The NQISRCs host schools, workshops, career fairs, and other training activities to help build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive quantum workforce.
These workforce development efforts include:
- A joint national school founded by the NQISRCs: the U.S. Quantum Information Science School
- A five-center annual career fair to recruit students, postdocs and early-career researchers to jobs in quantum information science.
- Summer schools and immersive research experiences in quantum information science geared toward high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, engineers and technicians.
- Workshops on special QIS topics, including in various technological areas, the value of QIS investment, and creating pathways to potential partnerships.
Programs across the ecosystem:
C2QA QIS 102: Applied Quantum Computing Summer School
Brookhaven National Laboratory offers a three-week virtual workshop to introduce rising college juniors, seniors, and recent college graduates to the exciting world of quantum information science. Led by David Biersach, through a series of demonstrations and hands-on programming labs, students will learn how quantum algorithms, when applied to specific problem domains, can outperform classical computers. Students will learn IBM Qiskit, a world-class software package for working with quantum computers at the level of pulses, circuits, and application modules. Students will download and install the 100% open-source courseware and development tools on their personal computers, which they will use during the program.
You Belong in Quantum, a virtual series hosted by QSA
Quantum information science is already a fast-evolving field with new workforce development opportunities. In 2024, the Quantum Systems Accelerator, in collaboration with the four U.S. Department of Energy National Quantum Information Science Research Centers, has launched the “You Belong in Quantum Series!” to showcase distinguished leaders in QIS and their perspectives on improving representation, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
QSC Quantum Summer School hosted by Purdue University
Purdue hosts the Quantum Science Center’s annual Quantum Summer School, which includes talks from industry, academia, and government experts, as well as hands-on and applied exercises. Participants, primarily graduate and postdoctoral students, broaden and develop personal and business networks that will shape their careers and the future of the quantum workforce.
QIS Career Fair – Hosted by C2QA
The Quantum Information Science Career Fair aims to bring awareness to the wide range of QIS internships and careers available to college students, postdocs, faculty and early-career professionals — from scientific and engineering roles to supporting business roles that facilitate research objectives. Reaching the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science’s goal to meet future scientific challenges with a diversified, trained workforce is critical for the field. The QIS Career Fair addresses this need by creating opportunities for job seekers, policy and decision makers, and hiring organizations to converge.
Participants will hear from experts in government, academia, and industry about the QIS market, get their questions answered, build their professional networks, and meet directly with potential employers. The event will showcase jobs available at national laboratories, academic institutions, and industry.
Virginia Tech & C2QA Quantum Information Science (QIS) & Engineering High-School Level Summer Program
Virginia Tech, in collaboration with C2QA offers a four-day virtual summer school program for students to explore the basic principles that underlie quantum technologies and gain an appreciation for what novel capabilities are unlocked by quantum mechanics. Educators are welcome to attend. There is no fee to participate.
QCaMP: Learn how to jumpstart your pathway to quantum information science and technology. Hosted by QSA.
At QCaMP (Quantum, Computing, Mathematics, & Physics), students will get a primer on computing fundamentals, learn hands-on about quantum physics, and apply those phenomena to solve computing problems in new ways.
QCaMP is an in-person camp aimed at the high school level, with programs for high school students in the Bay Area (California), Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Gallup (NM) QCaMP has a separate program for high school teachers (virtual and in-person) in the following locations: Bay Area (California), Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Gallup (NM), Chicago (IL), Boulder (CO), and Latrobe (PA).
C2QA QIS 303: Quantum Error Mitigation
This virtual summer program is designed for graduate students, postdocs and researchers. Instructors include Dmitri Kharzeev, and Tzu-Chieh Wei. There is no fee to participate.
Carolyn B. Parker Fellowship
The SQMS Carolyn B. Parker Fellowship honors and preserves the legacy of the first African American woman to earn a postgraduate degree in physics. The Carolyn B. Parker Fellowship prioritizes the representation and inclusion of historically and contemporarily minoritized individuals underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and quantum computing research specifically. One fellowship is awarded annually. This fellowship is sponsored by the DOE Office of Science.
SQMS Quantum Undergraduate Internship
Sponsored by the Department of Energy Office of Science, the SQMS Quantum Undergraduate Internship places undergraduate sophomore and junior physics and engineering majors in a paid 10-week summer internship program at the SQMS Center. Students gain hands-on experience through access to state-of-the-art facilities under the mentorship of SQMS experts across the Center’s 24 partner institutions.
Students have the opportunity to work on campus at Fermilab or at one of the Center’s partner institutions, such as Rigetti Computing, Northwestern University, Ames National Laboratory, or NASA Ames Research Center.
Whether developing skills in building hardware for quantum computing research, helping construct unique quantum algorithms, investigating advanced quantum materials or aiding SQMS researchers in the search for dark matter, participants receive hands-on experience across a variety of disciplines within the emerging field of quantum information science.
