This post was originally published on this site.
Today sees the expansion of QuBriC, Europe’s first Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network dedicated to quantum error correction (QEC), with the addition of fault-tolerant quantum computing scaleup Alice & Bob.
QuBriC brings together 16 universities and seven quantum companies across Europe, including ETH Zürich, TU Delft, UCL, INRIA, Riverlane and IQM, to recruit and train 15 doctoral researchers.
Backed by €4.6 million in funding over 48 months through Horizon Europe’s MSCA programme, the network will develop a new generation of researchers capable of tackling one of quantum computing’s biggest technical challenges: quantum error correction.
Quantum error correction is widely recognised as the key to building scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computers. Yet expertise remains fragmented, with researchers typically specialising in either classical coding theory or quantum physics.
QuBriC aims to bridge that divide by training researchers across the full quantum error correction stack – from theory and algorithms to hardware implementation.
As an industry partner, Alice & Bob will help shape the network’s research and training while contributing expertise in cat-qubit-based error correction.
For the company, QuBriC provides access to a pipeline of highly specialised talent and an academic network closely aligned on fault-tolerant quantum computing. The MSCA program is celebrating its 30th birthday, having advanced research and innovation for the last 30 years. It has supported over 150,000 researchers, including 23 Nobel Prize winners.
The programme has been a cornerstone of European research by fostering mobility across disciplines, sectors, and countries and attracting and nurturing top talent within academia and businesses.
Unlike traditional research grants, MSCA Doctoral Networks fund international consortia of universities, research organisations and industry partners to jointly recruit, train and supervise PhD researchers. Doctoral candidates undertake interdisciplinary research while working across academic and industrial environments, equipping them with the technical and transferable skills needed to address major scientific and technological challenges.
“Quantum error correction sits at the heart of any fault-tolerant quantum computer, interacting with all aspects of it. As such, it requires expertise spanning seemingly separate disciplines,” said Christophe Vuillot, Principal Research Scientist , QEC at Alice & Bob.
“QuBriC brings together leading universities, research institutes and quantum companies to train researchers and bridge these gaps, combining expertise from quantum information, coding theory and hardware engineering.
This next generation of researchers will be essential to accelerating the path to useful, fault-tolerant quantum computers.”
Advised by Nobel Prize-winning researchers, Alice & Bob specialises in cat qubits, a technology developed by the company’s founders. It aims to create the first universal, fault-tolerant quantum computer.
Demonstrating the power of its cat architecture, Alice & Bob recently showed that it could reduce the hardware requirements for building a useful large-scale quantum computer up to 200 times compared with competing approaches.
Founded in 2020, the company has raised €180 million in funding and employs more than 250 people.