Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $11.7 million in funding for six collaborative projects to improve our understanding of whether, when, and how quantum computing might advance the frontiers of computational science.
"Quantum computing is a rapidly advancing technology that may one day push the boundaries of computational science beyond what we can achieve with exascale machines like Frontier," said Ceren Susut, Acting Associate Director for Advanced Scientific Computing Research. "Today's supercomputers allow us to explore scientific problems in ways we haven't been able to in the past – modeling dangerous or costly experiments, accelerating clean energy options, and mitigating the impacts of climate change. It's imperative that we understand what quantum computers are capable of so we can build future generations of supercomputers."
Projects explore the limitations of the noisy, intermediate-scale quantum processors available today and aim to develop tools for assessing whether a particular quantum processor may be able to advance the frontiers of computational science even in the absence of formal error correction on the device.
The projects were selected by competitive peer review under the DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement "Quantum Testbed Pathfinder."
Total funding is $12 million for projects lasting up to four years in duration, with $4.8 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 ASCR program website.
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.