National Quantum Science and Technology Institute – NQSTI
Project Partners:
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - CNR
Fondazione Bruno Kessler -FBK
International Center For Theoretical Physics - ICTP
Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia - IIT
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - INFN
Leonardo - LEO
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa
Università di Roma La Sapienza
Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati
Scuola Normale Superiore - SNS
Thales Alenia Space - TASI
Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro - UNIBA
Università degli Studi di Camerino - UNICAM
Università di Catania - UNICT
Università degli Studi di Firenze- UNIFI
Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca - UNIMIB
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II - UNINA
Università degli Studi di Parma - UNIPR
Università di Pavia - UNIPV
Università degli Studi di Trieste - UNITS
Project resume:
This project targets the creation of the National Quantum Science and Technology Institute (NQSTI), a consortium that will team up Italian entities carrying out competitive and innovative research in the field of quantum science and technology (QST), and will stimulate future industrial innovation in this field, providing a forum in which novel ideas and opportunities are transferred to companies.
In order to ensure a long-term positive effect on the Italian economic growth and development, the whole innovation chain was considered: from the strengthening and coordination of the low-TRL research, to its translation into prototypes, favoring interfacing with industrial needs thanks to strong outreach and continued-education programs.
The project is composed of 4 macro areas:
- QST Theoretical Foundations and Novel Paradigms: The development of QST requires sound and comprehensive theoretical research, which is pivotal to advancing the knowledge of quantum information science and physical systems as well as to designing new devices and implementing new quantum protocols for applications at the industrial level. The topics investigated in this project will cover novel foundations and architectures in quantum physics and information, with particular focus on information processing, communication, sensing and metrology, and simulation.
- Technology Platforms for QST: The conceptual paradigms proposed in part one will be translated into physical implementations by taking advantage of the most suitable quantum platforms available. The strategic and long-term vision of our project lead us to include groups that bring state-of-the-art expertise for the design and realization of quantum architectures based on atoms, photons, and electrons. The most suitable physical entity for the implementation of a given quantum configuration identified as valuable by our theoretical research will be chosen in light of the most effective technologies, but, whenever possible, different implementations will be realized and compared in terms of efficiency, suitability for technological transfer, and cost-effectiveness.
- Integration, System Architectures: The development of quantum technologies is expected to follow the path of miniaturization and integration already experienced by micro/nanoelectronics and telecommunication technology. The successful implementation of QST systems will rely on excellent science, novel technological solutions, wide availability of technologies, cost reduction through industry standardized processing, and verified demonstrators. This will have to be accompanied with demonstrations of well-understood and engineered quantum systems – outperforming classical systems or performing new functions - to accelerate the uptake of solutions by companies and to bring these systems earlier to the market.
- Technology Transfer, Education, and Outreach: The project strives to represent a catalyst of innovation, to translate Italian scientific excellence into new processes, new products, and new services that will reach the market. To this end, the project will support a comprehensive education program to favor technology. NQSTI will strongly support entrepreneurship through a QST incubator program that will provide new spin-offs and start-ups seed funding and services, including consulting and financial matching. Patenting and licensing will be promoted and supported together with know-how transfer through cooperative research, joint laboratories, personnel exchanges, networking, participation in roadshows, and in international technology fairs.
The European Quantum Flagship vision, which is fully recognized in the Italian National Research Plan, foresees the development of Quantum Technologies along three parallel lines:
(i) the creation, within the Horizon Europe program, of a network of National Quantum Institutes to activate synergies and optimize the use of resources bringing research results in industrial products;
(ii) the inclusion of novel Quantum Computing capabilities within the High Performance Computing Infrastructure (HPC/QC);
(iii) the realization of a novel European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI), the latter two to be developed within the Digital Europe Program.
