A partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) aims to create breakthroughs in quantum technologies, NSF announced Friday, saying both countries are investing millions.
The $4.7 million from NSF and £4.2 million UKRI will fund eight joint research projects that focus on quantum computing, ultra-precise navigation, and secure communications, and evaluate how quantum information interacts with chemical reactions and molecular systems.
For applications of that technology, NSF said the research could lead to ultra-precise molecular compasses, molecule-sized memory devices, and new forms of quantum computer building blocks.
“Through a dynamic partnership, the U.S. National Science Foundation and UKRI are uniting top researchers to unravel the mysteries of quantum in chemical systems,” said White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios.
“Building upon the President’s U.S.-UK Technology Prosperity Deal, this visionary partnership will reshape our knowledge of quantum mechanics and open new frontiers in quantum computing, sensing, and communicating,” Kratsios continued.
Kratsios accompanied President Donald Trump in his visit to the United Kingdom this week and announced the $42 billion Tech Prosperity Deal to develop fast-growing technologies, such as those related to quantum, AI, and nuclear.
The partnership, NSF officials said, will advance the goals of the two nations’ deal by strengthening scientific partnerships.
Training opportunities for graduate students and early-career researchers will also be made available under the partnership, where students can research quantum optics, molecular spectroscopy, and nanofabrication.
Kratsios also recently laid out the White House’s five-point quantum vision, where he pointed to the need for growing the U.S. quantum workforce, commercializing quantum technologies, building quantum-related infrastructure, developing international partnerships, and protecting new breakthroughs from adversaries.
NSF and UKRI’s partnership underscored this plan by building “international momentum in quantum research, with the potential to create new and different types of molecular-based qubits and other fundamental components useful for quantum computing, quantum sensing and quantum communications.”