WOST School 2026: Exploring Quantum WithOut SpaceTime
Organizers
Schedule
Check back in a few days for the full finalized schedule.
Lecturers
Regular lecturers
Hal Haggard
Bard College, USA
Renato Renner
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Eduardo Martín-Martínez
University of Waterloo, Canada
Emily Adlam
Chapman University, USA
Anne-Catherine de la Hamette
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Markus Aspelmeyer
University of Vienna, Austria
Eugenio Bianchi
Penn State University, USA
Ivan Agullo
Louisiana State University, USA
Beatriz Elizaga de Navascués
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
V. Vilasini
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, France
Satellite lecturers
Carlo Rovelli
CPT Marseille, France
Francesca Vidotto
CSIC Madrid, Spain
Flaminia Giacomini
University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy
Venue Map
The school takes place at the École de Physique des Houches, in the Chamonix Valley (altitude 1150 m).
Getting there
- By plane: shuttle from Geneva airport — reserve in advance; plan to arrive after 15:00.
- By train: to Les Houches station (Chamonix line); reserve a taxi in advance, there is no taxi rank at the station.
- By car: exit "Le Prarion/Les Chavants"; compulsory parking on the upper lot.
- By taxi: Alpes Transport +33(0)6.73.54.98.05 · Cham Taxi +33(0)6.07.26.36.62
Meals
- Breakfast 7:45–8:45 · Lunch 12:30 · Dinner 19:30
- Arrival day starts with dinner; departure day ends after lunch
- Picnic lunches available with 48h notice
- Bring a water bottle — no bottled water provided
Wi-Fi
- EDUROAM available in all buildings (recommended)
- An individual access code is also provided (one device at a time)
Good to know
- Bring a headlamp or flashlight for evenings
- Bedrooms must be vacated by 9:00 AM on departure day
- Only collective insurance is held by the school
- 220V electricity · Animals not admitted on site
About the School
The WOST School 2026 introduces early-career researchers to the rapidly developing interface between quantum gravity and quantum information, two fields that have recently begun to converge in surprising and productive ways. In particular, Loop Quantum Gravity provide a natural framework where structures such as spin network states and their evolution can dialogue with the language of quantum information. Participants will explore how quantum-information tools are reshaping our understanding of spacetime—through concepts such as quantum reference frames, quantum clocks, indefinite causal order, and related informational approaches. This will shed new light on gravitational phenomena ranging from black-hole physics to early-universe cosmology, while also learning how emerging table-top experiments may probe quantum-gravity–inspired phenomena such as gravity-mediated entanglement, aiming at testing the quantum nature of gravity. Supported by the international WOST collaboration, the school aims to transmit a growing body of interdisciplinary knowledge not yet part of standard graduate curricula, foster connections across theoretical, experimental, and philosophical perspectives, and cultivate a diverse cohort of young scientists prepared to contribute to this evolving research frontier.