(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.

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:

Next Tuesday, April 27; 1-2:30 PM ET NSF will hold a webinar addressing some of the programs managed by EHR that are now opened to Quantum Information Science and Engineering. This activity is related to the Dear Colleague Letter “Advancing Quantum Education and Workforce Development” :

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has established five National Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers.  These centers will accelerate the transformational advances in basic science and quantum-based technologies needed to assure continued U.S. leadership in QIS, consistent with the National Quantum Initiative Act.  Led by Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Co-design Center for  Quantum Advantage (C²QA) is one of these centers building the fundamental tools necessary to create scalable, distributed, and fault-tolerant quantum computer systems.

Principal Director for Quantum Science in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Dr. Paul Lopata, discusses the opportunities for quantum science to support defense department activities and the importance of engaging with  academia and the private sector for advancing quantum science and developing a skilled engineering workforce. See Dr. Lopata’s comments and read more here.

The National Science Foundation published NSF 21-033, “Advancing Quantum Education and Workforce Development.”

Funded at about $55M level, the NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) program seeks proposals that explore ways for graduate students in research-based master’s and doctoral degree programs to develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of STEM careers. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas, through a comprehensive traineeship model that is innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.

The National Quantum Coordination Office released a summary of the Oct. 7^th, 2020 National Q-12 Education Partnership Kick-off Event  today. This summary describes the Partnership and key take-aways from the Kick-off. The discussions focused on Materials for QIS Education, Careers in QIS, Outreach for QIS, and Professional Development for QIS Teachers. Video of the Kick-off Event is available at https://q12education.org/q12kickoff, along with the agenda, ways to learn more and how to get involved.

You’re going to live in a quantum future.

The U.S. National Science Foundation and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy are spearheading the National Q-12 Education Partnership with industry and academia to provide training and tools to students ready to become the future quantum workforce. This initiative expands quantum education to students in middle and high school across the country.