Diplomacy
The conditions for researching future technologies in North Rhine-Westphalia are better than ever: 18 million inhabitants in the middle of Europe, a uniquely dense university landscape and global companies that benefit from the rapid transfer of quantum research and drive it forward.
The EIN Quantum NRW competence center ensures that science, industry and politics work closely together and thus makes a decisive contribution to raising the potential of the computing power of quantum computers, making it usable in practical applications and paving the way for the establishment of tap-proof quantum communication.
As part of the delegation trip for the NRW-USA Year, the Rector of TU Dortmund University, Prof. Dr. Manfred Bayer, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) on Thursday, July 11, 2024, in the presence of Science Minister Ina Brandes as spokesperson for EIN Quantum NRW.
The Memorandum of Understanding covers both possible cooperation in research projects and the organization of joint conferences, workshops and seminars. In addition, both sides want to explore ways to enable reciprocal guest stays – both for professors and for postdocs, doctoral students and Master’s students.
The broadly oriented cutting-edge research on materials, algorithms, control or applications of quantum computing in Berkeley offers universities and research institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia numerous starting points for scientific cooperation.
One of the special features of North Rhine-Westphalia as a quantum technology location is that the four most important technological approaches for quantum computing – superconducting circuits, ion traps, semiconductor-based approaches and photons – are only covered here in Germany. The Research Center Jülich (FZJ) and the Cluster of Excellence “Matter and Light for Quantum Computing”, which is supported by the four universities of Cologne, Aachen, Bonn and Düsseldorf together with the FZJ, as well as the University of Siegen, are among the internationally renowned lighthouses. In the field of photonics for quantum communication, the University of Paderborn, together with the TU Dortmund University, is a leading competence center.
Among other things, the state government is promoting the development of this future technology with the EIN Quantum NRW competence center founded in 2022 and the Quantum Education NRW project, which expands and networks the further training of skilled workers in companies as well as extracurricular learning opportunities for STEM and school laboratories. The state government is also supporting a roadmapping process for a joint strategy between science and industry to strengthen the location for quantum research.
This also includes the funding of Europe’s only high-performance computer at exascale level, which is ideally suited for interconnection with quantum computers, as well as the establishment of the Jülich User Infrastructure for Quantum Computing (JUNIQ) as a transfer point between science and industry. This milestone also became possible thanks to the funding of a development partnership between FZJ and the Siegen-based start-up eleQtron since spring 2024. The young company is a spin-off from the research group of the Chair of Quantum Optics at the University of Siegen and is now a start-up made up of international experts. eleQtron is funded by the state, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection and was also able to convince Earlybird and other investors.
The delegation trip led by Minister Brandes as part of the NRW-USA Year ended yesterday. The findings of the trip will be processed and presented to universities, research institutions and the Science Committee of the state parliament.
