Insider letter:
- The NSF announced $5 million in funding for five pilot projects to develop the NSF National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL).
- The NQVL will be a national resource designed to advance quantum technologies and support the broader quantum ecosystem through workforce development and accessible technology.
- The pilot projects will lay the foundation for the NQVL and the teams will have the opportunity to apply for further funding through the Quantum Science and Technology Demonstrations (QSTD): II. Design and Implementation Proposal.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced earlier this month the selection of five recipients who will each receive $1 million in funding to conduct projects related to the development of the NSF National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL). The NQVL will be the first of its kind: a national resource designed to foster the development of quantum technologies while supporting the larger quantum ecosystem through workforce development and accessible technology.
A vision for the shared benefit of the Quantum Advantage:
The creation of the NQVL stems from NSF’s vision to move the United States closer to the shared goal of achieving quantum advantage – using quantum technologies to solve problems that benefit society. This initial $5 million investment is just the first phase of a multi-year effort to build a geographically distributed national resource. Each recipient in the initial phase will be encouraged to apply for additional funding through the Quantum Science and Technology Demonstrations (QSTD): II. Design & Implementation proposal. Once fully implemented, the virtual lab will become an integral resource within the quantum ecosystem as a widely accessible resource for optimized quantum technology development.
“As a shared national resource, NQVL also overcomes the limitations associated with using only brick-and-mortar facilities—any qualified researcher or student can participate, regardless of where they are located in the United States,” says Denise Caldwell, NSF deputy director for mathematical and physical sciences.
Different perspectives promote creative innovation:
The first five projects will be led by experts from academia, industry and government. In the context of quantum computing, a technology deeply rooted in the abstraction of quantum mechanics, it is crucial to bring together a collective of expertise in theory, experiments, economics and a level of curiosity necessary to make progress for practical applications.
The NQVL will provide the creative framework needed to realize quantum advantage. The difficult thing about developing quantum technology is that to make progress, we need to use the technology before it is fully mature and rely on incremental progress over the course of an iterative process.
A resource for the Quantum workforce:
The NQVL will serve not only as a resource infrastructure, but also as a catalyst for the development of the U.S. quantum technology workforce. As the lab evolves, it will provide training and educational resources to nurture and shape the next generation of quantum professionals. This is in line with NSF’s 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act, which aims to establish and position the U.S. as a leader in quantum technology development.
Erwin Gianchandani, NSF’s deputy director for technology, innovation and partnerships, emphasized the broader impact of NQVL, saying, “U.S. competitiveness depends on accelerating the translation of technological innovations into the marketplace and society and on training the American workforce for the jobs of tomorrow.”
Outlook:
Until the end of the initial phase, the pilot project teams will focus on exploratory work and lay the groundwork for eventual development of the NQVL. Teams will then have the opportunity to submit proposals for additional NSF funding to develop and implement quantum-based technologies and testbeds.
As the NQVL project moves toward fruition, it promises to become an unparalleled resource for quantum information research in the United States. NSF’s strategic investment in NQVL, coupled with an inspired team of scientists and industry experts, sets the stage for significant advances in quantum technology and workforce development.
The first five NQVL pilot projects listed on the NSF website are as follows:
Wide-area quantum network to demonstrate quantum advantage (SCY-QNet)
Led by Stony Brook University in collaboration with Columbia University, Yale University, and Brookhaven National Laboratory, the team aims to build a 10-node long-range quantum network to demonstrate the quantum advantage through quantum communication and distributed quantum processing. These technological advances would help enable secure and privacy-preserving long-range communication systems.
Quantum Advantage Class Trapped Ion System (QACTI)
Led by Duke University in collaboration with the University of Chicago, Tufts University, North Carolina State University, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the team will advance the development of a 256-qubit ion-trapped quantum computing system. The system would be controllable over the internet and capable of performing a wide range of quantum simulations and computations.
Deep Learning on Programmable Quantum Computers (DLPQC)
Led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in collaboration with Harvard University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Maryland, the team aims to develop quantum computing platforms with more than 100 qubits for error-corrected computations that can perform complex many-body analyses to solve problems in chemistry, advanced materials, and physics.
Quantum Sensing and Imaging Laboratory (Q-SAIL)
Led by the University of California Los Angeles in collaboration with the University of Delaware, the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the team aims to develop quantum sensors based on two-dimensional ion trap arrays. Such sensors have the potential to significantly advance frequency measurement technology and have applications in telecommunications and navigation, as well as terahertz imaging in astronomy and medicine, among other fields.
Quantum Computing Applications of Photonics (QCAP)
Led by the University of New Mexico in collaboration with New Mexico State University, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Skorpios Technologies Inc. and Hoonify Technologies Inc., the team’s goal is to develop quantum computers on chips using monolithically integrated quantum photonics and, in partnership with industry, to eventually develop this technology into a commercially viable product.