How can information be encrypted in such a way that no one can intercept it unnoticed? This was precisely the question that the participants of this year's Girls' Day workshop "Quantum Cryptography - Secrets that no one can crack" at the Institute of Photonic Quantum Systems (PhoQS) at Paderborn University on 23 April 2026 addressed. The aim was to get schoolgirls interested in science, technology and, in particular, current developments in quantum research.
As part of the day of action, the schoolgirls were given exciting insights into a field of research that is one of the key technologies of the future: quantum communication. They were able to discover how the laws of quantum physics can be used to make communication particularly secure. Unlike traditional encryption methods, quantum cryptography enables the transmission of keys in a way that makes eavesdropping attempts immediately obvious.
The day was organised by Dr. Sonja Barkhofen (hqpd), Marc Ebert (Technology Didactics) and Dr. Anna Bauer (PhoQS Outreach). The students had the opportunity to solve the newly developed puzzles of the cooperative project "HedwiQ" (AG Jöns & AG Temmen), which will also be available to school classes in the coolMINT student laboratory in the future.
In addition to an introduction to the basics of quantum cryptography, the focus was primarily on practical experience. The participants were able to understand how quantum states are used for secure communication and why quantum communication is considered an important building block of future digital infrastructures. In this way, a highly topical research subject was made vivid and tangible.
Girls' Day not only offered schoolgirls the opportunity to familiarise themselves with an innovative field of science, but also to gain an insight into study and career prospects in the STEM subjects. The workshop impressively demonstrated how exciting and socially relevant research at the interface of Physics and Computer Science is.
Girls' Day at the Institute of Photonic Quantum Systems: Experience quantum cryptography
