DOE Announces $625 Million for New Quantum Centers
(Energy.gov) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $625 million over the next five years to establish two to five multidisciplinary Quantum Information Science (QIS) Research Centers in support of the National Quantum Initiative.
The National Quantum Initiative Act, signed into law by President Trump in December 2018, established a coordinated multiagency program to support research and training in QIS, encompassing activities at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation.
The Act called for the creation of a total between four and ten competitively awarded QIS research centers.
“QIS is on the threshold of providing transformative technology that will impact discovery science and technological innovation in the coming decades,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette. “At the direction of President Trump, the Department will answer the call of the National Quantum Initiative Act through our QIS Centers and ensure that America remains a world leader in this rapidly advancing field.”
“America continues to lead the world in QIS and emerging technologies because of our incredible innovation ecosystem. The National Quantum Initiative launched by the President, including these new research centers, leverages the combined strengths of academia, industry, and DOE laboratories to drive QIS breakthroughs,” said Chief Technology Officer of the United States Michael Kratsios.
Applications are expected to be in the form of multi-institutional proposals submitted by a single lead institution. Eligible lead and partner institutions include universities, nonprofit research institutions, industry, DOE national laboratories, other U.S. government laboratories, and federal agencies.
Total planned funding will be up to $625 million for awards beginning in Fiscal Year 2020 and lasting up to five years in duration, with outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations. Selections will be made based on peer review.
