Five UCSB Researchers Join Three NSF Quantum Institutes

Five UC Santa Barbara researchers will participate in three of the National Science Foundation’s Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes. Indeed, these institutes focus on quantum sensing, superconducting systems, and quantum computation. Professors Dan Blumenthal, Michel Devoret, Andrew Jayich, Ania Jayich, and David Weld are joining institutes led by the University of Colorado Boulder, Princeton University, and UC Berkeley. 

This information comes from UCSB’s news office. Their involvement expands UCSB’s contribution to a federally supported research initiative that connects university laboratories with national labs, agencies, and over 30 companies.

UCSB’s Participation in the Institutes

Specifically, the NSF is renewing its Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes program with a $290 million investment. Eight institutes will operate over five years, including five continuing and three newly established ones. Meanwhile, UCSB researchers are part of three of these institutes:

• Q-SEnSE (Quantum Systems through Entangled Science and Engineering center), led by the University of Colorado Boulder, focuses on quantum clocks and sensors. Dan Blumenthal, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, is a member.
• MARQUIS (Manufacturable and Resilient superconducting Quantum Information Systems), led by Princeton University. Michel Devoret, a 2025 Nobel laureate in physics and chief scientist at Google Quantum AI, is a senior investigator.
• CIQC (Challenge Institute for Quantum Computation), led by UC Berkeley. Andrew Jayich, Ania Jayich, and David Weld are members of this group.

Each institute will receive between $28 million and $37 million over its five-year term. UCSB has not yet disclosed its specific subaward figures or the exact roles (PI, co-PI, or senior personnel) held by its researchers.

UCSB’s Research Contributions

Blumenthal’s work will also focus on the photonic integration of lasers and photonics for quantum optical clocks, atom interferometers, and experiments involving neutral atoms and trapped ions. Q-SEnSE aims to prepare these components for industrial and large-scale manufacturing, including applications in portable and space-based systems.

MARQUIS will concentrate on hardware fabrication, materials, and nanofabrication, alongside workforce training designed to enhance U.S. leadership in the field, as highlighted by the NSF. CIQC will continue to address three research challenges, including advancing quantum computation and exploring nature through quantum information science. UC Berkeley’s institute received $37.5 million in NSF funding.

Significance of This Initiative

The QLCI cohort spans 19 states and 36 universities. Federal collaborators include national labs from the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The NSF is also funding educational programs that will train hundreds of students and early-career researchers through internships, summer schools, and K-12 teacher initiatives.

Universities are continuously establishing formal quantum research structures, similar to George Mason’s Virginia Quantum Hub. UCSB’s involvement in three of the eight institutes positions its labs favorably along the technology-transfer pathway envisioned by the NSF, though the announcement does not yet feature any finalized products or benchmark results.