Understanding and wielding the quantum properties of nature is the ambitious objective of eight research institutes that will collectively receive more than $290 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation. The investment is an expansion of the NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes program, which NSF created in 2020 as part of the agency’s strategy to fulfill the 2018 “National Quantum Initiative Act.”
Of the eight institutes, three are newly formed. The other five were established with previous NSF funding and will receive renewed funding from NSF to continue their work. Each institute will receive between $28-$37 million over five years and is helmed by researchers in quantum information science. Since 2020, the institutes have made major scientific strides in a range of areas, from finding new ways to make quantum computers to developing quantum sensors that could one day enable earlier detection of diseases. The institutes also serve as a productive nexus between scientists, federal science agencies, quantum technology companies, and educational organizations.
To learn more, see the NSF news story: https://www.nsf.gov/news/eight-nsf-research-institutes-propel-us-quantum-science-290m