University of Turku to Join an International Quantum Community – the IBM Q Network Promotes Quantum Technological Change in Research and Business Co-operation
The Turku Quantum Technology research team has joined the international IBM Q Network as part of the Centre of Excellence in Quantum Technology of the Academy of Finland. The aim of the network is to promote the development of quantum computers and to create new applications based on quantum technology. The European universities included in the network were announced at the World Conference of Science Journalists held in Lausanne on 3 July 2019.
The IBM Q Network is a global research network which consist of Fortune 500 companies, startup companies, universities, and quantum physics research groups that seek to promote the development of quantum computers. Turku Quantum Technology (TQT), a research group that is part of the University of Turku, has joined the IBM Q Network.
The research team led by Professor Sabrina Maniscalco, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Turku, has also made a significant contribution to citizen science in addition to their research work.
- For example, we have organised an annual event called Quantum Game Jam, featuring quantum technology in gaming solutions, together with Aalto University and IBM Q, says Maniscalco.
Professor Maniscalco also manages the QPlay project partly funded by the European Commission, which utilises quantum technologies in games and art. Consequently, the TQT research team possesses unique experience in quantum technology, as well as in gamification and citizen science.
- By acquiring this expertise, we create a new multidisciplinary research and teaching platform in the community, which combines game research, citizen science, machine learning, computer science and quantum technology research. Our goal is to create an unmatched learning environment for the training of the next generation of quantum scientists, Maniscalco says.
Wide-scale co-operation to prepare the quantum leap
The network includes several Fortune 500 companies and major universities around the world. Companies such as Daimler, Samsung and ExxonMobil represent the business leaders of the world.
The quantum technological change is expected to revolutionise the world, but the actual leap is yet to been seen. The IBM Q Network aims to speed up this transformation.
- The IBM Q Network is an exceptional opening in the field of international research collaboration. Extensive co-operation with influential companies and major academic institutions provides a better framework for quantum physics research and the development of various quantum technology applications, Maniscalco says.
The European universities included in the network were announced at the World Conference of Science Journalists held in Lausanne on 3 July 2019. The community was joined by the University of Turku and Aalto University from Finland, and the other new European members are Chalmers University of Technology from Sweden, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne EPFL and ETH Zürich from Switzerland, Saarland University from Germany, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) from Spain, University of Innsbruck from Austria and The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) from Portugal/Spain.
The community already includes several quantum physics research groups from different organisations: Daimler, University of Oxford, the startup company Cambridge Quantum Computing, Bundeswehr University Munich from Germany, University of Minho from Portugal, Spanish National Research Council CSIC, and the openlab of the European Particle Physics Laboratory CERN.
TK
Photo: Erja Hyytiäinen