The U.S. National Science Foundation has announced an investment of more than $290 million across eight Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes (QLCIs), marking one of the largest single commitments to quantum science research in the country's history. Of the eight institutes, three are newly formed while five receive renewed funding to continue their work.
Each institute will receive between $28 and $37 million over five years. Together, they span the full spectrum of quantum science — from fault-tolerant quantum systems and quantum error correction to quantum sensing for biophysics and quantum simulation.
The three newly formed institutes are NSF FTQSAA, investigating methods to make quantum technologies more robust and resistant to inherent fragility; NSF MARQUIS, using materials science and semiconductor fabrication to improve Josephson junctions key to superconducting quantum computers; and NSF PRACTIQAL, focused on creating more effective methods to correct errors in quantum computing systems.
The five renewed institutes — HQAN, CIQC, QuBBE, Q-SEnSE, and RQS — continue work on modular quantum networks, quantum algorithms and hardware architectures, quantum sensors for biological processes, precision measurement capabilities, and quantum simulations of complex phenomena.
The institutes collectively support researchers in 19 states at 36 institutions and partner with more than 30 U.S. companies, multiple Department of Energy national laboratories, the Department of War, and NIST. They will train hundreds of graduate students, undergraduates, and early-career researchers over the next five years.
"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 the NSF Director. "It is time for focused activities to leverage that base of knowledge to drive us even farther forward to the benefit of all Americans."
