UC Berkeley to lead $25 million quantum computing center

UC Berkeley researchers are leading a new Quantum Leap Challenge Institute (QLCI), established as part of a national effort to catalyze research and development in quantum science and engineering. The National Science Foundation will award $25 million over five years to support the multi-university QLCI for Present and Future Quantum Computation, one of three QLCI awards announced July 21.

The institute’s mission includes advancing quantum science and engineering and training a future workforce in quantum computers. It connects UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and five other universities around the nation, and it will be directed by Dan Stamper-Kurn, UC Berkeley professor of physics. Co-directors of the institute are Umesh Vazirani, UC Berkeley professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences; Birgitta Whaley, UC Berkeley professor of chemistry; Hartmut Häffner, UC Berkeley associate professor of physics; and Eric Hudson, UCLA associate professor of physics.

Vazirani said programming quantum computers requires a completely new way of thinking about algorithms. A key challenge in realizing the enormous potential of quantum computers is designing effective quantum algorithms.

The Berkeley Engineering researchers who are part of this institute are from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. Ming Wu, professor, and Boubacar Kante, associate professor, will focus on the optical engineering required for the precise control of thousands of optical beams to individually address qubits in parallel. Shafi Goldwasser, professor, will focus on post-quantum cryptographic techniques. John Kubiatowicz, professor, will focus on quantum architecture.

Read the full UC Berkeley announcement on the Berkeley News site.