(Nov. 10, 2021) On October 12, 2021, the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) Qubit Collaboratory (LQC) hosted a virtual Workshop on Gaps in Postsecondary Quantum Education and Training. The workshops brought together stakeholders from academia, industry, and government to discuss developing collaborations to fix the educational and training gaps in quantum information science (QIS).

(Sept. 8, 2021) The C²QA Quantum Career Fair aims to bring more awareness to the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doc communities about the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s National Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers and the different types of careers in QIS at the Centers, national laboratories, academia, and industry. In addition, the path students and post docs can take to pursue a quantum career.

(Sept. 01. 2021) Expanding upon its 2020 establishment of three Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes, the U.S. National Science Foundation has launched two additional institutes to advance quantum biological sensing and quantum simulation. As with last year’s cohort, NSF expects to support each institute with an investment of $25 million over its multi-year lifecycle.

(August 11, 2021) The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is now designated as the Quantum Information Science Research Center for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force. This allows AFRL to expand its collaborations across government, industry and academia, further accelerating the research, development and deployment of quantum technologies. To support these efforts, AFRL’s Information Directorate headquartered in Rome, New York, will receive fiscal year 2020 funds under the Defense Quantum Information Science Research and Development Program in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act.

(June 20, 2021) The Innovare Advancement Center, a partnership between the Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Griffiss Institute (GI), and New York State Enterprise Technology Corporation (NYSTEC), is proud to host the 3rd Annual International Quantum Information Science Workshop. A collaborative virtual quantum networking event offering participants thought provoking presentations, live panel discussions, and engaging technical dialogue.

There is a pressing need in Quantum Information Science & Technology (QIST) for new and broader talent. One innovation may be in developing approaches to teaching QIST concepts at multiple levels of expertise (but especially undergraduate to mid-career) to engineers, computer scientists, and physicists. Research proposals are sought in innovative collaborative learning concepts for quantum information science, to include the methodologies, pedagogy, and essential principles that effectively leverage classroom and laboratory experiences to train a diverse quantum workforce of the future. These projects should focus on methods applicable to higher education for the training and retraining of technical individuals that have a range of experiences and knowledge. Practical implementations coupled with evaluation of efficacy are highly desired. Some examples of research activities may include:

On March 2, 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD), through the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), launched a $7.5 million Center of Excellence in Advanced Quantum Sensing (COE-AQS) at Delaware State University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The COE-AQS will stimulate research and innovation leading to the development of novel quantum sensing technologies and methodologies. The COE-AQS research will focus on realizing entanglement-enhanced quantum sensing in the form of spin-squeezing in atomic clocks and magnetometers using cold atom platforms. The Center was awarded through the OUSD(R&E)’s HBCU and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI) Research and Education Program and is administered by the Army Research Laboratory.

Today the National Security Agency’s Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) launched the LPS Qubit Collaboratory (LQC), a Quantum Information Science research center in support of the U.S. National Quantum Initiative. The LQC offers a mechanism for collaborative research between LPS and academia, industry, FFRDCs, and Government Laboratories. The mission of the LQC is to: