UCLA-Led Team Wins $4 Million NSF Award to Design 60-Qubit Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computer
Updated
Updated · samueli.ucla.edu · Aug 4
UCLA-Led Team Wins $4 Million NSF Award to Design 60-Qubit Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computer
1 articles · Updated · samueli.ucla.edu · Aug 4
Summary
$4 million in NSF funding will back a UCLA-led effort to produce a blueprint for a fault-tolerant quantum computer built around 60 logical qubits.
The project targets quantum computing's central weakness—errors from environmental noise—by using trapped atomic ions and quantum error correction to enable longer, reliable calculations.
Researchers will co-design the full stack, from chip architecture and atomic physics to compilation, control systems and applications, aiming to cut the heavy overhead of fault-tolerant machines.
The proposed processor is geared toward digital quantum simulation beyond classical supercomputers, with potential uses in materials science, chemistry, drug discovery and fundamental physics.
Partners include UC Berkeley, Cornell, Maryland, UC Santa Barbara, SRI, Quantinuum, Nvidia and IonQ under the NSF's National Quantum Virtual Laboratory initiative.