Insider Brief
- Dr. Chunyu Guo, a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, has received the 2026 Nicholas Kurti Science Prize for his research on quantum materials.
- Guo’s work examines quantum behaviour in kagome metals, including many-body quantum interference, long-range coherent charge transport, and electronic order under extreme conditions.
- The prize, awarded by Quantum Design Oxford, includes €15,000 and support to attend a global physics conference.
PRESS RELEASE — Quantum Design Oxford today announces that Dr Chunyu Guo, W2 Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg, Germany has been awarded the 2026 Nicholas Kurti Science Prize.
The Award recognises Dr Guo’s contributions to understanding the quantum behaviour of kagome metals and his discovery of many-body quantum interference and long-range coherent charge transport in strain-minimised microstructures under high magnetic fields. Dr Guo’s research has advanced understanding of correlated topological matter and of the emergence and control of electronic order in kagome lattice systems[1]. He is also recognised for his contributions to understanding the behaviour of unconventional superconductors[2] under extreme conditions.
“I am truly honored to receive the Nicholas Kurti Science Prize and to join its distinguished group of past recipients. This recognition is especially meaningful to me because it highlights the importance of low temperatures and high magnetic fields – conditions central to my scientific career. I am deeply grateful to my friends and colleagues, Professor Philip J. W. Moll and Dr Carsten Putzke, for their guidance and support. We have worked together for more than eight years, and it has been a fantastic journey for me in Europe. I would also like to thank my PhD supervisor, Professor Huiqiu Yuan, and all my colleagues and collaborators for their invaluable contributions to my work.” commented Dr Guo.
Career background
Dr Guo received his PhD in Physics from Zhejiang University, where his doctoral research delivered early evidence that topological transport can persist in systems with strong electron interactions. He went on to hold a postdoctoral position at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, where he worked on novel topological responses at the mesoscopic scale. Since 2022, Dr Guo has worked at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, where he became a W2 Research Group Leader in 2025. There, he conducts novel research in quantum materials science.
In 2024, Dr Guo was awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for the project Free-Kagome (€1.5 million over 5 years), to explore the quantum functionality for the development of frustrated electronics in Kagome metals further.
His work has been highly cited and published in leading physics journals including Nature and Nature Physics.
Research in Quantum Materials
Beginning in 2022, Dr Guo developed a microstructure-based transport approach to probe correlated electronic order in kagome metals, revealing non-reciprocal transport driven by an underlying chiral electronic state. His group later showed that this order sits at a tipping point governed by intertwined electronic and structural degrees of freedom. This resolved a long-standing question about whether the symmetry breaking is spontaneous and established kagome metals as highly tunable systems.
Most recently, Dr Guo and his group reported evidence for long-range quantum coherence in the normal, non-superconducting state of the kagome metal CsV3Sb5, showing that electrons can behave collectively over distances far beyond conventional expectations, even at elevated temperatures.
Alongside this work, Dr Guo has also contributed to the study of unconventional superconductivity in UTe2, showing that its superconducting behaviour changes qualitatively with magnetic field, a finding that places important experimental constraints on how this complex material is understood.
Taken together, Dr Guo’s research has introduced new experimental methods, and identified previously unreported new forms of electronic order and quantum behaviour in materials at the frontier of condensed matter physics.
Matthew Martin, Managing Director at Quantum Design Oxford, said, “It is always an absolute pleasure to award the Nicholas Kurti prize, and we at Quantum Design Oxford are proud to support young scientists such as Dr Guo. His work exemplifies the spirit of this prize, and underpins the importance of curiosity-driven and conceptually bold research in advancing the field of quantum materials science and condensed matter physics.”
The Nicholas Kurti Science Prize for Europe promotes and recognises the novel work of young scientists working in the fields of low temperatures and/or high magnetic fields or surface science.
As part of the prize, Dr Guo will receive €15,000 and additional support to attend a global physics conference.
The 2026 Nicholas Kurti Science Prize selection committee is co-chaired by Professor Richard Haley (Lancaster University) and Dr Natalia Ares (University of Oxford). Committee members include Professor Rolf Haug (Universität Hannover), Professor Vladimir Dmitriev (P L Kapitza Institute), Professor Dominik Zumbühl (University of Basel), Dr Anasua Chatterjee (Delft University of Technology, and Dr Silvano De Franceschi (CEA-INAC).
