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The University said Quantum Australia will raise awareness about the potential of quantum technology and will bring together some of the country’s leading research institutions, industry partners and quantum companies.
The University of Sydney has been awarded $18.4m by Australia’s government to help grow the country’s quantum industry.
The university will use the funds to establish Quantum Australia, a new national centre that will raise awareness about the benefits of quantum technology and foster collaboration between industry and universities. This centre will also work to grow quantum start-ups and connect quantum companies nationally and internationally.
Quantum technology holds endless potential for humanity, as quantum computers will be able to make massive calculations in an unbelievably fast time compared to conventional computers. This could lead to breakthroughs such as new materials, new pharmaceuticals and a shake-up of the cryptography sector.
Quantum Australia will bring together some of the country’s leading research institutions, industry partners and companies in this sector to boost the technology’s development and support Australia’s National Quantum Strategy, which sets out a long-term vision of how Australia can take advantage of quantum tech.
“The university is thrilled to accept this grant on behalf of Australia’s quantum ecosystem,” said Sydney university’s deputy vice-chancellor of research, Prof Emma Johnston. “Our stewardship of this new centre is in recognition of our commitment to research excellence, collaboration and translation.
“Quantum technologies of the future will lift our capacity to tackle major global challenges, and we want Australia to remain at the forefront of this transformative work.”
Lots of work is still required to make quantum computers a reality, as there are various challenges to overcome such as the risk of errors in the calculations of these sensitive machines.
Earlier this month, Microsoft and Quantinuum claimed to have brought humanity a step closer to commercial quantum computers, thanks to a breakthrough that significantly reduces errors while running experiments.
Last year, researchers in Sweden successfully used a quantum computer to solve simple chemistry problems, as a proof-of-concept for more advanced calculations.
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