NSF announces next steps in its National Quantum Virtual Laboratory initiative
The first leg was started a year ago with the QSTD:Pilot phase, and the final two legs are the QSTD:Design and QSTD:Implementation stages.
No one would deny that quantum computing is a big deal in the East Tennessee area, whether it is cutting-edge research underway at Oak Ridge National Laboratory or the Chattanooga Quantum Collaborative and the city’s EPB Quantum NetworkSM powered by Qubitekk.
So, we would suspect there was great interest last week when the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the next steps in its National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL) concept – the Quantum Science and Technology Demonstration (QSTD) component of the NQVL program. The first leg of the three-legged stool was started a year ago with the QSTD:Pilot phase, and the final two legs are the QSTD:Design and QSTD:Implementation stages.
As we read the NSF document, funding depends on successfully competing for and executing on a QSTD:Pilot program to be considered for a QSTD:Design award. The capstone is the QSTD:Implementation project which would follow a successful design project.
As the federal agency noted in the announcement, “The translation from basic knowledge to new, scalable technologies that can provide solutions to real-world problems is a multi-step process that requires prototyping, validation, at-scale testing, and eventual full-scale demonstration.”
To achieve its goal, NSF wrote that the “NQVL aims to develop and utilize use-inspired and application-oriented quantum technologies. In the process, NQVL researchers will explore quantum frontiers, foster the development of Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) education and workforce development strategies, engage in outreach activities at all levels, and promote input and participation from the full spectrum of diverse talent in QISE, thereby lowering barriers at all entry points of the research enterprise.”
NSF has allocated $32 million in funding with up to eight QSTD Design awards granted in total over three competition rounds and up to six QSTD Implementation awards made in total over three competition rounds.
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