NQSTI project will complete the existing national efforts for the HPC/QC Center and the proposed Italian deployment of the EuroQCI by providing an interdisciplinary, holistic and problem-solving approach for the creation of the NQSTI: a new innovation ecosystem in which the ability to study and manipulate quantum objects (atoms-molecules, photons, electrons) is ultimately translated into industrial applications. To this aim we shall develop new technical infrastructures, define new standards, train new technical-professional figures, and create a new coordination center between public and private sectors with a particular focus on the development of the southern Italian regions.
SPOKE 1: Foundations and architectures for quantum information processing and communication; UNIPV (Spoke leader), UNIBA, UNICAM, UNICT, FBK, UNIFI, ICPT, UNINA, UNIPR, UNIPV, UNITS (affiliated)
SPOKE 2: Foundations and architectures for quantum sensing, metrology, novel materials, and sustainability; UniCAM (Spoke leader), UNIBA, CNR, ICTP, UNINA, UNIPR, UNIPV, SISSA, SNS (affiliated)
SPOKE 3: Atomic, molecular platform for quantum technologies; CNR (Spoke leader), UNIFI, INFN, UNITS, LEONARDO, SISSA (affiliated)
SPOKE 4: Photonic platform for quantum technologies; SAP (Spoke leader), CNR, FBK, LEO, INFN, UNIPV, UNIFI, UNINA, UNIMIB, IIT, UNICAM (affiliated).
SPOKE 5: Electron-based platform for quantum technologies; SNS (Spoke leader), CNR, IIT, UNINA, UNIMIB, UNICAM, SAP, UNITS, UNICT, UNIFI, UNIPR (affiliated)
SPOKE 6: Integration; UNIMIB (Spoke leader), UNIMIB, INFN, FBK, Sant’Anna, SAP LEONARDO (affiliated)
SPOKE 7: Complete Quantum System; FBK (Spoke leader), CNR, SAP, UNIPV, UNIMIB, UNIBA, S.A, UNICT, LEO, TASI (affiliated).
SPOKE 8: Technology Transfer; CNR (Spoke leader), INFN, UNIPV, UNIBA, UNICAM, UNITS, UNIPR, UNIFI, UNIMIB, SAP, SA, SNS, FBK, UNINA, IIT (affiliated).
SPOKE 9: Education and Outreach; UNICT (Spoke leader), SNS, UNICAM, UNIMIB, UNIPV, UNIPR, UNINA, SAPIENZA, UNIBA, UNIFI, CNR, SISSA, S. ANNA (affiliated).
UNIBA Role:
UNIBA (with POLIBA, the Polytechnic University of Bari) is involved in several research activities, both on the experimental and theoretical side. The expertise of the researchers involved in the PE Project are diversified, and cover most of the research lines.
The main interest is focused on Spoke 7, but also on Spoke 1 and 2. Research will focus on quantum sensing, quantum imaging, quantum metrology, and a broad spectrum of theoretical activities, including collective and emerging properties of quantum matter, quantum phase transitions, entanglement, open quantum systems, quantum networks, quantum walks and complexity, optimization problems and quantum control. The experimental infrastructure includes:
- a joint industry-university research laboratory named PolySenSe, focusing on the development of innovative quantum-based optical gas sensing systems, based at the Physics Department with POLIBA;
- a research laboratory focusing on quantum optical technologies, based at the Physics Department with UNIBA;
- a research laboratory for the synthesis and photophysical characterization of multifunctional organic materials with non-linear optics, photonics, light harvesting, sensing, electroluminescence, organic and molecular electronics, based at the Chemistry Department with UNIBA;
- a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy lab, Atomic force microscope, a Micro-probe Raman lab, a Scanning electron microscope, based at the Physics Department with UNIBA. The computational activities, mostly of a theoretical nature, but involving close cooperation with the aforementioned experimental groups, rely on the powerful computational infrastructure provided by the Bari ReCaS datacenter, built by UNIBA and the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) in the framework of the ReCaS project (PON Research and Competitiveness 2007-2013 Notice 254/Ric).