The US Department of Energy’s Office of Science (SC) has announced that $625 million is available to support National Quantum Information Science Research Centers. These centres, which are multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary teams, will accelerate the transformational advances in basic science and quantum-based novel-technology platforms needed to develop world-leading capabilities in Quantum Information Science (QIS) and in support of the National Quantum Initiative Act.
Each centre will integrate multiple levels of innovation, blending basic research, engineering, and technology development in a co-design framework. The centres will deliver prototype novel-technology platforms, capabilities, and major scientific breakthroughs that, in the future, can be further developed into a resource or user-facility capability for the entire QIS R&D community.
Robust investment in QIS is critical because the ability to exploit intricate quantum mechanical phenomena to create fundamentally new ways of obtaining and processing information is at the threshold of a revolution. The rapid progress in this field promises profound impacts on scientific discovery and technological innovation in the coming decades. In competitive terms, QIS is creating potentially transformational opportunities and technically complex, urgent challenges for the nation, as growing international interest and investments fuel accelerating global activity in quantum science and technology. These opportunities and challenges demand a long-term, large-scale commitment of U.S. scientific and technological resources to multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary efforts that are commensurate with world leadership in this pivotal field.
The technical areas on which the centres will focus include quantum communications, quantum computing and simulation, quantum devices and sensors, materials and chemistry for QIS systems and applications, and quantum foundries. The larger centre teams will not only tackle scientific and technical challenges that are out of reach for smaller-scale efforts and will also catalyse broader quantum activity across the country.
Proposals must be led by DOE national laboratories. All other kinds of participating entities must be proposed as subawardees.
