InstituteQ launches new doctoral school in quantum technology

The Finnish quantum community InstituteQ received funds to boost doctoral education in quantum science and technology. The Doctoral School in Quantum Technology and the industrial doctorates are now in operation, further integrating academy and industry while researching topics such as quantum computers, photonics and quantum materials

The Finnish quantum community InstituteQ recently received three fundings from Nokia, the Academy of Finland, and the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation. As a significant boost to Finnish quantum science and technology education, the combined grants go towards establishing the InstituteQ’s first-ever proprietary Doctoral School in Quantum Technology and funding industrial doctorates in quantum technology.

The grants are a testament to the growing interest and investment in quantum technology in a crucial time when the field is becoming more competitive and impactful than ever.

Academic and industrial collaboration

The new Doctoral School in Quantum Technology represents the very first time that InstituteQ houses its own doctoral researchers in participating research groups from Aalto University and the University of Helsinki. Some have already started their work in 2022, and others will be able to apply as further calls are announced.

In addition to the Doctoral School in Quantum Technology, InstituteQ also now houses industrial doctorates from partnering companies Nokia, SAAB, Algorithmiq and IQM. The Nokia doctoral researchers are operating under the title ‘Nokia industrial doctoral school in Quantum Technologies”.

‘Establishing the first-ever Doctoral School within InstituteQ is a huge step forward for quantum education. InstituteQ itself is composed of academic and industry partners, and the School represents a deeper integration between the two in quantum technology. The news comes at a pivotal time when quantum technologies are proliferating at rate we haven’t witnessed before,’ says Jani-Petri Martikainen, Senior University Lecturer at Aalto and coordinator of doctoral education at InstituteQ.

Computers, sensors, software and more

Quantum science and technology are incredibly important fields, set to upend familiar domains such as computing, healthcare and finance. Yet, they are also umbrella terms for dozens of subfields and niche specialisations.

InstituteQ strives to further our understanding and application of quantum science and technology especially in the institute’s focus areas, which include, for example, quantum computing, sensors, materials and algorithms. One of the industrial doctoral researchers who have already started their work is Riya Baruah, in the Quantum Transport group at Aalto University. Baruah focuses on imperfections in quantum computing.

‘Quantum computers suffer from imperfections due to the presence of the external environment around it. This is an unavoidable fact for these machines. I am studying these effects and trying to come up with clever ways to mitigate this problem or alternately, use them to enhance their performance,’ Baruah says.

‘I am working on simulating a number of qubits computationally. I am trying to develop ways to do thermodynamic investigations into configurations of many qubits, which I think could help in improving our understanding of how quantum computers work.’

For more about quantum education at InstituteQ’s founding organisations, visit https://instituteq.fi/education/.