Nobel winner named to national science council

UC Santa Barbara professor John Martinis, winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics, was appointed to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

According to a news release announcing the appointment, “PCAST brings together the Nation’s foremost luminaries in science and technology to advise the President and provide recommendations on strengthening American leadership in science and technology.”

Martinis is one of the three scientists, including fellow UCSB professor Michel Devoret, to share the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for demonstrating both quantum mechanical tunneling and quantized energy levels in a system large enough to be held in the hand.

“I am honored to be on the committee,” Martinis said of being named to PCAST.

UCSB Chancellor Dennis Assanis served as a member of PCAST during his tenure as president of the University of Delaware.

“Science and innovation play an essential role in advancing societal progress and in addressing some of our biggest challenges,” Assanis said. “We are fortunate to have a renowned scientist like John Martinis helping to inform critical public policy that will affect current and future generations.“

Since President Franklin D. Roosevelt created his Science Advisory Board in 1933, each president has established an advisory committee of scientists, engineers, industry leaders and other professionals. The first official PCAST was chartered in 1990.

The new PCAST will focus on topics related to the opportunities and challenges that emerging technologies present to the American workforce, and ensuring all Americans thrive in the Golden Age of Innovation, according to the announcement.