Department of Energy Announces $24 Million for Research on Quantum Networks

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $24 million in funding for three collaborative projects in quantum network research.

Scientific research infrastructure linked with quantum networks is needed to realize distributed quantum computers. These quantum computers could simulate complex scientific processes inaccessible to computational platforms of today, integrate quantum sensors that promise measurements of unprecedented precision, and address previously inaccessible scientific questions of importance.

“Advances in quantum networking are enabling effective interconnections among multiple quantum devices,” said Ceren Susut, DOE Acting Associate Director of Science for Advanced Scientific Computing Research. “However, realizing scalable infrastructures for quantum information flows demands advancements in devices, error mitigation techniques, and new quantum network architectures and protocols.”

Projects include:

• A collaborative research effort led by Argonne National Laboratory, partnering with the Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, following a heterogeneous, full-stack approach in codesigning scalable quantum networks.
• A collaborative research effort led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, partnering with the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the University of Arizona, and the Arizona State University, developing the architecture and protocols for a performance-integrated scalable quantum internet.
• A collaborative research effort led by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, partnering with the California Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, the Northwestern University, and Argonne National Laboratory, developing hyper-entanglement-based networking and error noise-robust correction techniques for developing advanced quantum networks for science discovery.

The projects were selected by competitive peer review under the DOE National Laboratory Announcement, Scientific Enablers of Scalable Quantum Communications.

Total funding is $24 million for projects lasting up to three years in duration, with $8 million in Fiscal Year 2023 dollars and outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations. The list of projects and more information can be found on the Advanced Scientific Computing Research program homepage.

Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.