Puni Rajah

Earlier this year, 22 countries published a call for applications for a project grant for international research collaboration on quantum technologies. The Swedish Research Council’s call, known as QuantERA, set out that applicants should be from at least four countries. This in itself would not necessarily be remarkable. However, juxtaposed with other developments linked to… Read More »Quantum opportunity: how research funders are making a difference to quantum technology

How do you find a new approach to hackathons and conferences, in a world where almost everything has already been tried? Start-up Algorithmiq has an intriguing answer: take your teams, together with distinguished quantum colleagues, sailing. On the face of it, an odd decision—but in practice, very reasonable. Sailing requires the crew to work as… Read More »Seven observations about how Algorithmiq is bringing quantum algorithms to life

For many years, quantum computing has seemed like an impossible dream—a bit like artificial intelligence (AI), but perhaps even more so. Scientists knew that it ought to be possible, but actually delivering on the promise was completely different. For AI, the problem was solved by an increase in computing power that has enabled very complex… Read More »How QPlayLearn treads the fine line between oversimplification and demystification

Developing any scientific field needs time and resources. This applies to quantum computing as much as any other area. The real questions are where those resources will come from, and how we can best use the time at our disposal to ensure that we move forward as effectively as possible. One possible source of resources… Read More »What you need to know about the Wellcome Leap Quantum for Bio program

Recently, a project on pancreatic cancer at the University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, aimed to develop a machine-learning algorithm that would be able to identify pancreatic cancer from medical images. So far, so good, you might think. However, as with all machine learning (ML) projects, there was a catch. – A guest blog post from… Read More »Why we need to start educating practitioners in the health sector about quantum computing now

Quantum computers undeniably hold significant potential for modelling inherently quantum mechanical systems such as molecules and materials. However, it is proving difficult to deliver this potential for several reasons. – A blog post by Martin Rahm, Associate Professor, Theoretical Chemistry, Chalmers University of Technology One very important issue is that quantum computers are very sensitive to… Read More »Reference-state error mitigation: a new way to improve the accuracy of quantum computing of chemistry

It is fair to say that the words ‘quantum spectroscopy’ are not exactly common currency. Very few people understand them, and even if you Google the term, you might not find much that’s understandable to a non-expert. Actually, it’s probably fair to say that either word on its own would be enough to put most… Read More »Demystifying quantum spectroscopy’s potential in life sciences