industry, media, academia, groups and institutions to spread the word, inviting people to put forward candidates or nominate themselves. This resulted in well over 400 nominations spanning North and South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Oceania.
- Active comms office, liaising with the Quantum 100 on a regular basis, building the personal bios, headshots, and promotional assets to make the launch a success.
- Exhibition launch, coordinated social media and press release launch of the digital exhibition, featuring individual profiles that spotlight each person’s contribution to societal and technological advancement in quantum.
The Results
Since the December launch:
- More than 37,000 website visits to the Quantum 100 page—and the third most visited page on the IYQ website—significantly increasing engagement with the year and its mission
- Over 500 new LinkedIn followers
- 38.5K LinkedIn impressions
- 680 reactions and 124 reposts from Quantum 100 members, institutions, and industry. Dedicated posts from world-leading organisations such as Nvidia and IBM, and advocacy from key quantum groups, including QuIC, QED-C, and the Africa Quantum Consortium
- Fourth highest-performing post of 2025 on the IYQ LinkedIn page
- Media coverage in the likes of The Quantum Insider, Quantum Zeitgeist, Digitimes Asia, and The Qubit Report.
- Widespread global engagement, including celebratory events, dedicated blogs and announcements in multiple languages.
Speaking about the initiative and experience working with TFD, Claudia Fracchiolla, Head of Public Engagement at the American Physical Society, said, "TFD’s Quantum 100 campaign idea quickly became a key pillar in the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, and was instrumental in engaging and celebrating our community. Reaching a global audience spanning the vast spectrum of industries and skills in quantum was a key objective for IYQ. TFD helped us achieve this by supporting the nomination process, communicating proactively with the Quantum 100, and delivering on creative execution. The Quantum 100 initiative resulted in widespread engagement on our social channels and media visibility, and importantly, showcased the diverse breadth of the quantum community to the world.”