NSF Announces $290 Million Investment in Eight Quantum Research Institutes

On August 25, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a $290 million investment to support eight research institutes working to advance quantum science and technology in the United States.

The investment expands NSF’s Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes program, which the agency launched in 2020 as part of its strategy to advance the goals of the 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act.

Three of the eight institutes are newly established. The other five were created with previous NSF funding and will receive renewed support to continue their research. Each institute will receive approximately $28 million to $37 million over five years and will be led by researchers specializing in quantum information science.

Since 2020, the institutes have made significant scientific advances across a range of fields, from developing new approaches to building quantum computers to creating quantum sensors that could eventually enable earlier detection of disease. The institutes also serve as collaborative hubs connecting academic researchers, federal science agencies, quantum technology companies and educational organizations.

“For more than four decades, NSF has been laying the foundational groundwork of research and discovery that is powering today’s modern quantum computing, sensing and communication,” said Brian Stone, performing the duties of NSF director. “It’s time for focused activities to leverage that base of knowledge to drive us even farther forward to the benefit of all Americans. The NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes are a next step for us in understanding the quantum world we live in.”

Quantum technologies rely on phenomena such as quantum entanglement and superposition and have the potential to significantly outperform conventional, or “classical,” technologies in certain applications.

For example, just as an electronic calculator can vastly outperform an abacus, a functional quantum computer could theoretically outperform today’s most powerful supercomputers on certain types of computational problems. Similarly, quantum sensors could enable scientists to precisely measure physical properties that are too subtle—or even impossible—for existing technologies to detect.

The NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes are focused on addressing the fundamental scientific and technological challenges that must be overcome for quantum devices to achieve such levels of performance.

Each institute represents a broad collaboration spanning academia, government and industry. Collectively, the eight institutes will support researchers across 19 states and 36 institutions of higher education.

Federal partners include multiple U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories, the U.S. Department of War and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. More than 30 U.S. companies are also partnering with the institutes to help accelerate the translation of fundamental research into technologies, products and techniques that can eventually be scaled for industrial use.

NSF is also supporting education and workforce-development programs through the institutes in an effort to strengthen the future U.S. quantum workforce.

Over the next five years, the eight institutes will collectively train hundreds of graduate students, undergraduate students and early-career researchers. Their programs will include partnerships with community colleges, universities, high schools and community science organizations.

Training activities will include internships and summer schools, K-12 teacher programs and specialized mentorship opportunities with leading researchers in quantum information science.

The Eight NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes

NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Fault-Tolerant Quantum Systems, Architectures and Applications (NSF FTQSAA)

Led by Harvard University, with UCLA Samueli and MIT serving as co-leads, FTQSAA is one of three newly established institutes under the expanded program.

The multi-institutional research team will focus on developing quantum systems capable of performing useful computations reliably despite the errors and noise that affect quantum devices. Researchers will integrate fault-tolerant approaches across quantum hardware, software, algorithms and applications to improve quantum systems’ ability to tackle previously intractable problems, including challenges in drug and materials discovery, particle physics and cosmology.

NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Hybrid Quantum Architectures and Networks (NSF HQAN)

The Hybrid Quantum Architectures and Networks institute, led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will enter a second phase with $37.5 million in NSF funding over five years.

The regional research consortium includes the University of Illinois, the University of Chicago, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Northwestern University, with Stanford University and MIT Lincoln Laboratory providing additional expertise and capabilities.

The second-phase institute will also work with 16 industry partners, including Google, IBM, IonQ and Quantinuum.

NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Manufacturable and Resilient Superconducting Quantum Information Systems (NSF MARQUIS)

Led by Princeton University, MARQUIS will develop new approaches to quantum hardware fabrication, advance materials and nanofabrication techniques, and create education and workforce-development programs aimed at strengthening U.S. leadership in quantum science and engineering.

The institute will receive $27.9 million in NSF funding over five years. Its research team brings together expertise in materials science, quantum devices and semiconductor processing across roughly two dozen laboratories at nine research institutions.

Participating institutions include Princeton University, Cornell University, MIT, the University of California, Santa Barbara, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, NY CREATES, Michigan State University and the University of Iowa.

NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Physics and Engineering of Practical Quantum Error Correction (NSF PRACTIQAL)

NSF PRACTIQAL brings together physicists, engineers, computer scientists and chemists from Yale University and partner institutions. The institute will receive a $37.5 million NSF grant.

Its researchers will develop new and more effective methods for correcting errors that commonly occur in quantum computing systems, with the goal of improving the performance, scalability and practical usefulness of quantum computers.

The research will span quantum hardware, algorithms, software and theoretical approaches that could enable more effective error correction for large-scale quantum computers that have yet to be realized.

NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Quantum Computation (NSF CIQC)

The NSF Challenge Institute for Quantum Computation (CIQC) is a California-based research network led by the University of California, Berkeley, with researchers from UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, the California Institute of Technology and Stanford University.

With a renewed five-year, $37.5 million NSF grant, the institute will focus on three major challenges: discovering and realizing the potential of quantum computation, using quantum information science to better understand nature, and developing quantum technologies and their applications.

NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Quantum Sensing for Biophysics and Bioengineering (NSF QuBBE)

NSF QuBBE will receive $37.5 million in funding over five years to advance quantum sensing technologies capable of revealing biological processes that are difficult or impossible to observe with conventional tools.

The Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Quantum Sensing for Biophysics and Bioengineering was originally established in 2021. Led by the University of Chicago in partnership with Chicago State University, the University of Illinois Chicago, Harvard University and other collaborators, the institute brings together quantum scientists, engineers, chemists, biologists and physicians.

NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Quantum Systems through Entangled Science and Engineering (NSF Q-SEnSE)

NSF Q-SEnSE, or Quantum Systems through Entangled Science and Engineering, is led by JILA and the University of Colorado Boulder in collaboration with universities and national laboratories across the United States.

The institute aims to advance the emerging field of quantum sensing and achieve meaningful quantum speedups for scientific research and technological applications.

NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Robust Quantum Simulation (NSF RQS)

Led by the University of Maryland, College Park, NSF RQS will receive $37.5 million in NSF funding over five years.

The institute will focus on developing and applying quantum simulations that can help scientists investigate complex phenomena, support the development of large-scale quantum technologies for industry, or both.

Its research will span areas including new quantum algorithms, systems architecture, materials science and related fields, with the goal of advancing both the scientific capabilities and practical applications of quantum simulation.